When I was asked to photograph a session that was going to include a Basenji – I was SO excited!!
I love photographing lesser seen dog breeds (that’s not to say I wasn’t excited to meet Holly the Border Terrier too!) but previously I had only ever seen Basenjis at Crufts and Discover Dogs. Until now I had never had the pleasure of meeting one in “real life”. Flash is almost 2 years old, and was SO much smaller than I imagined he would be – but his stature didn’t disappoint!
He has the distinctive Basenji tail, tightly curled over his back – and I just love this photo of him standing in profile, showing his adorable little red and white tail contrasting against the red and gold winter background
The morning of our scheduled photo session was extremely cold (-2 in fact!). The snowfall from previous days was still on the ground and gave us a beautiful setting…not to mention both dogs loved running around in the white stuff!
However because Basenjis originate from the Congo, and have very short, fine fur, they’re not fans of wet weather – or the cold. Hence Flash kept his snuggly coat on.
Holly on the other hand, originating from “up North” comes from much hardier stock, and embraced the snow fully….
This small little dog has bags of energy and character, and can well keep up with her much younger brother.
Our session included a great variety of different settings and backdrops. In places the morning fog hadn’t quite lifted, but as the time moved on, the sun broke through the mist bathing us in glorious golden light
Shooting into the bright sunshine gave us a clean outline of Flash in silhouette, along with the iconic Cross in Ampthill Great Park
Being a sighthound, Basenjis have a very strong prey drive, meaning that they can be prone to running after little furry things (of which there are lots in this particular location!). So for some of our session – such as in the image below, Flash was kept on a lead (which I later removed in Photoshop) – so don’t let your dog’s natural instincts prevent you from thinking we can capture some amazing photos in natural settings!
I hope you’ve enjoyed looking through this selection of images from Flash and Holly’s pet photo session. If you – or anyone you know, would like to book a session for your dog, please get in touch by either email/Facebook or text/phone:
info@katrinawilsonphotography.co.uk
phone: 07967 676131