Category Archives: People and Pets

Client Session ~ Sahara the Bengal and Julius the Ragdoll

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This was one of the most fun sessions I’ve had in a while, and strangely enough, it involved cats and people, not my usually specialty of dogs! The lovely Heidi contacted me looking for some images of her and her partner and their two cats for some promotional material and press releases for their business. She specifically wanted some shots of her and her partner David, holding their cats. It proved a little difficult to get both cats co-operating as cats do tend to have minds of their own, and they have their own ideas about sitting nicely in people’s arms when they’d really much rather be off doing what THEY want to do.

After some rather humorous out-takes involving a pair of very unhappy-looking kitties (think bared teeth, body contortions and ears laid right back), we put that idea aside and eventually worked up it, starting with some shots of each individual cat.

Sahara is a two year old Bengal and is a real stunner. I love those leopard spots which are legacy of her wild cat heritage – Bengals are actually hybrids between Asian Leopard Cats and domestic cats, though a few generations removed from a direct cross.

She is alert and playful, always keeping an eye on what’s going on and very inquisitive about everything.

Julius is a four year old Ragdoll and is much more laid back, typical of the breed, very cruisy and cuddly. Except when be is being held and we’re trying to get photos of him, of course!

What a gorgeous fluff ball he is.

Out in the garden it was easy to see Sahara’s wild heritage. She has these amazing wildcat-like stalking and trotting gaits, not like your regular domestic kitty.

Heidi and David’s yard was a great spot for some casual portraits, with the late afternoon sun filtering through the trees. We initially had them lying here with Sahara, but unfortunately Sahara didn’t wish to co-operate and after much wiggling and protesting, regained her freedom and ran off. These shots are the aftermath of this, there was lots of laughing and it just goes to show what a great relaxed fun loving couple these two are!

Julius was a little more co-operative and we managed to get a few shots with him before he had had enough. This is my favourite of these guys.

Sahara was off busy hunting and patrolling her territory, I think she’d spotted a bird here. We managed to stalk her and grab her for one last attempt.

When working with animals, patience is the number one attribute to have. Luckily it paid off towards the end of the session and we managed to capture a number of images with Sahara, this being my favourite.

Despite the fact our feline models were somewhat less than willing at times, I had a fantastic time with these guys and there was much laughter and chats. Thanks for a great afternoon Heidi and David!

I just thought I’d include some praise that Heidi sent through. I love it when clients send me this kind of thing, it does help to know I am on the right track!

“We couldn’t have asked for anyone more professional, lovely and talented to take our photos. Not to mention having a really fun time at the photo shoot. Charlotte has such a natural and amazing style to her photographs that definitely make them stand out. If you are looking or thinking about having some beautiful photographs taken of you and your pets that you will cherish forever, you should definitely get in touch with Charlotte Reeves Photography, you will be so happy with the results.” – Heidi

You can read more praise from my lovely clients on my website.

Client Session ~ Milly and Mack the Rottweilers

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We actually arrived before sunrise for this very early morning beach session and in a short time were greeted by this beautiful sight. Getting up early for these sessions is so worth it, especially with a perfect clear sky like this!

This is one year old Mack – he loved soaking up the early morning sunshine and exploring the beach, so he pretty much stole the show early on in our session.

I love this flying tongue and head-tilt shot all in one!

Mack and his big sister Milly (older by only 6 months) are the best of friends.

Mack loves to chase flying sand and water, and puts on quite a show!

I don’t think Milly really understands the concept, but she’s happy to join in and give the jumping Mack a hard time!

Nothing better than a happy wet sandy dog at the beach!

Later at the dog park, Milly proved to be the more attentive model.

Mack preferred to be intruiged by a tractor at the other end of the park and I managed to capture some very attentive looks from him.

A family portraits was on the cards, luckily the dogs were pretty worn out by the stage and happy to pose with their mum and dad.

You can tell these guys really love their dogs!

Client Session ~ Albert the Labrador x Mastiff

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Albert and his mum Drene have been together a long time. Twelve years ago, Drene watched Albert being born, at the time not knowing he would end up with her. In the years that have passed since then, they’ve been through so much. Making the move from New Zealand to Australia, spending 8 months in the UK together and now, Albert has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Surgery isn’t an option but Drene is doing everything she can to try and treat and cure Albert, including alternative medicine treatments, a special diet and endless amounts of love.

Their bond is immediately visible. Like an embarrassed schoolboy, Albert looks shyly away when his mum attacks him with kisses but always goes back for more when she’s done, lavishing her with licks to the face. In some ways he’s still such a curious puppy, but mixed in with that is the wise old man, lying peacefully on the grass under the trees, watching the world go by.

When downloading the photos, the very first shot I took of them was this one and I love it. I’ll leave the rest to speak for themselves. Good luck Albert, you are a special boy and oh so loved.

Client Session ~ Lexie and Chloe the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

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Carla (a fellow photographer) and I had been mutual admirers of each others work for a while, so when she heard I was coming to Adelaide we began discussing the idea of me photographing her two pups. Lexie and Chloe are almost-two year old Cavaliers who are greatly loved by their mum and dad. Carla tragically lost her first Cav, Lucy, when she was hit by a car at only 9 months old. She been due to have a new baby sister (Chloe) arrive in just a month, so when they lost Lucy they started looking into getting another baby to join the family as well so Chloe wouldn’t be all alone. Lexie was found and turned out to be the perfect match, named ‘Heaven Sent’ by her breeder. Chloe was born on Valentines Day which also happens to be Carla’s birthday so another little sign there too!

