Why You Shouldn’t Offer Easter Mini-Sessions with Small Animals

Every single year during this time I see several flyers popping up on my news feed advertising “Easter Mini Sessions with _insert cute baby animals here_.” I mean really, google “Easter Mini-Session” and nearly every single flyer features “With Live Bunny!” or “With Live Chicks!” I’ve wrote a post about this in the past but felt it was still relevant enough to reiterate exactly why I don’t offer them and try to persuade those who are thinking about it not to either.

Having worked with animals in the past, I can tell you that they are 100% unpredictable. Even domestic animals clients bring to their sessions. In the past, I’ve had sessions with a pet who just wasn’t feeling it that day and was either preoccupied with everything BUT me or was off the wall crazy hyper despite the owners emphasizing in numerous emails how “sweet and well behaved” he/she was. Now, does this mean that they lied and tried to sugar coat that their pet is really a demon? No, of course not! It just means that their pet was having an off day and it happens!  And it’s okay that it happens when the animal is the pet of a client. When you’re dealing with a client’s pets they understand and sympathize that their animal is having an off day. What clients won’t sympathize with is when an animal that you’ve brought into the photo shoot kicks/bites/scratches/jumps/pees or poops on them or their precious little one.

It’s a completely different atmosphere when you’re dealing with animals that are nothing more than props. There is no relationship between the children and the animals they’re posing with because they’re not “the family cat/dog.” Because of this unfamiliarity between the two, disaster can strike. Exotic animals like rabbits and ducklings are especially prone to accidents because chances are the mini-sessions are the first time any of the children have seen or touched one. Baby ducklings and little rabbits can easily be killed when squeezed too hard or dropped and because they’re being handled (perhaps improperly) by complete strangers it causes them anxiety. Animals also bite. The teeth on rabbits do more than nibble on carrots and if you google rabbit bites I promise you, you will think twice about getting on their bad sides!

Not surprisingly, I found that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. During my research I found numerous articles preaching a similar sermon. Fellow photographer Lauren Lawrence wrote an article listing reasons against using live animals you can read here. The Humane Society and Peta also wrote articles protesting photographers who used bunnies as props in their photography which you can also read here and here. 

Nevertheless, I want to make it clear that I don’t think having animals in your session is a bad thing when it’s a family pet, you’re shooting your own kids, or are working with an older clients who know how to handle them/knows what to expect. I love pet photography and I love working with animals both domestic and exotic. Ironically I do have an Easter/Spring Photo shoot tomorrow that will feature the cutest little teacup yorkie I’ve ever laid eyes on but I’m fully okay and confident about it because she belongs to my clients. What it all boils down to is, for mini-sessions that are rushed with children/families being swapped out by the half hour–it’s just best to cut the animals out of the equation– not only for their benefit but for your own. No one needs a lawsuit over a rabbit who abruptly took off the tip of a four year old’s finger!