In keeping with my habit of taking formal portraits of the pups around birthdays, here’s the latest round of shots.

Poppy – whose birthday triggered this photoshoot – was very easy to photograph, and that’s mainly thanks to Beanie & Biggles; they’ve taught me that that it is most unwise to create any direct link between the click of the camera shutter and the giving of treats. Over the years they have sought ever higher modeling rates – eventually demanding biccie down-payments even before I got to take a single shot.

By contrast, Poppy and Monkey quietly and for the most part patiently followed my directions while I clicked away; only when I called them did they finally get rewarded.

Admittedly Monkey did spend the first couple of minutes walking behind the backdrop and knocking over my flash stands, but once he settled he was a pro.

Biggles was his usual biccie-demanding self, and being mostly deaf every woof came out at full volume. On top of that, he couldn’t understand my verbal directions. By the time we finished my ears were ringing and my pockets were empty of treats, but we got there.

Beanie was the hardest to photograph. The years are really catching up with her now, so instead of having to deal with an impatient and demanding spoilt princess, I had this little old lady that kept nodding off. My first round of shots had to be discarded because of the half-asleep look, so I redid the shoot at an earlier time the next day and got closer to the sparkle and inner light that I’ve always associated with my little girl.