• "P" is for Photos

My best shot—Arlo (left) and Darcy

Photos of pets, that is. One way I try to distinguish myself as a pet sitter is by shooting photos and videos of clients' animals.

Sometimes the task is big. I made a daily blog of two shelties for clients who went on a month-long cruise. Although they said the blog was one of the highlights of their cruise, I think they were being very polite.

Sometimes it's a piece of cake. I usually post photos and updates on Facebook or Twitter, which serves two purposes: Clients see that their pets are healthy and happy and, hopefully, the exposure draws new pet sitting business.

Many huzzahs later, I started to think my pictures were hot stuff, so hot that I agreed to photograph two Cavachons to illustrate a book. Boy, was I in over my head.

Oops . . .

I'd read the book and listed shots that would be helpful, but my plan was no match for reality. Bubbly, exuberant, sparkling—however you choose to describe the two dogs, they wiggled and moved nonstop. When they ran on a zip line, all my shots were blurry, even with flash. With no fenced-in area in the yard, the owners quickly cordoned off a space with baby gates. I was nervous and the dog owners, one of whom wrote the book, were nervous and exhausted.

It wasn't the fault of my camera, the Canon PowerShot A560. Yep, I'm one of those people too impatient to read the owner's manual! After the photo shoot I found several features that would have helped. After the shoot.

I have a lot to learn. Oh, wait—could you hold that pose?