I am very happy to introduce you to little miss Elliot! She is the kind of dog who lets her presence be known – but that’s probably not surprising if you’ve ever met a dachshund before, haha! Here’s a fun fact about Elliot: she is named after the character on the TV show, Scrubs. I instantly knew we were going to hit it off because that happens to be one of my favorite TV series! :)

We had a great photo session, starting at San Dieguito County Park where we played a lot of fetch. She also enjoyed barking at other dogs and people, letting them know that she was there, and that this was her park now. (Obviously.) After a bit of running around and getting some of that puppy energy out, we headed to the beach at Del Mar for a gorgeous sunset. It was a slightly hazy due to the recent wildfires in California, but that actually made the sunlight nice & soft, so it turned out to be a really lovely afternoon. We played on the beach and let me tell you: Elliot is fearless when it comes to the water! Go figure; a lot of small dogs are usually a little nervous around the waves, but not her! She charged into the ocean and had a blast, and it was so much fun to see.

When I spoke with Elliot’s parents before the photo session, they mentioned that she’s hesitant & shy around strangers. (Of course, for a dachshund, those emotions get expressed in the form of many, many sassy barks.) I assured them that her nervousness wouldn’t be a problem at all, since I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeve to make sure that we capture some amazing images. And we did just that! I’ll be honest, we started the session to a cacophony of barks, so I had to ease into things much slower than normal. But that’s okay! I used my trusty long lens to make her feel like I wasn’t invading her space. We were able to play fetch, run around with her parents, and eventually she even snuggled up with them as if I wasn’t even there. We created & captured a ton of great moments, and Elliot really enjoyed herself! This session just goes to show that it’s 100% possible to have a phenomenal photo session – no matter what quirks your dog has – while making sure that everyone is totally comfortable!

This is Elliot. Who wouldn’t love that silly little face?!

And this is Elliot – airborne! This girl can HUSTLE! I’m absolutely loving our (many) action photos!

At the beach, Elliot stayed in motion pretty much the whole time – whether it was playing more fetch or walking with her parents at a more leisurely pace.

And as much as I love her fur coloring, I actually love how Elliot looks in black & white too. Such a pretty girl.

Melissa & Ed, thank you so much for introducing me to your gorgeous girl! I can’t wait to get together with you again soon!

Tags: action, beach, dachshund, dogs, park, pet photography, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography