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Recent Media Coverage of
PET PORTRAIT EXPRESS and Owner/Photographer Carolyn Fite
Dog Days Of Summer August 2007
The Russell Memorial Library of Chesapeake
VA. asked Carolyn Fite The owner of Pet Portrait Express to display her
photography during their Dog Days Of Summer reading program where pets were
invited to come read with the children.
Everyone so enjoyed the display (see Below)
That Carolyn has been invited back again this August of 2008 to display her
wonderful photography again. Please be sure to stop by and see the new
collection that will be displayed this year!
Carolyn Fite has become the premier pet
photographer in Tidewater Virginia.
After photographing families, brides, graduates & children for over 20 years
Carolyn turned the camera, to her passionate love of animals. Incredibly the
animals sense her love and "lots of patience" and they really perform and let
her capture them in all their beauty. From a Monkey holding a rose to birds
kissing, Carolyn's work is all original and no special effects are ever used,
that is what truly makes her so special. Carolyn is inspired by her daughter
Carley and their Three dogs. She has been truly blessed with a wonderful talent
that can bring nothing but joy to others.
Wednesday July 14th 2004
Joe Flanagan of WVEC Channel 13 came
out to our Studio and did a wonderful story!
Photographer offers pet portraits
in a snap
02:56 PM EDT on Wednesday,
July 14, 2004
She meets and greets her clients. Actually, she meets and shakes paws with
them.
Carolyn Fite fights to get your pet picture perfect. "They do what they want
to do when they want to do it and you just have to be fast enough to capture
it," she said.
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Andy Franklin, 13News
Carolyn Fite prepares to take a candid
photo. |
For 16 years, Carolyn did people portraits. Three years ago, she went out on
her own, specializing in pet photography.
She credits her love of animals and high-speed technology for her success.
"The digital 35-millimeter cameras, where you can change your aperture and your
F-stops, make a big difference in that split second that it takes to capture
that image."
The walls of her Hampton studio are full of captured moments and happy
memories.
"I have people walking out of here saying 'I cannot believe you made my
animal do that.' It's just a lot of fun and people are surprised at just how
well an animal will perform for me," Fite added.
She offers same-day portraits by appointment.
This is a great
article Sarah Sue Ingram, of the Daily Press wrote In December of
2002
Enjoy!
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PET PORTRAITS ARE PICS OF GLITTER
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By Sarah Sue Ingram
Daily Press
December 8 2002
YORKTOWN -- The dog is running around licking everybody in the face, and the kid
won't sit in the chair beside the miniature Santa. It's a typical day at the
office for Carolyn Fite, who recently opened Pet Portrait Express - a studio
where dogs reach immortality once reserved for Matthew Brady's subjects.
The canines and kitty cats brought to Pet Portrait Express pose, smile and bask
under the lights.
Eventually.
Turning chaos into a serene scene is Fite's forte.
Most independent photographers count on weddings and people portraits as the
staples of their business. Joseph Schultz at Joseph Schultz Photographer and
Bruce Kincaid at O'Neal's Studio are among the professional photographers on the
Peninsula who will allow pets to be photographed within a family portrait or
separately. But both men say such posings are a small portion of their business,
with only about three of every 100 inquiries involving a pet.
But Fite thinks she has found her niche by focusing almost exclusively on pet
portraits. And that's because Americans are doting on their animals more than
ever. A recent survey showed that 74 percent of Americans would go into debt to
provide for their pet, and 27 percent even have left provisions in their wills
for their pet.
Some entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the love affair owners have for their
pets by offering bone-shaped pools for Yorkshires to lounge around after their
treadmill workout; tuxedo collars and tiaras for jet-set setters at a hunting
lodge; and pizza snacks and nonalcoholic margaritas for old greyhounds watching
the races via satellite.
Pet Portrait Express is another manifestation of the unprecedented pet
pampering.
"The pets quite often become the kids, get spoiled and everything else," Kincaid
said.
Schultz said, "The pet is their family."
Despite those pet owners' feelings, most chains of studios, he said, are
reluctant to photograph pets because of the liability of an accident happening -
say, if the pooch got loose in a mall and scratched or bit a shopper.
So the concept of a studio extending pet pampering to portraiture is relatively
new on the Peninsula.
Martha Mayberry, manager of Tonya's Pet Center, which has booked Pet Portrait
Express for two weekends in December for one-pose holiday portraits, said she
didn't know of any photographer other than Fite who "does pets for a living."
Fite established her career at Sears Portrait Studios before mustering the
courage to open her own business. Pet Portrait Express is inside Pet Sitters at
2900 George Washington Highway, half a mile past the Victory Boulevard
intersection.
"I left a 15-year secure job to do this," Fite said. "I wanted to do animal
portraiture, but I wanted to do it quality, and I wanted to do it same-day
service."
So this business owner, who just finished speaking to her subjects in a Donald
Duck voice, is the same mature woman who spent three years researching how to
make pet pictures profitable. Professional schizophrenia comes in handy
sometimes.
Fite spent more than $22,000 opening her business. The photographic equipment
was expensive. Most digital cameras take photos with 640 to 1,200 pixels, the
dots that form the image, she said. Fite's studio camera takes photos with 5
million pixels.
