Every December, a canine holiday photo shoot is at the top of my to-do list. The goal is always the same – to capture the perfect image for our Christmas card. My Min Pins are troopers, holding their positions while I make silly noises that encourage the trio to look directly at the camera.

Since I used individual shots of the girls for last year’s card, I wanted a group picture this year. Santa suits, reindeer antlers, and other festive apparel has been worn in past years, so this year the girls wore new pajamas from Auntie Sheila.

The shoot went well and the crew was eager to pose for pictures. It probably helped that I had yummy treats on hand to dole out as needed. A couple of minor issues cropped up, but were easily managed.

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Malibu refused to look at the camera for a few minutes because that would require getting too close for comfort to Aspen. Always ready to deflect potential aggression from her littermate, Malibu has mastered the art of using non-threatening body language to appease Aspen, thereby avoiding a confrontation. Fortunately, Aspen interpreted Malibu’s calming signals and behaved herself during the session.

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Wanting to try something new and creative, I wrapped some holiday lights around the girls. At first, Quest wanted nothing to do with this crazy idea and removed herself from the group.  Once she realized that the lights were nothing to fear, she returned to her center position.

Almost ninety images were taken, and the very first one is the picture I selected for our 2014 holiday card!

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Happy Holidays!