Charlotte Reeves Photography

Meet Pippi, a gorgeous, super well behaved and very photogenic pup hailing from Sanctuary Cove towards the northern end of the Gold Coast. Pippi is lucky enough to live in a beautiful house with a backyard designed (I’m sure!) with photographing dogs in mind! Her house even backs onto a park where she regularly meets up with her doggy friends.

I just love the colour and texture of the deck which brings out her melting chocolate brown eyes.

She had the full range of expressions too, from the super cute puppy dog look…

To the happy-go-lucky, “I’ll do anything for a treat!” look…

Her colouring and markings means she looks just as good in black and white!

After hanging out in the backyard for a while, it was time to venture into the park for some chasing ball games, plus a quick bit of modelling on the park bench, complete with well-timed gust of wind to send those furry ears flying. Anyone would think we set up a fan!

Then it was back to the deck for a bit more modelling in the late afternoon light.

Before heading inside to check out the light there. Luckily there were some nice big windows, so Pippi got to pose on the couch.

The white tiled floor under a big skylight also made for some gorgeous light we just couldn’t pass up. I think Pippi was really getting the hang of the modelling part at this stage, and pulled out some cracker expressions for the camera.

With all the hard work over, it was time for some fun! In true spaniel style, Pippi just loves the water and couldn’t wait to get wet.

Diving into the pool enthusiastically after her ball, making for some really fun splashing shots!

What a girl! I just loved Pippi.

Probably my most ironic session location yet – “Boo” the Great Dane, photographed in a cemetery! Boo and his Mum live just down the road from the intriguing St Stephens Cemetery and regularly stroll through the broken gravestones and memorials and amazing old trees on their daily walks. I was so excited to shoot there, and although the light didn’t quite cooperate on the day with looming heavy cloud, the atmosphere was still pretty special.

So enough about the location and onto the star of the session – Boo! This lovely boy was 9 months old at the time of our shoot and your typical gangly and exuberant Great Dane teenager. With a tongue that rarely stayed inside his mouth resulting in a constant endearing doggy grin, he obviously enjoys his walks through the cemetery and adjacent park, running through the long grass and sniffing around the old gravestones.

I just love his distinctive white chest blaze.

We managed to persuade Boo to sit down and relax for a while in the long grass an open corner of the walled cemetery enclosure, resulting in some nice quiet shots.

Then it was back to exploring again.

Before settling down to chew a stick, Boo looking at me with a familiar ‘dare you to come and get me!’ attitude.

In the grounds of the cemetery is also St Stevens Anglican Church. Built in 1874, it’s a lovely old church featuring gothic revival architecture and these amazing doors! The light was fading fast by this stage but we had time for just a few shots of Boo featured in the doorway.

If you’d like to know more about this very special place, check out the Wikipedia article on the history of the Camperdown Cemetery and then head over to the offical website of the St Stephens Church in Newtown. Interesting stuff!

Chopper is the chilled out, mature big brother of Bozley and Giselle and yep, he’s a foster failure too, and it’s easy to see why! At seven years old he is starting to slow down a little, but still loves to get amongst the action every now and then.

Though given the opportunity (a lovely sunny front garden devoid of the annoying young ones) he quickly switched to lying in the sunshine, soaking up the rays.

A big solid boy thanks to his Great Dane heritage, Chopper also has the look of a big cuddly overgrown Labrador Retriever.

Big brown eyes and an old grey face are a beautiful combination.

I couldn’t resist making a feature of his lovely head wrinkles too of course.