Never let it be said that I won't try to photograph a dog in unusual spots. OK, maybe a dance studio isn't that unusual... after all, it is very much like a photo studio except with mirrored walls. My friend Chris Nguyen, a dancer AND dog trainer, came up with a shoot at Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood and we photographed nine dogs.

To mix it up a bit from just regal portraits, which we still did, the dogs caught treats and balls during our sessions and that was a lot of fun. You really have to throw it properly and time it just so to get a good photo and I would say we were ultimately successful. We tried out two colors of seamless paper for the backdrop, one called baby blue and the other ultramarine blue.

I will point out that one of the dogs we photographed was Chris' own Luna Skye. I first met her and Chris at one of my ice cream social events. Luna was just four months old then and we went on to do another shoot when she was six months old pretty much just so that I could cut her out and composite them. She is my model on many of my Storytelling Session photos. Now she's about a year and is so well trained that, well, you'll see. Look for the blue eyed girl. That's Luna.

And Chris' other dog is Hades, the black Dutch shepherd. Hades was a bit nervous. The flash made him cringe but he was with three other pooches who each had a turn. Hades came back a little later in our session and was cool as a cucumber. The strobe light didn't bother him at all. He had been through it, realized it didn't hurt him, saw the other dogs get their turn at bat, and was completely desensitized to the light. Hades was a police academy dropout because he's got some anxiety. We couldn't use noise with him, either, it bothers him but he liked the ball and the treats.

Want your own studio shoot? We're doing them on June 18 at Two Hands Four Paws in West Los Angeles for just $175, which includes five web-ready digital files and 20 percent off of all wall portraits. And these deserve to be on wall portraits! Give me a call at 818.481.5214 or email me at diana@dianalundin.com. I have only three spots left so get them now!