this is just to vent my frustration .....as some of you know we are importing a puppy from France and she is being fostered by some people in Normandy who have Cavaliers. She seems to have settled with them very well and by all accounts is being well socialised and cared for. I am desperate for pictures of my new babe and have asked him to send me some and indeed he has done so on several occassions The frustrating thing is that they ALL show the same thing a large expanse of his kitchen/livingroom/conservatory and an indistinct black blob wrestling with a couple of Cavaliers - or buried beneath a heap of them or curled up tightly in her bed .....not one shows me what my new girl looks like and I am desperate to see how she is developing ....he tells me that her ears have dropped ...ARGHHH ... but I cannot tell from the pics how bad this is ...I have tried asking him for some close up shots to no avail ... any suggestions ? - we are planning to go over and visit ourselves in the New Year but i really want to know what she looks like NOW !

Yvonne

Take yours is black and the others aren't ?
If you want to send a couple to me I'll see if I can do a bit of manipulation and bring her out

Why don't you ask if they know of someone who is a professional photographer as you'd like to get some good photos put on to your website showing the stages of her growing up & see what they have to say?

Tell them you would like to send Christmas cards with her picture so it would be nice if they could get a close up of her sitting pretty for the camera. ;-)

Unfortunately, it sounds like you've come up against someone who means well but is totally incapable with a camera (I have a mother like this!!!!) and it has to say that very dark coloured dogs can be notoriously difficult to capture even if you are a capable photographer.

Getting a professional photographer in would be an excellent solution but it'd be a very expensive one unless you'd be prepared to contribute to the cost so perhaps you could ask (again) for a close-up picture of the pup, emphasising close-up with no extra background details!

Hi Yvonne,

if the potential cost of a pro photographer makes it difficult to raise with them, could you not send them a piccy of one of your own dogs in show pose and ask if they can (near as dammit) set your little one up OUTSIDE in a similar pose?

I had this problem before and it took endless emails (and piccies :D ) to get anything close to what I was after - but keep plugging away at them ;)  Just inundate their in-box with the desired type of photo you're after.  Pictures speak louder than words after all :P

Good luck!  Teri

already done this Teri - I sent pics of her sister in a show pose but they are not show people and think that I am wanting to see how happy and settled she is ( which of course I am really pleased about) - hence the shots of "black blob in kitchen", " black blob in bed" " black blob on sofa" ...............the only pictures I have really are the ones that we took when we went over to choose and that was back in October. I've suggested someone holding the end of the lead and throwing something out for her to look at whilst he takes a picture and he did do this but in the middle of his paddock where I got a lovely view of the surrounding countryside and .....  a black blob in the distance (sigh) ... I know I should'nt really grumble as he is taking such good care of her but I want to see how her head is developing, the shape and set of her eyes and if those ears are really more Cocker than Belgian !!!

Yvonne

A bit of a long shot, but as you are desperate.......

If you are a member of a breed forum could you ask if there is anyone on it that lives in the region, or knows someone who does.  Someone might know of a show person nearby, doesn't need to be of the same breed, at least they will know how to stack and gain attention for a photo.

Oh dear! I know the problem - my OH always wants pictures of muddy dogs enjoying themselves on the fells. Very nice that they have a good life, but sometimes you want to just see the dog! How about sending a close up of your other bitch's head and asking for something similar, if the show pose idea didn't work? Otherwise - it's only 4 weeks till the New Year!

Can't you save the photo's on your computer and then take them to your photo editing section that you download from digital camera's and then zoom in and crop to get your pup to stand out better.

might be easier to just pop over there & see her for yourself? afterall france is a short hop!

Here's an idea! If they've got a video camera or video on their mobile, get them to film a little footage and email it over. That way you might well overcome their basic incapability with a still camera!