01 MayEpisode 58 | A Different Kind Of Dog Photographer: Meet Andrea Castanon of BowieShoots
A few years ago, Annie thought it'd be fun to do yearbook-style posed photos of dogs graduating from classes at School For The Dogs. She mentioned the idea to a few photographers and they all gave her blank stares. Then, she was scrolling through Instagram and she found a photographer whose entire feed was... posed, yearbook-style photos of dogs. Annie got in touch with the person behind the account: Andrea Castanon. Andrea was working as a professional photo retoucher and during her downtime was making these hilarious photoshopped portraits of her friends' dogs for fun, and to raise money for rescue organizations. Annie invited her to hold some shoots at School For The Dogs. Two years later, Andrea -- whose company, BowieShoots, is named for her own rescue dog -- has shot hundreds of dogs (and even some other types of pets as well) all over the country, delighting their owners with her backgrounds and knack for catching doggie smiles.
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Transcript:
Annie:
Hey everyone. I am here today with a wonderful photographer whose name is Andrea Castanon. You might know her by her business's name. Her business is called Bowie Shoots. Bowie is the name of her rescue dog. Andrea, it is so good to see you.
Andrea:
You too. Didn't know the next time would be virtual.
Annie:
I know, I know. So I am so excited to be talking to you. Well I, Andrea, I would really love to talk to you about how you got into doing what you do. And then I want to talk about how you're working currently, which I think is really interesting. But…
Andrea:
Yeah, all involved.
Annie:
It's so, it's so cool. It's so cool. You’re a hero to me. But I want to maybe just describe how you came into my life or how you came to School from the Dogs from my perspective. So for years we have had this, kind of like, school theme to School for the Dogs, kind of, playful sort of retro, like decorations and just a vibe and theme of, like, old school way to put it. Like if you have, I'm trying to think of like how I would describe it to someone who doesn't know about us or hasn't been to our studio, like just old chalkboards but also photos that are, kind of like, a retro throwback to school days, as you know, adults today might've experienced school in like a fun, playful way.
And so years and years ago, I think, even before we opened up our first storefront location, we got a big like laser photo background made and we started having our graduates pose in front of this laser background photo, like kind of, something like from the nineties. And we were always just like doing it with our cell phones and it was never like it was particularly literally thought out. But it was kind of like just a fun, silly thing that we did. And I kept thinking like, we should go farther with this. It would be cool to, like, actually have more sort of styled like school photo kind of photos that we could take of graduates or puppies or whatever just to kind of go with this theme. And I couldn't really figure out like, just like how to make that happen. It was just kind of an idea. And while this was, like, percolating in my brain, a guess on Instagram, I saw that there was this photographer doing these adorable photos that were like yearbook photos of dogs, like dogs posed in the same kind of pictures that that you would see for like little kids school photos. So I reached out to Andrea and I was like, “You are doing what I've been wanting to do and you're doing such a great job of it.” So I contacted you and that continues to be, kind of, one of your specialties, but, I've talked enough, why don't you talk a little bit about what you do and how you started to do it and then we can get into talking more about what you're about, the new iteration of your work.
Andrea:
The changes. Yeah, no, that was exactly what happened, which is crazy on my side. So I was working as a retoucher in the fashion industry for about 10 years. And I was kind of burnt out and looking for a way to give back to the rescue community and just a way to give back.
Annie:
Did you study photography in school?
Andrea:
Yeah, so my original goal was to be a fashion photographer. And then I got into retouching and I just…
Annie:
What were you doing as a retoucher?
Andrea:
So any campaigns that you would see, billboards, in magazines and editorials. So like work in Vogue and Elle and Harper's Bazaar- like it was, it was great. Creatively, I was challenged and I loved my work, but I just didn't have, my heart wasn't in it.
Annie:
So it was your job to like make people look thinner.
Andrea:
The whole shabam- like no pimples, no wrinkles in the shirt. So I mean creatively, it was fun. I love, I used to paint when I was younger, like, do charcoal and things. So I love looking at still life and like really thinking apart in the image. But then Bowie came into my life and yeah, I just wanted to become more involved.
