There’s a moment almost every dog parent knows by heart. One of those simple, ordinary moments that somehow becomes the highlight of our day. A moment so ordinary, but also so wholesome and heart-warming, that it’s something every dog owner loves, but at the same time, impossible to explain to anyone who isn’t a “dog person.”

And that moment is the instant you walk through the door after a long day.

The moment you drop your keys on the counter, and before you even take a breath, there they are; trotting toward you with that full-body tail wag, ears held back in excitement, their favorite toy in their mouth, and absolutely overjoyed just to see you.

And just like that, the weight of your day melts away.
The stresses of the day fade. And you are immediately overcome with the love and joy you share with this animal. Dog people just get it. And it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

Now imagine rounding the corner into your living room or hallway and being hit by that same feeling, not just from your dog in real time, but from your portrait on the wall that captures exactly who they are and this emotion of true love and friendship that you both share.

The right portrait, placed in the right space, and printed on the right medium, goes far beyond a simple decoration. It’s memory. It’s a captured moment in time that illustrates the a chapter of the tale of friendship between you and your dog. And for some sessions, it becomes the everyday reminder of the dog who had shaped your life more than words could ever say, and your way to continue to remember them long after they’re gone.

As a professional dog photographer, my work doesn’t end with the shutter click. That is just the start of the process of designing and creating artwork that is crafted for you. My job as your photographer, who specializes in fine art dog photography, is to go beyond digital galleries and social media images, and instead, transform your custom-designed dog’s portraits into artwork crafted specifically for your home. This means all of my pieces that you and I design together are meant to be lived with, loved, and admired for years to come.

If you have been searching for the right dog photographer in Maine or pet photographer in Maine for you, then I invite you to keep reading to see a glimpse of the care and detail I take in creating your pieces of art!

Why the “Where” Matters Just as Much as the “What”

Most clients begin by thinking about ‘what’ portrait they envision to be on their walls. From an action photo of their dog, to a candid photo of them together, or an epic landscape shot that blends the beauty of the local Maine scenery while they adventure, this is always a great first step! You want an image that feels like your dog. And one that embodies them for who they are as an individual.

But I always like to challenge my clients that while the ‘what’ is incredibly important, that the ‘where’ is equally so.

The most impactful dog portraits aren’t the ones tucked in a forgotten hallway or hidden in the guest bedroom. They’re the ones that live in your home where life with your dog actually happens. Maybe it is the wall in your kitchen you pass every morning with a cup of coffee, above the couch in your living room where your and your dog your spend every day together, or even in the entry way where you are greeted by your dog and their portrait first thing every time you get home.

Placement helps to shape emotion. And from there, when we artfully tie in the ‘What’ you want your artwork to encompass, your piece of artwork begins to really take life and shape; perfectly blending your living space and your vision.

Tip 1: Let Your Home Guide the Artwork

Every home has its own rhythm; its own way that light moves throughout its rooms, its own interior color palette, path of travel, and its own design scheme.
And each and every one of these small details are important stepping stones that are taken into account when designing your artwork.

When I create pieces for my clients, we always look at far more than just the photograph itself. We’re diving deep into:

How the light travels throughout your desired space.
The textures and materials present throughout the room and your home.
The color palette of any potential spaces, and your home as a whole.
The overall interior design of your home.

My goal for all of my clients, is that any wall art we create together should look and feel like it has always belonged in the space it is displayed in.

Our first step in creating this feeling, is to look into the different wall art mediums that I offer:

Museum framed canvases
Warm, textural, and timeless. These are perfect for any home, but especially more traditional homes, historical homes, or homes with that classic New England charm. With their hand-painted acrylic detailed, these canvases do well in both very well-lit/sunny and darker areas of the home. They are truly a masterpiece, and are able to fit into any location with the variety of custom framing options available, allowing us to match any color palette and interior design for all homes.

Encased metal portraits
Crisp, vibrant, and contemporary, these breathtaking pieces are the perfect additional for homes with a more modern feel and design to them. While semi-matte in nature, they still can produce some glare, so choosing a location within your desired space that has a lower amount of sunlight can be beneficial. Encased, soft-touch Maple backings are able to be custom stained to fit both the chosen image and the color palette of the space it will be living in.

Framed fine art prints
Elegant, versatile, and classic, these fine art prints are beautiful in entryways, dining rooms, hallways, and in homes of every decor. With numerous framing options available, matting, and acryclic coverings, Fine art prints are able to be placed in your desired area of the home, no matter the lighting conditions, color scheme, or interior design.

Want an insight into the depth that these pieces are created with? Take a look at the framed fine art print above.

