As the old saying goes, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes… puppies? If you’re not ready for that baby carriage, as our recent wedding couple Kristin and Tim weren’t quite yet, the next step in their lives was the addition of a new puppy.

Oddly enough, Kristin and Tim live on the same street as my husband and I, something I found out when we were shooting their wedding. We quickly bonded over dogs, as the couple has an older dog, Sparky, that they knew they’d eventually have to breed as per an agreement with their breeder. Last fall, we learned the good news that Sparky was pregnant and shortly thereafter, she gave birth to six bundles of fur.

Kristin and Tim had the pleasure of raising the puppies during their first few weeks of life before sending five back to the breeder and keeping the female pup, Beckett, as the newest addition to their family. They wanted to remember the whirlwind few weeks that they had seven dogs in their home, so Joe and I spent one evening photographing the six wriggling, non-stop puppies and one tired mom. Let me tell you we needed all four adults to try to wrangle those dogs! Puppy photos definitely fall into the category my mom calls “sweaty photography.” Boy, were they a challenge!

While we may not have gotten a photo where all six puppies were looking at the camera, we got pretty darn close–and snapped some funny shots trying. We also grabbed a couple of pictures with Kristin, Tim and the puppies. We wanted to stick Sparky in, but anytime those puppies went near their mama, they immediately tried to feed. So puppies only it was! I also took some candid shots in their pen. It figures that as soon as the big photo shoot was over, they all fell asleep. Timing is everything!