I love my job. I’m pretty much head-over-heels in love with it – dog photography is fun, interesting, and I get to be creative & work with all sorts of lovable mutts! What else could be better?

I also love meeting all the different dogs & clients that I get to work with. Each dog is different, and I truly love getting to know their owners, too – I keep in touch with my past clients, and they’re really more friends than “clients”. I think that’s because it’s easy to get along when you love the same thing, and we’re all crazy about our dogs! At the risk of preaching to the choir, it’s safe to say that my clients & I truly consider our pets family. Not “animals”, not “property” – our pets are our children.

That being said, all of my clients are different in their own ways. Some are more – well – adventurous than others! And I recently shared a session with a dog whose mom was one of the bravest people I’ve ever worked with, because she didn’t flinch at any of the “no dogs” signs & warnings at the state park we visited for our session! She’s outdoorsy & active, and wanted hiking photos with her chihuahua/min pin mix Zoey – so that’s exactly what we got! Sure, we had to bend the rules a bit to get them – and we would have left the park immediately & politely had we actually been instructed to do so by a park ranger – but a dog photography session is a special occasion, and it’s thrilling to me when my clients are willing to take a chance to get photos that are not only memorable, but unique as well!

So I’m not going to share with you the name of the California State Park we visited – I don’t want the feds to come after us, haha! – but you might be able to recognize it from these photos. Take a look…

(Side note: how cute is Zoey’s collar?! Her mom went to local dog boutique Muttropolis before our session & picked it up, and I was oohing & aahing over it for our whole session! It was beautifully sparkly without being obnoxiously bling-y, and they make ’em big enough for Bailey, so she might just end up with one too! Here’s a link to the collar on Muttropolis’ website; check it out!)

Zoey had a blast during our session; she was constantly on the move, sniffing out the wildlife & scooting up & down the trail. This was a rare moment of simply taking in the view.

We finished up with a peaceful, beautiful moment underneath a gorgeously cloudy sky.

Zoey & Christina, thank you for the workout! Haha! I can’t wait to see you both again soon – until then, happy trails! :)

Tags: San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography