Client Session ~ Kojack the Staffordshire Bull Terrier
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Category Archives: Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Client Session ~ Ellie and Finn [Part 2]
We had part one of Ellie and Finn’s photo session at the beach on the Gold Coast. Unfortunately we had to end the session early due to an angry swarm of sandflies that we were totally unprepared for! The next weekend I headed up to Brisbane to capture this gorgeous pair of pups at their home and took up where we left off.
These two girls play together so well! The first half hour of our session was spent running around with the girls as they enjoyed their new toy together. Sharing is caring.
Finn does tend to forget this at times though and runs off, hoarding the toy. Which sometimes means poor Ellie loses interest (and leaves Finn wondering why she’s not playing with her any more).
Finn was definitely the star and camera hog of the session so I made sure I paid special attention to capturing shots of Miss Ellie as well. The hard part with her was managing to capture her before she realised that I was within cuddle/licking/attention distance to her.
Upon which she would rush over and attend to all three tasks at once! Here I am trying to fend her off with my knees (with Finn still totally absorbed in her toy in the background).
Did I mention Finn was a major camera hog? This girl is the perfect combination. Happy to keep her distance but also totally happy to sit there posing it up – whether that be looking directly down the camera lens or staring off into the distance.
What a ham! I love the bit of grass on her nose.
A few times while totally absorbed in photographing the born model, I would lie down to get a good angle…
Only to have the inner reaches of my ear enthusiastically assaulted by a rather affectionate Ellie.
After much playing and hard work (my doggy models work hard for their glamour shots!) Ellie was quite happy to sit at a distance, giving her best blue steel impression.
Interspersed with looks of knowing and humour that can only come from a dog who has been on this earth for ten years.
She had both of these looks well and truly under control, methinks a certain someone had been holding out on me!
Towards the end of our session, it was time to bring out the treats for some focus.
Although these kinds of shots may be seen as cliche, I still love them as they represent a view of our dogs that we are so familiar with.
Bringing out treats however is not without it’s hazards! Among them, spit bubbles and crazy rolling around on the ground kinda reactions, apparently…
As the sun dipped towards the horizon, I played around with some gorgeous late afternoon backlight for these shots of miss supermodel herself, Finn.
I had such a fantastic time with these girls and their family too, thanks for letting me share your home for the afternoon! I stuck around for a while and had lots of lovely Finn cuddles afterwards, while Ellie crashed out on her bed and caught up on some well-deserved rest.
Client Session ~ Ellie and Finn [Part 1]
Ellie and Finn are two gorgeous girls who live in Brisbane with their family. They were dedicated enough to get up at a ridiculously early hour for the drive down to the Gold Coast for their morning photo session at the beach. We started at just on sunrise, which at this time of year is just before 5am. You can just imagine how early they got up, given it takes an hour to make the drive!
Unfortunately the gorgeous bright early morning light I was counting on never made an appearance as it was very cloudy, however we still got some lovely soft light shots of the two girls enjoying their experience at the beach.
Four year old Finn was loving the sand, quickly discovering it was awesome to dig holes in!
Burying her head in the sand quickly turned her into a bona-fide sand monster.
Once the squeaky toy made an appearance though, she was momentarily distracted!
This early in the morning, other dogs on the beach were rare, but Finn was always very interested in them, tracking their progress along the beach intently.
The dunes are a favourite place of mine to shoot in, with the soft grey-green grasses and salt-tolerant, wind-twisted trees in the background.
Ellie was also loving the beach. She’s ten years old, but don’t tell her that!
Ellie has that trademark Staffy smile down pat.
If you’re wondering about Ellie’s ears, she had some surgery on the folded one a while ago and it never stood up straight after that, but I think it gives her so much character!
We had intended to stick around at the park behind the beach for some green grass shots, but the sandflies had other ideas and relentlessly drove us off. We all survived (some itchier than others!) to fight another day and decided to organise the rest of the shoot a week later at the girls’ house in Brisbane. So, more photos of these gorgeous girls to follow!
Client Session ~ Buddy the Staffordshire Bull Terrier
For my second last Melbourne session I was due to meet with Kim and her best friend, Buddy the three and a half year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, first thing in the morning. The day was to offer me a taste of what Melbourne can dish up weather-wise when it feels like it. I awoke to oppressive heat, drove through a thunderstorm – thunder, lightning and bucketing rain – and arrived to clearing cloud and then finally sunshine, before a cool change rolled in accompanied by heavy cloud! Wow, what a morning! Despite this, we managed to work around the weather to get some stunning shots of both Kim and Buddy.
When I arrived we packed into the car and headed to a lovely and huge grassy park on the foreshore. There was also a great little boardwalk winding it’s way through the adjoining swamp, so we took a stroll along that to begin with.
Buddy was great, never going too far, just strolling along checking out the sights and sounds. Kim’s done some training with him so he was quite easy to plonk somewhere and give the ‘stay’ command to. This bench provided a good pedestal to display his handsome self!
Kim and Buddy are obviously quite devoted to each other. It actually proved a bit of a challenge to separate them at times, with Buddy always wanting to be within a few metres of his Mum.
There were lots of opportunities for quiet time, cuddles and kisses though, so cute.
How gorgeous is this boy in his studly new collar?
There was time for a bit of posing with his Mum before we headed back to the house.
Buddy is your typical Staffy – though perhaps a bit more calm and well behaved than most I’ve met! Such a good boy.
He’s certainly got the hang of that intense Staffy stare!
The deck provided some nice soft light and cool eye reflections.
Buddy gets to spend his days while his Mum is at work, hanging out at his ‘grandparents’ place – it’s like his second home! Here is is staking his claim on the deck.
And posing it up among the flowers along the garden path.
Kim and her baby boy are just the perfect match for each other, don’t you agree?
Kim owns and runs the website www.mystaffy.com.au – which sells plush staffy toys of her own design. Kim has also donated her time and expertise to establish a website for Stafford Rescue – a rescue and rehoming service run by The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club of Victoria Inc. If you are an enthusiast of this wonderful breed, make sure you check out these great sites!
Client Session ~ Molly the Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Note to future clients – early starts are most definitely worth doing! This was another very early session – we kicked off at 4.45am to catch that gorgeous first light.
Molly the Staffy is a gorgeous, well behaved little girl who is lucky enough to have a totally devoted owner who obviously loves her to bits.
She gets regular early morning walks to her favourite park where she can run and sniff and cruise around spreading that famous Staffy smile and cheer everywhere she goes. And what an amazing tongue!
And very cute ears.
After we’d finished our walk through the park, we headed back to Molly’s house and chilled out in her backyard. The patio was nice and cool, a good place to stretch out on a hot morning.
It wasn’t long though, and her energy was back again, ready for a game of tug!
I somehow convinced her that modelling was a career path she should seriously consider.
This is probably my favourite shot of the session.
With this one running a close second. I’m so stoked that Molly’s dad is getting this one as a nice big gallery wrap canvas, I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
