Tracy has a daughter, a son, a granddaughter, 6 Maine Coon cats, a snake, a tarantula and 2 Chinese water dragons. Although I was commissioned to do a shoot with the littelest member of the family, Bracy, I also captured the menagerie.

I had brought 2 lights, but managed to snap the modelling light on one of them so I used only 1 with a small soft box. I also used a black blanket to keep out some of the light in the living-room and for flagging. And then it was about 4 hours of solid shooting. Brandon and Rogue, a big boy Maine Coon, were absolutely fabulous together and they obviously love each other. The cats were gigantic (apart from kitten Jupiter) and a dream to photograph. Their coats and colours are very photogenic. They were also happy to look straight into the camera and to be held and pose for ages. Good kitties!

For all your earthly delights such as gorgeous browies and very yummy ginger biscuits (properly gingerly and not too sweet).

I met Lorna of Heavenlies at one of the monthly Farmers’ Market at Bradfield (South Yorkshire) where she has a stall. The set of photographs she had on display was not quite of the quality it should have been so I gave her my card and got in touch with her. A price for a half-day shoot was soon arranged and I travelled to Lorna’s location on Monday 18th April.

The shoot was on the table covered with a white table-cloth in a small room with lots of furniture moved to the side. The brief was to photograph the brownies, flap-jacks, ginger biscuits, the set-up for afternoon tea and cupcakes with a paper bag with the Heavenlies stamp on it. The brownies were plain with just chunks of chocolate, with chillies, orange, ginger, rum & raison, and walnuts (6 different shots in total).

I used a small soft box on my left-hand side and that was it, really. There was a some daylight from the right. I flagged the afternoon tea on the right to give a bit of definition to the white cups. Personally I find the lighting on the biscuits a bit too harsh, but overall the images are bright and crisp. They will be mainly used on the Heavenlies web site. Of course, I hope that Lorna will commission me to shoot the rest of her range as well!

I wasn’t sure how I really felt about photographing snakes, but I can now say that I was not frightened! I even stroked one! Snakes are beautiful and they come in all sizes. One of the was a boa constrictor and the black one originates in Mexico. The orange one is a cross-breed if I remember correctly. All three were fascinating, gorgeous and not wet and slimy. They don’t stay still. They were constantly on the move, but as they move quite slowly that was not really an issue.

The shoot took place in the kitchen first using a small soft box with a bit of side-light bounced on a wall. I then put the silver umbrella on the key-light and shot with it right behind me for a bit of direct and hard lighting with still a bit of fill. I also flagged on the lefthand side with a black blanket as it was a bit bright and also thought the black would give a bit more definition. The resulting images are nice and bright and I love the fact that you really can’t tell they were shot in a kitchen.

Eloise Leyden who published Slum Dogs

Terry Pover the pet photographer

Paw Pixels Pet Photography from South Africa

Giacomo Brunelli from Italy, but lives in London

Cat images – lots of them

Wagtail Pet Photography