Tag Archives: dog

Client Session ~ Harry the Golden Retriever

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Bec has been a long term client of mine, she first contacted me to photograph her horses which was actually my first horse session. When she got married I photographed her wedding (yep, my first wedding), then when baby Josh came along, it was time for a photo session with him as well. And yes, that was my first baby photo session!

Finally, 3 years later, we’ve managed to get around to photographing her three gorgeous pooches – Herbie, Harry and Bamm Bamm! I’ve split this post up into two as there were just too many lovely shots to include in one and I wanted to share them all.

So first up we have Harry the Golden Retriever. Harry is the leader, peace keeper and general nice guy of the pack, blessed with a typical Golden Retriever personality.

His Mum sums it up best:

“I tell everyone that Harry is the Dalai Lama reincarnated or will be the next official Dalai Lama. He is the kindest, most gentlest soul I’ve ever met. There isn’t another dog like Harry, he’s extremely sensitive and in tune with people and animals emotions, and loves all creatures great and small. Harry’s even helped foster kittens from the AWL and let them hang with their claws from his jowls and just looked at me like ‘ummm I don’t know how to get this creature off me!’. He’d never think to harm anything even if it was hurting him! Just a beautiful soul and the calming alpha force keeping my three dogs in check!”

Rebecca is lucky enough to live on beautiful property, so we decided to take Harry off on a little walk by himself down to his favourite place, the creek.

He was a little confused that we wouldn’t let him have a swim, but oh-so obedient in obeying his Mum’s requests to stay away from the water, although that didn’t stop him looking longingly in that direction!

Harry has his stays (plus many other awesome tricks) down pat and was so easy to work with against the various backdrops the setting provided. I especially loved these tall trees – the Australian bush is so pretty!

I’m in love the almost watercolour-like background of this shot, and Harry’s keen expression.

We were also blessed with some gorgeous late afternoon light.

Harry was just an absolute delight to work with. A gorgeous, gentle, wise and happy soul, Rebecca is truly blessed to have him in her life!

Stay tuned for part two of this session, featuring Harry’s little brothers, Herbie and Bamm Bamm the Havanese.

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).

Product Review ~ Ruthless Leather Collar & Hands-free Leash

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If you’re after a strong, well made and original looking leather collar for your strong or large dog, you simply must check out Ruthless Leather. Ruth (who is also a talented dog photographer based in Sydney) and her husband Dave collaborate on creating these amazing products which include collars, leads and even matching cuffs so you can be super cool and stylish, just like your dog.

Thanks to her doting Mum, my little girl Luna was lucky enough to score a custom design – it’s a cross between the Nightowl and the Asteroid Belt and has now been added to the product range as the Lunatic. It features blue and clear reflectors on black leather with silver fittings and I think you’ll agree, suits Miss Luna down to the ground.

The quality is second to none, the sheer weight and substance of these collars must be seen and held to be believed. The leather and stamping is high grade and the fittings are just so sturdy and well matched. I’ve had to ask Ruth to send me some business cards due to the number of comments and questions we get when out and about! Each collar is custom made to suit your dog with easy-to-follow neck measuring instructions sent before construction starts. They are so accurate, that out of the five holes for the buckle, the centre hole is the perfect fit. Best of all, Ruth posts her creations worldwide!

We opted for the Hands-free Leash in a matching design (clear reflectors), you’ll find some images at the bottom of the blog post with myself and Luna modelling this setup. Fantastic idea and we use it like this so often! Thanks to my brother Andrew for taking the shots of Luna and I.

Without further ado, here’s the images of Miss Luna herself modelling the collar and lead and actually not doing too bad of a job, for Luna! I think she’s stepping up her game a bit with the modelling lately, taking after her big sister Kaya. Enjoy!

Miss Luna as had her very own doggy photo blog for a while now, carried on from when Kaya was around. If you’d like to see more of Luna and keep up to date with her latest adventures, join her new Facebook Page for extra photos, videos and fun facts. Luna loves her fans!

Client Session ~ Buddy the Staffordshire Bull Terrier

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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 ~ Pippi the English Cocker Spaniel

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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.