A few months ago I entered my two dogs into Kerto Studios small breed competition on their Facebook page. We were ecstatic to win a free photoshoot and 8x10 print. I immediately booked our time slot back in April and eagerly the big day. I had no idea what to expect but had heard so many great things about Kerto and had seen some of her digital work online.
From the beginning communication from Kerto was excellent, I received very clear and concise directions and booking information via email and Kerto kindly explained what to expect on the day. Boy were we in for a treat!
The day before (much to ruby's disgust) I bathed and blow-dried both my girls. Daisy had a nice brush to make her fur all fluffy, she was in heaven! Until the nail clippers came out! Each of the dogs was looking prim and proper ahead of the shoot day and I was starting to get excited.
We promptly arrived at Kerto's home studio and both the girls trotted into their reception room like it was a catwalk! We were greeted by Kerto herself who kindly offered me refreshments before we got started. I was blown away by the reception room, it was absolutely incredible, adorned with huge statement pieces of her work! It was a perfectly displayed gallery with a really good assortment of frame and print options that were available. I couldn't help but stare around at each piece in admiration. I have had professional pictures done before but the level of clarity and definition in Kerto's work is second to none and flawless. You couldn't help but look at each and everyone and notice the tiny details, each individual hair, the perfect lighting and overall the glamour and grace each print oozed!
Before we started Kerto walked me through what she had in-store and asked if I had any specific style of photo I was looking for and took me through background options. I was at this point willing to take her direction as she clearly knew what she was doing! I had initially had concerns over, Ruby being a black dog, using a black background, how wrong was I. Kerto explained how actually with proper lighting black dogs actually 'pop' more against black which you could clearly see in many examples in her gallery.
We took the girls through to the shoot room where they had a good sniff about while we got acquainted with the many different prop options! Kerto was so comfortable with the dogs and was not precious about them exploring around and it made me feel at ease knowing the girls didn't need to regimentally behave! The time flew by and we l had so much fun positioning the girls on various props in lots of different poses. Kerto was great at keeping their attention with hundreds of different toys and bird callers she used to get those ears up and head tilts on point! The hour went so quickly but it didn't feel rushed at all and we got all the shots with the props that I liked with both dogs together as well as individually.
Once we were done the girls rested in the reception room again while Kerto took me through purchasing options. She explained that once the pictures are edited I will come back for a viewing appointment where she will go through all the images and we can decide at no obligation if we would like more prints. Kerto was very open about not wanting to be a 'salesy' person and has always wanted her work to speak for itself, I didn't feel pushed into buying anything I didn't want. Kerto very clearly explained her pricing structure and the benefits we can get at each stage of costing. Kerto's approach in general was very easy-going and friendly. It was very easy to feel comfortable around her.
The next 3 weeks were a long wait but the little snippets Kerto shared on her social media channels gave us a glimpse of the amazing photos we had taken on the day. I was so excited about the viewing appointment and couldn't stop telling everyone about it. My husband and I went together to the appointment so we could make decisions together. I think he was sceptical, to begin with. Not because he didn't think Kerto would produce beautiful work but I think he was anticipating the cost vs. quality and longevity of the work as we have been duped with a newborn photographer before when our daughter was first born. By my goodness this was different and I think he could see that from the moment he walked into that reception room. This wasn't your typical 'come to have a free shoot and walk away with having sold your left arm'! These pictures were timeless, they were intensely detailed. Kerto is truly an artist.
We watched the big reveal on a huge smart-screen in the reception room, where Kerto helped us choose our favourite shots. She explained that we can pick just expressions of the dogs we liked and she can head swap on to the more favoured positions. She showed us with a few clicks of a button how she cleverly can swap all sorts to get the specific image we want for our prints. Whittling the images down was a heartbreaking task and the whole process took about an hour. We were left with the 10 images we wanted to keep and look at options for.
We chose a mixture of large and small prints in a variety of finishes. We have a small family home and wanted the beautiful images to be seen as much as possible. Kerto helped us make sensible decisions about what kinds of prints to pick with lighting and location suitability in mind. Kerto was again very clear at each point about what the pricing was for all the product options and at no point did we feel pressured to purchase anything or buy more than we wanted to. There were lots of options for a small budgeted household like ours and once you factor in the time and effort spent on each image, appointment, photo shoot itself the cost, we thought, is well worth it.
Our excitement grew again over the next 3 weeks as we eagerly waited to pick up our artwork from Kerto. When I arrived to collect them each piece was ready and waiting displayed but covered. It was like Christmas! That tingling excitement you feel with anticipation. When Kerto revealed them I instantly wanted to cry. Seeing these beautifully crafted pictures of my girls was priceless, like seeing school photos for the first time with your kids looking all grand in their new uniforms! I was in love and the girls looked amazing. I couldn't wait to get the pieces on the wall at home and get them some frames that could match their glory!
Overall experience: Incredible! Kerto's process is flawless from start to finish and you can truly see how much heart goes into her beautiful work.
End product: Timeless and of such a high standard. Kerto is truly an artist with a camera and the expressions she has captured warm my heart.
Recommendation: I would recommend anyone with a pet to book a shoot with Kerto, you won't regret it. I for sure cannot wait till the kids are a bit older and we can take them all for an outdoor shoot in the bluebells!
Thank you Kerto!
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