So my obsession with Bowie started, I was taking his photographs all the time and retouching them really, like, enhance like silly and to the point where I would take a human photograph-friends who also had dogs were like, “Oh, I want that or, you know, you should offer that to more people.” So I opened it up to, kind of like, free sessions to brainstorm where this could go and how I could help the doc community with it. And then, that's how we met, was I somehow got in touch with a student of yours and then she put us in touch through like a dog friend of a dog friend of a dog friend.
Annie:
So how did you come up with the idea of going in the direction of like kitschy school photos?
Andrea:
So I used to, before college, I used to be a yearbook photographer,
Annie:
Like in high school ?
Andrea:
And I loved it. And then I did it after high school. I did it for, like, elementary school. So I actually do the kitschy pose, smile. And I started doing that for Bowie cause he's like my child and, kind of like, seeing his progression through the years and his personality come through. So I thought that it, kind of, just came together because dogs are so much like our children now.
Annie:
When did you realize that this could actually be a career for you? Because part of what I like to do with the podcast is talk to people who have careers relating to pets that nobody would have imagined ‘cause I know that like I used to think like if you wanted to work with dogs, you had to be a vet. And that was basically about it.
Andrea:
No, totally. I did not think this would kind of snowball like it did, but beautiful snowball. But yeah, it was a weekend, kind of, passion project of mine. And then as soon as it started becoming bigger than just a weekend project, that's when I wanted to dedicate more time. And I started focusing my energy on really creating beautiful yearbook pictures so people could blow them up as big as they wanted or print them and frame them so they can hold up just like children's yearbook pictures, human children. And once the ball started rolling and I just kind of let it take on its life. I got in contact with Annenberg Pet Space in California, so it started popping up in various cities and that's when I knew, okay, I need to give this my a hundred percent and just see what happens, see where it takes me.
Annie:
What were the reactions that you were getting from people that you were giving the photos to or people who saw your work?
Andrea:
So far everybody loves it. They, I mean, I really want to put out beautiful, beautiful portraits and I think that people respect that, especially now, where everything's taken on a phone and you forget to print them or sometimes they're blurry in your phone and you don't realize it when you go to print it. So I think people are really falling in love with the quality and just the… you can run wild with your imagination as far as like, I'm offering more backgrounds now seasonal.
Annie:
Right. So talk a little bit about what your process is- I know you don't want to give too much away, but when somebody comes to one of your shoots, do they tell you what they want and how do you, how do you orchestrate the shoot? And I should mention for those who don't know, Andrea shoots regularly at School for the Dogs. Pretty much like once a month in our little back studio. And I can say you do a lot without a lot of space. But tell us.
Andrea:
It's great. I try to run them very similar to our human yearbook pictures from back in the day. So the only difference is that it's not in a big open space where dogs and their humans are, kind of like, coming in and out. It's very private and comfortable for everybody involved ‘cause I know it's a bit different. But pets come dressed in whatever outfits they want to showcase. And they're allowed up to two outfit changes. So the time, each session is about 20 minutes and that gives them time to get comfortable in the space and sniff out all the smells.
Annie:
And they don't have to wear an outfit at all, right?
Andrea:
Yeah, totally optional.
Annie:
Do you bring.. you have some props and things that you bring as well?
Andrea:
Yep. I have some bandanas and I started collecting sunglasses to have on set. Different things like bunny ears for Easter. So yeah, I definitely have some things, just in case, parents forget or maybe they changed their mind, on whim onsite
Annie:
And you control your space very carefully. That's interesting that you have to think about that with a dog. Like you don't want them to have a big space to run around in.
Andrea:
No. Definitely want them focused. And I've learned a lot being at School for the Dogs. Just thinking, trying to think how they think and making it an easy process for them to, kind of, grasp and having the target area easy for them to understand. So it's nothing overwhelming. There's no crazy tricks that people need to already have taught them. It's just a sit and stay and even that it's not really required if it's a puppy or something, we can work,
Annie:
I know you shoot often on the Klimb platforms that we use and you often shoot also on the training mats that we use. So I imagine that like dogs who've already been doing training with us are probably pretty good at knowing what to do when they get on, get on those platforms. But even those who don't, you shoot pretty quickly it seems so
Andrea:
Yeah, it's kind of, they don't have the longest attention span and I also don't want so much pressure that it stresses them out. It should be a fun, lighthearted experience for everyone. So…
Annie:
Which is a nice thing actually about your work is that, like, you do get dogs looking happy and so often they're in photos of dogs, that might be cute photos, I see dogs, like, licking their lips, for example, which is often a sign of stress or yawning. And like those are like too cute things to photograph, but they don't actually indicate, like, happy dog.