"That's why you can blow the picture up so big," she said, pointing to an
16-by-20 photograph that makes the head of a teacup Chihuahua look the size of
Marmaduke's.
The poster-size photos - 11-by-14s and 16-by-20s - have to be sent off to be
printed, and customers receive those shots within two weeks. But even those
customers still buy the smaller portraits. So every customer has left the studio
with at least one 8-by-10 sheet in one hand and a leash in the other.
Fite spent two weeks building the studio - painting the walls, putting in
carpet, setting up lights and installing curtain rods with various scenes
painted on canvas. She can whip out a different backdrop in a heartbeat.
Then come the props - bells and whistles and toys and laser lights. She uses
these tools of her trade to snare the attention of her human, furry and
sometimes scaly subjects. An iguana once presented a challenge because if Fite
shot the reptile straight on, the eyes were hidden. So she captured the iguana
stretched out on a doll-size sofa in an Ava Gardner pose - head slightly turned
with a come-hither look.
"The hardest one I've done is a ferret," Fite said, "because they're in constant
motion. I spent half an hour for two good pictures."
Fite learned how to bring everything in the studio to a standstill during her 15
years as a photographer, district manager and district training manager for
Sears Portrait Studios. But she still had to make an adjustment to shooting the
four-legged members the animal kingdom.
"It took me about three months to learn how to do pets," she said. "I dragged
all of my friends' dogs over to practice on them. I've learned that animals are
like 2-year-olds. Except today we have both."
Actually, Trevor, the kid, is 3, and JoJo, the dog, is 5. The grandparents swore
Fite would never get Trevor to sit still in the white whicker chair in front of
the Christmas backdrop. Ten minutes later, after much coaxing, he was firmly
planted in the chair. Fite placed JoJo beside him and sprang into action.
Actually, the 5-foot-tall photographer knelt into action, so she could be at eye
level with her two subjects.
Then it was time to get frivolous.
"Ah ah ah chew!" Click. "Did you call me a turkey?" Click. "Whoo whoo!" Click.
"Get back over there, JoJo." Click. "Got it." Click. "What's on my head?" (a toy
reindeer). Click click. "Does JoJo want a treat?" Click. "Gimme a High Five!"
Click. "I want to tell you a secret." Click click click. "That's a winner."
Keeping the subjects' eyes riveted on her - at least on and off - for 30 minutes
requires skill and trust.
"Carolyn actually becomes that dog's friend," said Cindy Lewis, who works in the
studio with Fite. "Animals are very perceptive in reading people."
Barbara Tysinger, Trevor's grandmother, heard about Pet Portrait Express from
her sister, who had her own dog photographed. In fact, Tysinger pointed to her
sister's dog in a multiple-picture frame displayed in the studio, said, "I
recognize my nephew."
Right now, 90 percent of Fite's business comes from referrals. She uses four
other ways to make the public aware of Pet Portrait Express:
Print advertising;
The one-pose holiday photo special at Tonya's Pet Center in Hampton (customers
are already making appointments at Tonya's in Langley Shopping Center);
Brochures stacked at the front desk of Pet Sitters that customers see when they
come in to have their pets groomed and/or boarded;
And the company name and logo on Fite's camper, which she converted into a
mobile pet studio.
Fite initially wanted to do all her pet photo shoots on location, such as in the
owner's home or on the beach.
"I like the mobile end of it, but it doesn't allow me to serve as many people,"
she said.
So she looked for a stationary location, and a customer referred her to Pet
Sitters.
A woman leaving her miniature pinscher, or MinPin as they are sometimes called,
for Thanksgiving weekend placed an order for her dog to be photographed while he
was being boarded.
"He has a lazy ear," the woman told Fite. "Can you get a picture with both his
ears up?"
"Yes, we have duct tape," Fite said, and after seeing horror on the woman's
face, added, "I'm joking with you."
At home, Fite has three miniature Schnauzers and one big dog, a collie and
shepherd mix. Fite once struggled to shoot two poodles and two Jack Russells at
the same time but was thrilled with the result.
"I did have one dog that kept blinking every time I took the picture,
anticipating the flash like humans do," Fite said. "Another time, the parents
were trying to get two poodles to sit on their hind feet. I get a kick out of
watching the humans! I really like a shot of a blond lady with a cat between her
arms. Two big Rottweilers were hard to shoot. I've almost been bit a couple of
times, but I'm VERY fast."
Quick reaction time always has been a photographer's attribute.
When the shoot is over, Fite immediately culls the reject photos and lets
customers look at the digital photos on a computer screen. Then she prints the
ones they want to buy on her Dye Sub laser printer with an ultraviolet seal,
which makes the portraits last a lifetime. The sitting fee costs $10, one sheet
of photos runs $25 and a package of three sheets $45. A single sheet can hold
one 8-by-10, two 5-by-7s, four 3-by-5s or nine wallet-sized photos. Fite prints
only on Kodak paper.
Most new businesses take two to three years to make a profit. But Fite thinks
she'll be able to pay off her loan and start making a profit within the first
year of Pet Portrait Express.
"It's something I've wanted to do for a long time," she said. "It was tough at
first - I had panic attacks in the middle of the night for three weeks. Now, I
know it definitely was the right thing to do."
Copyright (c) 2002, Daily Press
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