The portrait itself wasn’t chosen simply because it was a favorite. It was chosen because of its warmth, and the pop of those blue overalls, all of which echoed the tones already present in the room. The warmth in the image pulled beautifully from the surrounding décor, while the blue tied effortlessly into the built-in bookcase just a few feet away.

From there, the frame became the bridge between the photograph and the home: a rich, warm finish that felt like an extension of the space rather than an addition to it. And for the crème matting? It was 100% an intentional choice. Not only did it soften the contrast, but it complimented the wall color, and drew the eye inward to the portrait itself.

And finally, the scale of the portrait.

This piece was sized specifically for the space above the fireplace, striking the balance between too small and too large. It is just big enough to catch your attention the moment you walk in, but not so large that it overwhelms the mantel or space. More on this below though!

Every decision from the image, the tones, the frame, the mat, the size, all worked together to create a piece that feels as if it has lived in that space all along.

Tip 2: Your Artwork Should Live Where You’re Already Creating Memories Together

We’ve already briefly touched on this, but it is so important I wanted to re-iterate it again! When you think about where your artwork will hang, don’t just think about empty wall space, think about where life with your dog actually happens.
Where your dog curls up at the end of the day.
Where your family spends time together.
And where your wall art can live that allows it to be admired and loved every single day.

The Living Room

Perfect for gorgeous statement pieces or thoughtfully curated wall art gallery grouping. The heart of your home where your family gathers, and a perfect location for your dog’s portrait to take center stage.

The Entryway or Staircase
A great high-traffic, high-impact area that is bare and unused in so many homes. This is the perfect area for a statement family portrait of you and your dog together.

The Bedroom
A quiet, more personal area. Bedrooms are a beautiful choice, especially for senior dog portraits or artwork created from End of Life Sessions. These more privater areas allow owners to relive these moments with their senior dogs in the comforts of their own room.

The Office
There is no better way than to bring happiness and joy to your work space on a busy day. The right portrait can completely shift the energy of your office, reminding you who’s waiting to greet you when you finally close the laptop and head home.

There is no right or wrong to choosing the room to display your portrait, but there are areas that can help to bring more meaning to your artwork. Choosing a location for your dog’s portrait isn’t just about filling space, it’s about weaving your dog’s story into the daily fabric of your everyday life. When the artwork lives where the love lives, you don’t just see the portrait, you get to feel it, and relive it every single day.

Tip 3: Don’t Be Afraid of Scale , You Normally Need To Go Bigger Than You Think

Most people underestimate just how big artwork should be.

I can’t tell you how many times someone holds up an 8×10” print in person and says, “This looks perfect,” only to realize, once we look at that size on the walls of their own home, that that size looks minuscule on their twelve-foot space. What feels “big” in your hands almost always will look tiny in your home and on your walls.

That’s why the size of your artwork matters.

The truth is, appropriately sized statement pieces, or thoughtfully composed gallery groupings, aren’t just visually stunning, but also help your portrait to be more impactful. A correct size helps to anchor a room and help to draw the eye throughout it. It also adds to the decor and design, instead of retracting from it.

Throughout every step of our design process, planning process, and throughout the session itself, each step is always crafted with your end vision and artwork in mind.

So what does this really mean?

It means you’ll never guess at what size piece fits for your home and space, and you will know what your wall art will look before it even arrives to your home.

Because during your artwork design appointment, we size and design every piece of wall art on the walls of your actual home.

I use your own room photos to scale artwork accurately and realistically, so you can see:

Exactly how a 20” vs. 40” vs. 60” portrait may look
How different wall art gallery layouts can fill and compliment your space
And how different sized frames and frame mediums can compliment or take away from your home’s design and the portrait itself.

There is no guesswork.
No surprises.
Just reliable design, created specifically for your home, your style, your portraits, your dog.

Want a real life example? Peep the portrait examples below!

-The first is slightly too small for the area. While it can work, there is a lot of negative empty space surrounding the portrait. If this were a wall art gallery, two more smaller pieces could accompany this on either side of the print, however as a statement piece this is too small for the space. The portrait is slightly swallowed by the size of the wall and it does not have the impact that it could as a larger piece.

-The middle image is perfectly sized. It takes up enough of the wall as a statement piece that there is not a large amount of leftover empty space. It does not look as if there should be other portraits fit next to the main print to help support it. One could argue that the print should be shifted to the left a touch, but we’ll stick to portrait sizing instead of the art of hanging wall art in relation to other pieces of furniture for the sake of this article!

-The last image is far too large. It over-powers the wall and looks very off balanced, especially in comparison to the size of the door. This could be adjusted by incorporating a thinner frame, removing the matte, or down-sizing the print overall if the current combination of frame/matte is the client’s favorite.

