Once a month on a Sunday afternoon I set up my portable studio inside Grounded Cafe to capture professional portraits of customers’ pets for the portrait competition.

The process is quick and easy. You’ll be asked to remove your shoes and sit with your pet while I capture their portrait. For most dogs it just takes 5 minutes. If your dog is nervous we’ll allow a little extra time. If they are very anxious we would ask you to wait until closer to the end of the session when things start to quieten down to minimise the stress.

Dog of the Month receives a framed portrait*

From the monthly winners the public will vote for the Dog of the Year who will win:

• A hamper of goodies from Breffni House Pets Dundrum

• Full groom from Coco Bello

• Professional outdoor photoshoot and framed print*

• €150 Voucher from Grounded cafe for the pet parent

Total value: €1500

Exercise your pet!

A tired dog is much easier to work with. Don’t let them get mucky or wet before the session.

If your dog has hair in front of their eyes please have it trimmed so we can see their eyes in the picture.

Our grooming partner Coco Bello is offering free face tidies for the hairy faced doggos.

Bring high value treats, your dog’s favourite toy and if you have props you’d like to include bring them too.

Absolutely!

We can try to capture a portrait including a pet parent or other family member if time allows.

The focus is capturing a headshot of the pets for the competition. If there’s a long queue we’ll do our best but can only try for a couple of minutes. It may not be possible to capture a portrait with the owner.

After the shoot I will select the best single image for each pet and edit that file according to my unique painterly style inspired by the Italian master painters.

The time required to finish the edit depends on the number of dog models on the day - anytime from one to two weeks.

When the files are ready I’ll publish the gallery. From here you can download a digital file to share on social media.

Should you wish to order something tangible you can select from prints and larger bespoke pieces, hand crafted and ready to hang on your wall.

Each monthly winner’s portrait will be framed and hung on the wall in the cafe.

Due to the significant amount of time required to edit the photos it is not possible to offer multiple pictures.

I will select the best shot for each pet for the gallery.

Occasionally I do get more than one really great expression from a pet. In this case I might offer more than one portrait of a pet but the commitment is for one picture per subject.

All files not published are deleted.