More about Four Foot Fotos

“It may be only Four Feet of difference, but it may as well be a mile!” 
We love it when people appreciate the difference Four Foot Fotos makes! Here’s a few recent ones…

We love to see customer’s faces light up and hear “Fantastic!”; “Beautiful!” & “Stunning!” as they see the images, and “Wow. That’s just amazing!” when we deliver their artwork.

So who are we?
You’ve probably found me because I’m a Ballarat, Victoria based professional pet photographer who specialises in dogs; but I also photograph cats, horses and other animals too, and love them just the same! Of course, it’s great if you found me through a friend, or a happy customer!

I work with you to create quality artistic portraits of the pets you love. The emphasis is on beautiful images and quality artwork; and I work to ensure we get it right!

I work on location, in your home and garden or using my mobile pet photography studio. Whether you want sparkling bright, airy outdoor photos of active dogs; comfortable and companionable classics shot in the comfort of your own home and garden; or studio lit portraits taken conveniently at you own home; you’ll be glad you called Four Foot Fotos.

You really are Numero Uno!
You really are Number One! Pleasing our customers with high quality artwork that captures the personality, expressions and emotions of their pets is what we’re about. When we see the smile on your dial, we know we’ve hit the mark!

Beautiful Artwork in your home
The end result we aim for is Beautiful Artwork 100% of the time. We don’t do hasty, we don’t get margins from buying cheap.

We have a a choice of quality media to realise your artwork; like wonderful European Cotton Canvas, Giclee style papers and fine art media, with professional grade photography papers for various sized photo prints; and industry leading names such as Hewlett Packard, Epson and Fujitsu as suppliers of the media and inks. We either print it ourselves or have personally checked out the professional grade labs we use.
We recognise that when people take the time to do portraits of their pets, they will need to frame and hang them somewhere; so we give you good choices for your artwork, from combination ‘gift size’ (up to 12 by 8 inch) frames with mattes cut for multiple photos; to canvases finished as a wrap (a very normal finish) or even with a ‘floating frame’ which leaves a gap between the artwork and the frame.
Thoroughly Artistic Imagery
We deliver artistic imagery rather than ‘just photos’

we know and understand pets. We’ve not only owned quite a variety of dogs, chooks, ducks, horses & sheep over the years, we’ve studied amazing ways to capture them on camera.
we look for lighting conditions and use them artistically, and will discuss the choice of location, time and weather forecast with you; re-booking a shoot if we’re not sure we’ll get the very best images for you.
we have developed a set of ‘props’ over time that we offer to clients for the photo session. Not just tennis balls, but creative stuff like sunnies, headbands, bows and pet clothing (which dogs tend to like but cats aren’t big on!).
we have you involved in the shoot where possible, keeping you close so you can see what’s happening and so oyu can assist your pet and provide support with treats and even light reflectors (which eliminate shadows)
Dedicated Customer Focus 
Our approach at Four Foot Fotos is entirely customer centric. Sure, we use email and the web (you’re reading it!), but this is the gloss. The substance lies beneath and an important factor is Dedicated Customer Focus rather than pushing through another customer trying to earn a dollar and doing us both a dis-service in the process! We figure if you engage professional photographers, you want a thoroughly professional result.

a solid commitment to ‘customer first’
a preference to talk face to face where possible; and for phone calls rather than emails. We want to hear you; not just your voice, but your heart!
three deliberate feedback points through our customer service process where we ask you what you think and use your feedback to tune our delivery
We Go The Extra Mile
We go the extra mile for you, and always will!

You don’t have to travel, causing stress for you and your pet, and giving a more relaxed and natural photography session at your home where you are intimately involved in the photo session with your pet
We either print in-house on our Epson broad media printer, or use top quality Australian suppliers for all our photographs and canvases.
Ink on canvases is genuine ink meant for the printer used. For ours that means Epson in our Epson Stylus Pro 7880. Good ink and good media means great quality and lasting value. Your photographic art can thus become an heirloom.
We spend time with you before the shoot to socialise with you and your pet(s), with the aim of making the session as relaxed and creative as possible.
We have toys and accessories like sunglasses and doggy jackets so we can have a bit of fun too!
After the shoot, we spend more time than the shoot (on average) ‘developing’ the RAW photographs and turning them into photographic art.
We come to the Artwork Selection Session with the best shots treated as photographic art so you have really special art to choose from
We’ve done, and contine to do research into products we think will enhance our customers enjoyment of their images. There is ongoing innovation in the printing industry, and we keep an eye on opportunities to add value to your Artwork Selection Session
We sit with you and explain all the options for your art selection, including photographic art canvases and beautiful photographs on a number of media which we’ll have samples for. We also have a range of gifts that can be customised with pictures of your precious pets 🙂
We’ll help you choose the best photographic art for your home and for others you love.
Quality Partnerships that deliver for you
Partnerships are vital when you are prividing a quality service.

Our move from Brisbane to Victoria in September 2016 meant we had to let go of local suppliers; but it did make us much closet to a very good supplier : Giclee Media. We source our SIHL Masterclass Lustre photographic paper from Giclee Media (in A4 & A3+ sizes)  as they are the main importers of this wonderful product. We’ve also decided to source other important papers, including the 600mm wide fine art paper needed for our big Epson 7880 fine art printer. We’re in the process of finding a preferred framer in Ballarat, and also of reestablishing suppliers for printed gifts like bedspreads. In all, the move to Ballarat has been very positive, with quality partners available in the Greater Melbourne area as well as Ballarat itself. 

Where We Work
Many pet photographers won’t come to you, they ask you to come to their studio or to a location convenient to them; but at Four Foot Fotos, your preference is important to us! We offer photography sessions on location, at your home or at our studio. We offer these options because you love your pets and want great memories of them! We offer mopre options than anyone else we know, and our innovative mobile studio is driven by a desire to give our customers (and their pets) the best we can offer 🙂

On Location
We can go where you frequent to photograph your pets enjoying themselves; or if you have somewhere special in mind, we can go there for the significance or beauty of the surroundings. Our Doggy Diary even does this for four hours!

At home & in the garden
We can take beautiful photographs of you and your pet in your own home. Our aim is to capture what’s special to you because that’s what makes the best memories. We want to provide you high quality photographic art memories of your treasured pets that will be family heirlooms for the next generation

Our Mobile Studio
We have a unique combination of mobile portraiture and on-site pet photography. 

The Four Foot Fotos Studio
Our proviate studio is available by appointment only, and although started for my other business (Steve Barnes Photography), is especially handy for special shoots (like our coming Pet Christmas Card shoot) and larger dogs. Please call me to ask about a phto session in this facility.