Who: Austin-based photographer, Nicole Mlakar

What: Whole Foods new pet food line Whole Paws

Read below for what Nicole had to say about the shoot.

“This past January I had the pleasure of photographing 25+ dogs and cats for Whole Foods new pet food line, Whole Paws.

The casting included tons of great cats and dogs, almost solely from Whole Foods employees. We all knew the challenges of photographing real pets, as opposed to animal talent, but luckily I have quite a bit of experience in that arena. Whole Foods also wanted natural environments for our pets so all dogs were shot on location at a downtown park and all cats were photographed in their homes. The cats had the better end of this deal since we unfortunately had a very chilly and cold two weeks of shooting. We created so many fantastic images and I’m really happy with the end result!

You’ll have to check out the product yourself to see even more adorable images on the back of each product. I love that they even talk about how these are “Real Pets – Not Actors” and every pet’s name and age is included. My own cat, Tuna (the long-haired/long-whiskered Calico), even got in on the action and she’s totally let the whole thing go to her head.

There’s also some really great in-store marketing in the pet aisle that utilized many of the images as well. Each store is a bit different but I know the flagship store here in Austin, TX has a super cute cutout bone that features Finch, the French Bulldog.

I had an amazing crew on this shoot and the Whole Foods team was absolutely wonderful to work with.” – Nicole Mlakar