You’re in for a treat today! Sometimes I have out-of-town clients and I am always so appreciative that they travel quite a distance to have a photo session with me. This time, Sasha the Yorkie and her parents drove all the way down to San Diego from Fallbrook, CA. Sasha’s mom loved the idea of a vintage feel to her photos – so of course we had to go to Old Poway Park!

It’s one of my favorite locations for a rustic, old-fashioned look, so I knew it would be perfect! And as diverse as the various settings in that park are, we were able to strike a pose in all of my favorite spots – because Sasha was such a dream to work with! Honestly, she spoiled me: we would ask her to sit, she sat. We would ask her to stay, she stayed. Seriously – what a dream come true. There were only a couple of things she would express an opinion about: first was whether or not she was tired of running for action photos. We would toss a tennis ball for her to fetch, and after a few times she would just stop and watch it roll away. So then we would toss it again and she would just look at us with a look on her face that said “no, guys”… so we would try again by tossing it much closer to her, and then she finally gave in as if to say “ok well… that’s close enough”. It was too funny – that clever girl was just conserving her energy, I suppose. There were also a couple of times we asked her to lay down in the grass and she pretty much told us no, that wouldn’t be happening. We thought well ok, that’s fine, on to the next thing – but later we wouldn’t even be asking and she would decide to lay down on her own. We asked her seriously Sasha? now!? Haha! She definitely has her opinions on what she will and won’t do, and I think it’s totally fair to let her be in charge of the photo session. :)

But like I said, for the most part she’s happy to do whatever her parents ask her to do. She is a TOTAL daddy’s girl, but her and her mom make a gorgeous pair too! It was so sweet to see the bond between all three of them. After having a good time at the park playing fetch and posing, we headed to Del Mar Beach! She doesn’t go to the beach very often (Fallbrook, remember?) and this was her first time at Del Mar so she was naturally curious. She was also a little concerned about having her parents nearby! She wanted to keep track of them very closely and seemed like she just wanted everyone to stick together. Once again, she let us know if she was in the mood or not to fetch the ball – specifically when the ocean got involved! We threw the ball at one point into the water and she looked at us like you want me to do what?! No way! We tried getting her to walk towards the ocean and a wave came crashing and she just stopped, as if to say “I shall not do this.” It was quite funny!

Another fun fact about Sasha – she’s a bilingual dog and knows commands in both English and Spanish. How cool is that?! Needless to say, I had a blast with her and her parents. Edith, I can’t wait to see you soon and show you the rest of Sasha’s portraits!