So, although the family had lost one precious pup in very sad circumstances, the heavens had aligned and sent them two gorgeous girls instead. Meet Lexie (left) and Chloe (right).

We started off our session at a local dog park around mid afternoon. There were a few other dogs around at the time who were very interested in what was going on, espcially when they realised there were treats involved, but we managed to find a lovely little spot down the back on an old log. Getting the girls to stand and balance on the log proved to be somewhat of a mission, but with lots of practice, encouragement, treats and some pretty crazy noises from me, we got there in the end!

The afternoon light coming in from behind really shows off their gorgeous soft hair, framing Lexie with a halo of light. Heaven sent indeed!

I thought this shot deserved some extra special processing to accentuate the late afternoon light and show off the mood of the place. My favourite bit of this image is Lexie’s little back foot in the air, in the middle of taking a step along the log.

When the other dogs at the park became just a bit too distracting, we headed off on a walk around Mawson Lakes to see what we could find.

The perfect little family! How cute are these guys.

Lexie was very interested in the edge of the water and if she wasn’t on a lead, I have no doubt she would have been in there in an instant, splashing about in the reeds.

Not content with just looking, she decided that eating them would be the next best thing!

Chloe was a bit calmer and quite content to stand and have a look around at all the goings on by the edge of the lake.

I love this shot of Lexie with her big tongue!

The boardwalk we found a bit further along provided a great background for some ‘walking on the lead shots’ – love the girls’ expressions – stoked to be out and about!

Soon enough it was time to head back home for some photos in the girls’ backyard. From Carla’s descriptions of the two, I thought Chloe would be the harder one to photograph as she’s a bit of a nature girl, always off chasing bugs and poking around the garden. This wasn’t the case though when there were treats and attention involved, I love her expressions in these shots!

Gorgeous Lexie in the rock garden.

Out of the many, many attempts we made at getting the two girls in a photo together, we managed to get them sitting beautifully next to each other for this shot. It certainly helps to tire them out first!

And I couldn’t resist a shot of their gorgeous feathery legs, I just loved Chloe’s little curly chest hair.

What a pair of hams!

Carla thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you, it was so lovely to meet you guys and your gorgeous pups. I can’t wait to see what you do with the photos!

Client Session ~ Rafe the Australian Terrier x Maltese

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Since the beach is pretty much Rafe’s favourite place in the world, we decided a beach shoot was the way to go! We’d been battling with the weather and had a few postponed shoots already, so on the afternoon of our session, although it was quite cloudy, it wasn’t actually raining so we decided to go ahead with it regardless. When I arrived at the beach, I was greeted with a LOT of this:

His owners Gerard and Christie had arrived about half an hour beforehand so they could get the beans out of him in time for my arrival, but there were still a few beans left by the time I turned up! We started off up in the dunes and although the sky was pretty grey, the muted tones of the sand and sky and ocean in the background ended up complimenting Rafe’s colouring beautifully.

With all that running around, it’s inevitable that sands gets EVERYWHERE.

Lucky mum was there to get it out of his eyes.

Rafe was definitely one of the most fun and energetic dogs I’ve photographed. He was completely at home at the beach, racing around in the sand, digging, burying his head, rolling and all manner of fun sand related doggy activities! What a beachy boy he is.

He was also quite curious and was intruiged enough to follow my camera around, trying to work out exactly what game it was that we were playing.

One of the most popular toys I take along to sessions are these little squeaky animals. They are great to hold and make noises with when trying to juggle a heavy camera and get a dog’s attention. Rafe decided that he LOVED it though and was quick to permanently adopt this little red caterpillar I’d brought along!

He really, really loved it, and spent quite a while lying in the sand burying it, unburying it and generally throwing it around. His antics had all three of us in hysterics for quite some time!

I felt a little mean for confiscating it for a while but don’t worry, he got to take it home with him afterwards. Apparently he was still playing with it days later, although he had managed to de-squeak it (probably to the immense relief of his mum and dad).

Rafe was a wonderfully willing model and consented to being placed up on some rocks for modelling duties. Love those fluffy legs!

Gerard had actually organise the session as a birthday present for his fiance Christie, so we set up a few family shots.

Christie spends a lot of time with Rafe, he’s her constant companion, so we had to take some shots with the both of them. We worked out that at 18 months old, Rafe must be going through that teenager phase. While quite happy to hang out in the general vicinity of his parents, when it came time to get up close for cuddles and love he got rather embarrassed and shamed out and decided he didn’t want a bar of it. Typical teen!

To finish our session off we headed around to the rock wall section of the Spit and Rafe did some further exploring. Definitely in mission mode in this one!

But still quite happy to pose on some rocks for us.

I just loved my session with Rafe and his mum and dad! They were so fun to work with and what a rad little dog! If ever I get a small fluffy dog, I’m gonna order one exactly like him (or possibly have him cloned).