Tip 4: How Editing Brings Your Artwork to Life

One of the most overlooked parts of creating custom pet artwork that feels that it truly fits within someone’s home, is the editing. I don’t mean tough ups of drool, eye boogers, or some blemishes here (although all of those things are important too!) but rather the very intentional and very thoughtful transformation that turns an expertly captured and technically excellent portrait in camera, into something that feels like it was made specifically for your home.

My editing is never one-size-fits-all.
It is always crafted, deliberate, and deeply tied to the feeling you want your artwork to hold and to evoke. It is also tailored to the space it will eventually live in. When we design together, we talk about not only your favorite images, but also about the quality and color of the light that is in them. We’ll talk about the color tones present throughout your home, and how we can incorporate all of things into your final edited portraits.

Warm wood tones in your living room?
Soft coastal blues and neutrals in your entryway?
A modern, clean-lined office with cooler light and crisp shadows?

Your artwork should echo your home, and the final editing should compliment it.

This is where I have to let you in on a little secret - while I love creating pieces of artwork for clients, I love editing the images for these pieces even more (I’m a total Photoshop nerd!). Through my master editing process, I can take almost any image, and craft it to not only match my client’s vision, but also the tonal space of the area it will live in. The ability to be able to bring together the emotion of the moment and the aesthetic of your home finally to craft the final result piece of artwork is one of the most rewarding things I have the pleasure of doing in this job. It’s where I am able to take a portrait that already holds so much meaning, and finish it in a way that truly makes it unforgettable.

And because every home is different, every dog is different, every story is different, and every client’s vision is different, the final editing is a conversation we will always have. It is something we 100% craft, dream, and design together.

Each and every portrait is crafted with the same level of care, artistry, and technical mastery that has guided all of my work over the years; the work that has been honored with awards and master-level photographer recognition.

Below are some examples of how these images are curated, and the editing decisions that are made along the way.

As a side note, this image was taken this Fall when in this specific location, the leaves had changed but the grass had not. It was towards the end of a gorgeous golden hour during the evening, and the light was truly stunning albeit starting to fade at this point during the shoot.

-The first image is the natural color of the grass. With the warmth of the room, despite it being a warmer toned green, there is just not enough color harmony between the leaves and the grass for it to be cohesive within the image itself. Also, with the lack of green present anywhere in the room, the natural color of the grass did not support the color palette present with this home. The vibrancy of this image does work for the room (it was increased from its natural state due to lighting), helping the image to really stand out, however the color harmony causes too much distraction within the image for this to work.

-The second image is with the grass edited to match the background tonal range, however since this was taken at the end of golden hour, the overall warmth of the image was waning as we approached blue hour instead. When golden hour starts to fade, the vibrancy naturally also fades, and this can be noted in this image. The living room itself has very strong warm tones/undertones, that the portrait itself it naturally lacking due to the time of day. While the color harmony is mostly restored with the grass color being edited, the edit seems slightly off and doesn’t pop as much as it should within the room based on the warmth and vibrancy mismatch.

-The final/third image includes an increase in warmth and vibrancy alongside toning of the grass. This is the final edit of the image and what was delivered to the client. You can see how the tonality, saturation, and luminance really highlight not only the frame, but help to support the entirety of the room itself. The final edit really incorporates the earthy warm tones present throughout the home, and helps to really bring a finished stunning look to the final image!

What This All Comes Down To

At the end of the day, wall art isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t the only custom-designed medium that I offer. But for those that envision enjoying their portraits as such, creating these pieces has never just been about simply decorating their home with dog photos.

It was always about creating a piece or pieces that fit into their home, and crafting art that captures and embodies the dog that has undoubtedly become the heart of their home.

These pieces were never just something to look at. But they are something to feel; a reminder that the story that they and their dog have lived together. How unique, one-of-a-kind, and filled with endless tales of love, and friendship it is.

This is where fine art meets unbreakable bonds, creating something truly special for pet-parents of the most-cherished dogs throughout Maine and New England to enjoy for years to come.

Ready to Create Art That Feels Like Home?

Every Gina Soule Photo session is designed around one core goal: to create custom artwork that feels like it was made for your home, your style, and you and your dog’s story.

From session planning to artwork design, I’ll guide you through every step, helping you to choose the perfect materials, sizes, and placement.

If you’re ready to create artwork based around the love you share for your dog, I’d love to help you start on this journey!

Let’s start designing the artwork your heart dog deserves.
www.ginasoulephoto.com

ginasoulephoto@gmail.com

Crafting Custom Wall Art: Designing with You and Your Dog In Mind