Andrea:
Yeah. And that's definitely, I don't want to portray, like, fake happiness. I've had it where dogs were extremely uncomfortable and usually the first image I take, kind of, before they get stunned, I'll just use that and Photoshop, whatever I can from there. I don't want to overwhelm them with the light and the camera and me as a stranger. So it's definitely in their comfort zone.
Annie:
And what about backgrounds? So you should tell, let's talk about what you, how you shoot the photo and then the backgrounds that you use. Do people pick their own backgrounds?
Andrea:
Yeah, so typically at the events, I have the option of the graduation blue background, which is we have a graduation like gown for the ladies, if they wanted to have it on. And then the graduation caps, top black ties for the gentleman. So everything is photographed against a gray background. And then put in Photoshop-that way the sessions also still go quickly. And then they have the option of the laser background, which is more casual, usually jean jacket, kind of, vibe. In the future, if they wanted to update that to a spring background or a summer background, I still have the ability to, because it's all photographed against gray.
Annie:
Tell me now about what you're doing now. So I mean, I would think most people would imagine that photographers are suffering right now because it's, especially people who focus on portraits,since you can't meet up with people and their dogs, etc. But it kind of seems like you have figured out how to use this moment to your advantage. Am I, am I wrong?
Andrea:
Well, I, kind of, navigated my way through the tears and the initial, you know, blunt realization that I couldn't host events anymore. And it kind of also happened in a way, organically, where I was really looking forward to seeing the cherry blossoms this year and having a photo shoot, like, scheduled with Bowie and the whole thing. But that didn't happen.
Annie:
Well, you should mention that you live in, you live near DC.
Andrea:
Yes. So I'm in Virginia now.
Annie:
So you had ideas of shooting him with the cherry blossoms.
Andrea:
Yeah, this is the personal, total personal, like, vision that I had and since that no longer could happen, I was going to Photoshop a spring background and have my dream portrait that way. And then that got me thinking of, yeah, I can't host these events and I'm putting a pause on the typical school portraits with the lasers and the blue with graduation. But maybe there's a way that parents can still enjoy these photographs, outdoors, creating it just like in a virtual sense. So phones have amazing capabilities now and everybody, kind of, knows generally how to snap a great portrait. So I, kind of, just put together, kind of, a guideline of how best to shoot to photograph your pet. And then I still use a lot of Photoshopping to enhance that photograph and sharpen it a bit more and bring out their eyes and take out any peanut butter in their beard. So there's still a lot of Photoshopping involved. It's just kind of switched a little bit.
Annie:
And you're putting them on new backgrounds. I thought you were doing this a lot with photos though, that you've already taken.
Andrea:
Yup. That too. So it's both options. I, kind of, I felt for all the people that had envisioned the events happening in their cities, which I had a lot of plants to come into new cities and partner with new locations, but I didn't want to close it off to only people who had previously had sessions with us.
Annie:
Okay.
Andrea:
Yeah. So this way everyone is involved and it's a fun activity to do with your dog to set up a little photo shoot and still be able to enjoy high resolution images. And these, the phone-taken photographs are four by six or five by seven is like the best quality that you can blow them up to be printed. So it's not as high quality as, you know, what I would shoot on site, but it's a memory. If anything, it's a memory of the time that we're living in now.
Annie:
I think it's excellent. You're right. It's like a fun thing people can do with their dogs.
Andrea:
That can’t make it outdoors right now.
Annie:
Yeah. Yeah. You're also going to be able to reach people who might never be able to come to any of your events. Right?
Andrea:
Yeah.
Annie:
I mean, do you see continuing to offer this kind of thing once quarantine is over?
