It didn’t slow the dogs down in the slightest though. As soon as we were out of the car and on the ovals, they were racing around madly after their beloved tennis balls. The light was a bit dim to get sharp action shots, but this gives you a pretty good picture of the ‘fog dogs’.

With active dogs such as these, it’s always a good idea to let them run off a bit of energy before the serious modelling business begins, so we spent a good half hour playing ball! The sun finally made an appearance and started clearing away the fog, though it hung around for quite some time in pockets. The light was worth waiting for, just beautiful.

Scout is the older of the pair at two years of age. He seems to take the lead in most situations with younger Nelle (10 months) happy to follow.

The morning light didn’t let us down with beautiful golden rays coming through the trees. I’m totally in love with this shot!

And I love this candid of Nelle at the park. Black dogs can sometimes be tricky to get shots of that look good in black and white, but her eyes in this one just make it.

Eventually lots of other dogs started arriving at the park and with Scout being such a social boy and needing to say meet and greet most of them, we decided to pack up and head home for some more relaxed photos. Doesn’t Scout look handsome in this shot in a patch of sunlight?

I thought we might have done too good of a job wearing them out, but with some tasty treats on hand, they soon perked up.

Scout’s happy face was tending to feature in most of the shots.

So we gave him a rest from the camera for  a while and concentrated on the beautiful Nelle for a while. I just loved her on their red bed!

Such a sweet and gentle girl.

Photo sessions can be pretty tiring for the pups – it’s a combination of physical and mental stimulation that tends to make them crash out for the rest of the day, so my clients tell me! Here’s my final shot of Scout, well on his way to having a well-earned rest.

This Great Dane family lives in South Frankston in Melbourne so we took a trip to the local pier (complete with trailer-load of all four Danes) for the session. Melbourne turned on the blue skies, perfect temperatures and lovely evening light which made for a great atmosphere for the photos.

A quick note to future clients – in many of these photos you’ll see leads on the dogs – sometimes this is unavoidable in public areas like this! I’m more than happy to do a bit of tricky Photoshopping and remove them on the ones you wish to use as wall art or prints, however to do it to every shot would take me months, so I just leave them in until the final ordering stage when it’s decided if they’ll be used or not.

Alexa is two years old and affectionately referred to as the Elle McPherson of the bunch. You can see why, with those long supermodel legs and elegant neck.

She is very pretty, but also quite a devious and naughty little thing! The stories Tracey told me about her remind me so much of my Kaya, that same calcuating, clever way of looking at things. Brains as well as beauty!

I just love this shot of her.

And who can resist the famous Dane ‘helicopter ears’.

It’s easy to see how much Tracey loves all her Danes, bestowing them with frequent kisses and cuddles.

Another regal shot of ‘Princess’ Alexa. The funky architecture of the bridge makes for a fantastic background!

Next in line were the oldest and the youngest of the pack – Kiki who is 8 years old and such a gorgeous, gentle soul. And little (said with tongue firmly in cheek of course) 8 month old Jackson. We took a stroll up the pier with these two. The shot below is one of my favourites from the session – a standoff between the Danes and the boys further up!

Kiki is pretty amazing. Great Danes generally age more quickly than most other smaller breeds and unfortunately tend to live shorter lives. Kiki however is doing fantastic for a lady of her age! She impressed me no end with an agile leap up into the back of the 4wd, easy as pie!

At 8 months and already taller than Kiki and Alexa, Jackson is still such a baby and easily intrigued by the simple things in life, such as birdies flying overhead.

What a handsome boy though! His occupation is a show dog and he’s already proving to be a star, with many great results under his collar, and many more to come.

I love this tangle of legs, tails and ears as we walked further up the pier.

With Jackson pausing to watch some activity in the water further out.

Back on the beach, a rock wall provided a chance for Jackson to stand up tall and look like the big regal Great Dane he is (with plenty of cuddles of encouragement from his Mum of course).

On the beach, he found a little nut that took up his attention for a good 10 minutes.

Everyone must know by now how much I LOVE head wrinkles – well this boy was a goldmine of them! How smooshable is this face!

Jackson’s distraction gave us a bit more time for Kiki who posed it up, reminding us that she too used to be a successful show dog in her day and still has it.

Last but certainly not least, the adorable Tyson. The perfect gentle giant, he is much more concerned with being cruisy and relaxed, than looking nice and alert for us for photos. After lots of time and patience though we did manage to get some beauties, thanks to some other dogs who were being walked along the pier that managed to grab his attention.

Tyson wasn’t going to miss out on cuddles either. This probably gives you a good idea of his size, he’s a very big boy!

Right at the end of our session when the light was on the verge of running out, I snapped off a few shots like this. Just perfect – even including the rising moon!

As you’d expect, taking four gorgeous Great Danes to a public place like this does attract some attention. The number of people that wanted to stop and get cuddles from the dogs and ask the inevitable questions was staggering. We were originally counting the ‘horse’ comments but ended up losing track – just goes to show the impact these regal dogs have on people. To finish off, here’s a few shots of them being loved and admired by people and dogs alike.

Thanks Tracey for allowing me to hang out with you and your lovely family of Great Danes, it was a pleasure!

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.

“My next horse and the most important horse I will ever own is Aly.  I still own Aly and he is my life.  Aly is an unraced thoroughbred and was a very well educated rising 5 yr old when I first brought him. He is now almost 20 yrs old and has had a magnificent life with me.  I see Aly as my partner in this endeavor to retrain horses.  He helps me by spending time with these young, usually highly strung and worked up babies who have come from a very stressful and intense lifestyle to that of complete calmness and love.  Aly is wise and loyal.  He constantly helps me with my riding. He is well educated and forces me to ride correctly or he will simply not co-operate!”

Lorelle and Aly have built up an amazing connection over the 15 years they have been together, something that’s immediately obvious when you meet them.

He follows her around, no halter or leadrope, comes when he’s called (sometimes) and generally acts more like a dog than a horse!

Aly looks pretty amazing for a 20 year old horse, don’t you think?

Aly also has a funny side, he’s a real character! We hung out with him for a couple of hours and I got to witness one of his interesting little habits… he’s a licker!

Gotta love the little drool trail coming off his bottom lip here, classic!

Finishing off with my favourite shot of the session.

Horses are right up there with dogs to photograph for me, so if you have a gorgeous horse you want some relaxed, casual non-posed shots of, please get in contact, I’d love to meet you both!

More horsey silliness coming in a couple of days, stay tuned…