Andrea:
That's a good question. I'm not sure I would probably need help at that point for the editing part, just because the events take a lot of time to plan and to execute and then to come home and edit everything out. I'm not sure, I'll have the time to take everything on at once. But the free foster weekend that I had last weekend was a lot of fun and hopefully I can do something like that in the future.
Annie:
What was that?
Andrea:
So I had open sessions on my website that were free to foster to families who are fostering a pet. And it's the same kind of session where they would take a picture on their phone and I would edit it.
Annie:
Oh, okay. I saw this happening on your Instagram account, but I didn't realize that that's what it was. Interesting. I thought you were going, I guess I pictured you were going to shelters, but that's not what you were doing.
Andrea:
No.
Annie:
Okay. So you reached out to people fostering dogs and said, “Hey, I want to help you get some exposure for this dog.”
Andrea:
Yeah, exactly. And create really nice pictures for dogs that sometimes the families are also busy themselves and don't know, kind of, the best lighting or you know, snap a picture and I can maybe like, you know, brighten it up and pop his eyes and make sure it's just like the best picture for his or her profile.
Annie:
So you did that. And what was the response like?
Andrea:
It's been great. The families have really enjoyed it and I'm hopeful that I can, I don't know, have more exposure for each dog. I'm open to cats as well. At events, I typically don't have cats come in just because I'm not super familiar with all their triggers and their comfort zones. But this way cats are totally able to have their photograph taken also in the comfort of their home.
Annie:
I think. I think you've opened up some, some new markets for yourself that are gonna serve, serve you well. What have been some of the challenges that you've faced in starting your own pet-related business, would you say?
Andrea;
It's a gamble to go a hundred percent into anything like this. I mean, what we're dealing with now, I, nobody saw coming and I didn't, I don't know. I didn't see events completely coming to a halt and everything changing to virtual. But, I think, in freelancing and the fashion world that kind of helped me go with the flow and roll with the punches. So I give myself, you know, days to be sad or angry or frustrated, but at the end of the day, it's, you just gotta keep going. You just gotta try something new or try, you know, another way of looking at it or be open to opinions or advice. So it's definitely a roll with the punches, kind of, career choice.
Annie:
I feel like I've also watched you work to both, like, streamline your process, from a business side and also focus as much of your attention as possible on what you want to be doing. You think that’s accurate.
Andrea:
No, definitely. It's been growth all around as a person, as a business person and as a company. And making sure at the end of the day, I started this to help the rescue community and try and do my best in helping dogs wherever, whether it's New York or California. And just coming back to that at the end of the day, which is where these free foster sessions idea came from.
Annie:
I think it's a great idea. I think it's a great idea.
Andrea:
Thanks.
Annie:
You do donate part of your money too, also to foster groups- in general or.. which ones do you..
Andrea:
Social Tees in the East village is dear to my heart just because that's how I found Bowie and they've been awesome. And then I work with different local ones, so in Chicago, in LA, San Francisco. Each city I go to, I try and work with a local nonprofit in that area and donate a portion of the proceeds, which is generally about $300, each time I visit a city. And since I am obviously not, I can't donate that much with this given this state that's where the free foster sessions also came in, where I wanted a way to give back since I don't, I can't give back in donations at this time.
So this month I'm actually working with Family First, which is an organization that helps the homeless community. In this kind of time of craziness. Next month I'll be back to donating to Social Tees.
Annie:
Do you ever do photos now that are beyond, beyond dogs?
Andrea:
Beyond dogs? I've photographed cats. And my first turtle, or tortoise, I'm sorry. Super exciting. That was in LA and he was actually great. He was like the perfect model because he gave me all the angles slowly and he was super easy to work with. Shout out to Rocket Larry.
Annie:
Has that been your weirdest or funniest shoot?
Andrea:
Yes. And he opened the door to other pet tortoises that I had no idea was a community. So I can't wait to photograph more tortoises. And I've got my heart set on a pig at some point. I know there's one in the East Village
Annie:
Yeah there are a couple.
Has that been your weirdest or funniest shoot?
Andrea:
No. I think the funniest has been Halloween. Seeing people come in with their costumes.
Annie:
Any major high points that you never foresaw?
Andrea:
I didn't see my work ever going on Access Hollywood. That was a huge, huge thing.
Annie:
And New York 1?
Andrea:
Yes. And New York 1news. Those two things were like the biggest highlights of my year. I was just like, couldn't believe it. And then afterwards I was just like crying.
Annie:
You know, like I said, now people who see that kind of thing will be able to maybe work with you even if they're not coming to you for a shoot. Because of your online presence.
Well, let's finish off. Why don't you tell me a little bit about Bowie and the training that you've been doing with Bowie? Cause I've been seeing some of your videos.
Andrea;
Yeah, that was my focus once all of this craziness happened to cheer myself up and to mentally stimulate- have him mentally stimulated. So we started with, what was our first one? I think the first one was just the puzzles that we bought at School for the Dogs. And then from there I took him away from the puzzles and he… so the door to my room closes and then he whines and cries at it for me to come open it. He wants to leave.
Annie:
He’s trained you.
Andrea:
So I have a rope on the handles and have, now, he can open the door by himself. He can just pull it and then he would leave the door wide open. So I now have taught him to close the door on his way out. So that's the biggest one that I've conquered with him.
Annie:
So great.
Andrea:
Other than that I bought a small hula hoop so he can do jump training.
Annie:
Well it also looks like, yeah, you've been doing some sort of like indoor agility.
Andrea:
Yeah. Just from what I've seen at School for the Dogs. Like you guys have taught me everything.
Annie:
Any suggestions for people taking photos of their dogs now or ever?
Andrea:
Window light is your friend. That's the number one thing. To just create really soft, nice light. Just have your dog face the window and be on the side of the window and have that beautiful light hit your dog. But other than that, yeah, I think just try and keep positive in this crazy time and do things that spark joy.
Annie:
Well question about taking photos of dogs. Do you have any specific weird noises you make or do you use like squeaky toys?
Andrea:
I've tried a few. Yeah. I have a bunch of squeakers that I bought on Amazon that are big pack of like 50 squeakers. Squeakers work really well. Some dogs are too triggered by squeakers and it drives them crazy. So there's also this cat toy that I purchased that's just like crinkle balls of like, I don't know, some sort of, like kind of, wrapping paper kind of noise. So you kind of just crinkle that noise. Sometimes dogs think it's like a treat bag, so that's a good noise to also make. I call their name in every kind of pitch that you can think of. And yeah, one of those noises usually works. Sometimes I'm completely silent.
Annie:
Let us hear your weirdest getting a dog attention noise. I'll give you mine and you can meet yours.
Andrea:
I think the one that works Bowie is just like, Andrea makes noise meow, meow meow.. A high pitched meow gets him every time.
Annie:
I find I do the same noises with my daughter now with my dog. Annie makes high pitched noise
Andrea:
The higher the pitch.
Annie:
Yeah. So much of it's is about pitch. Annie makes another weird noise.
Andrea:
And I started taking pictures on the sidewalk, just like of Bowie. And people I think, well where I live now in Virginia, they're not used to this kind of dog attention so often people stop in their cars and stare at us like what are they doing? Cause I'm like waving and making noises and Bowie has like bunny ears on his head or something like sunglasses on.
Annie:
Whereas in New York city people are just like, yeah, yeah.
Andrea:
People are like, oh that's just a crazy dog lady.
Annie:
Oh I like making trill sounds like, Annie makes noise.
Andrea
Oh I need to try that.
Annie:
This whole conversation really was just an excuse..
Andrea:
Make sounds
Annie:
To hang out with you and make funny sounds. All right Andrea. I think you're awesome. I'm so glad that we've been able to work together.
Andrea:
Yeah, I'm so appreciative of you allowing me to come photograph at the school and us working together for so long. Yeah, it's been incredible.
Annie:
You can learn more about Andrea on her website, bowieshoots.com or on Instagram where she is at Bowieshoots.
Special offer for listeners of this episode, we printed up some cute stickers that say, “Train your dog without pain using your brain.” If you'd like one, go to Schoolforthedogs.com/brainsticker and I will mail you one completely free of charge.
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