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From San Diego to Portland: Lucy the Newfoundland Mix

Wednesday, January 1st, 2014

If you keep up with my adventures over on the Allison Shamrell Photography Facebook page, you know where I spent my Christmas: Portland, Oregon! I was born & raised in SW Portland, and Mr. Shamrell & I head home for the holidays every year. But since we just moved to San Diego in June, this was our first Christmas vacation that we were able to travel via car – and therefore we got to bring our Bailey with us! (We’ve flown home in the past, and putting Bailey on a plane is not up for consideration – I’ve heard too many tragic stories.) It was so great finally having our dog with us on Christmas day – until she ate one of my sister’s presents while we weren’t looking, but that’s a blog post for another time!

 

While I was in Portland, I had to opportunity to photograph two local dogs! Some people may not like working while they’re on vacation – I know people even take vacations designed to separate themselves from their work – but not me! I consider the chance to squeeze in a couple of sessions as icing on the cake to the rest of my Christmas. And for this first session, ironically, I got to work with a lovely lady who also lives in San Diego but was home in Portland for the holidays too! Crazy!

Lucy the Great Pyrnees/Newfoundland mix was the star of the show – if only because her sheer size takes up the whole spotlight! haha! This girl is  B I G  – but for every inch of fluff, she’s a total love!  We took a few snuggle breaks throughout our photo session; she never wanted to be more than a few inches from her family members.  I love that about her – are all Newfoundland mix dogs so sweet?

Oh those eyes.

newfoundland mix dog photos

 

Lucy’s feet are HUGE!

newfoundland mix dog

 

I told you – here’s a quick snuggle/nap break. It’s okay, she deserves it.

newfoundland mix

 

Katie, I had a blast during our session (starting with that lovely pancake breakfast, of course!) and I hope you did too! I’m loving our photos and I can’t wait to show you the rest! In the meantime, give Lucy a hug for me…!

Family Pet Photography in San Diego, CA: Seamus the Norwich Terrier

Saturday, December 21st, 2013

This family pet photography session holds a special place in my heart. Seamus’ mom Lisa contacted me months ago, and we booked a date – but then she got bad news about her husband’s deployment. He would be held up, not making it home in time for our session date – or even for Thanksgiving. As a former military wife (well, I suppose I’m kind of still current, since Mr. Shamrell is in the Naval Reserves here in San Diego now) my heart went out to her. Big time. So I told her to call me as soon as her hubby was back in town, and I’d rearrange my schedule however would be necessary so that we could make their family/pet photo session happen. Fast-forward to last week, and he finally got back! Just in time! This was my very last photo session before my personal Christmas break, haha! I was thrilled to be able to fit them in, and extra-thrilled that Lisa’s hubby made it back for our session. Because while we kept the focus on Seamus – the adorable Norwich terrier with an attitude – this was a family photo session too, and it just wouldn’t have been complete without him.

 

So let me introduce you! This is Seamus!

terrier pet photography

 

 

He wasn’t a big fan of the studio, though, so before long we headed for the great outdoors! Then he really got to stretch his legs!

family pet photography session

 

 

I love that scruffy little face… and I can’t complete this blog post without introducing you to Seamus’ sister, Saoirse (pronounced SEER-sha)! She’s 6 months old and was (mostly) happy to join us for a few photos. How cute is this family?!

pet family photography

Lisa & Jesse, I had an absolute blast during our session – and I know Seamus had a great time too! Haha! Thank you so much for introducing me to San Dieguito County Park – my new favorite location – and I can’t wait to get together again in January!  :)

 

In-Home Del Mar Pet Photography Session with Buffy the Yellow Labrador

Thursday, December 19th, 2013

This pet photography session is the result of a bit of networking, as it turns out! I don’t exactly expect to meet future clients when I attend Chamber of Commerce meetings, but recently I met someone who wanted to give the gift of a pet photography session to his parents & their dog for Christmas this year! So I suppose you could say this session came about because of Buffy’s “brother”!

I met Buffy & her parents at their gorgeous home in Del Mar, CA. Let me tell you, their house was a photographer’s dream: they have a beautiful yard of well-maintained grass, plenty of surrounding foliage (for pretty backgrounds), and plenty of room to run around! And while Buffy doesn’t do much running these days – she’s 11 years old – she worked up enough energy to play fetch a few times for us! Buffy is a total sweetheart, and was really great to work with – but once we mentioned the word “car”, she didn’t leave the car’s trunk for the rest of the session! Haha!

This photo is literally the first frame out of my camera. Buffy decided that no pet photography session should happen without a few belly-rubs… and why not start with one?

del mar pet photography

 

 

Here’s Buffy with her “sisters”… aren’t they all gorgeous?! I love this family!

del mar pet family photography

del mar dog photography labrador

 

 

Buffy, it was wonderful to meet you! I can’t wait to show your parents all the beautiful family photos from our session… see you in the new year! :)

 

Jackie, the Beautiful Solana Beach Standard Poodle

Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

This morning I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do something special: a surprise session, for a family & their standard poodle named Jackie! That’s right – Jackie’s mom had no idea that I was showing up today, much less that we’d be working together to create dozens of photos of her gorgeous dog! This was all planned by a member of the family; I was contacted by Jackie’s owner’s daughter (which makes she & Jackie “sisters”, I suppose!), who wanted to surprise her mother with a session. And I love being sneaky – surprise photo sessions are soooo much fun! haha! So after the surprise was revealed, Jackie’s family & I went to play fetch in the neighborhood for a while, and after getting out the fetch-wiggles, we settled in for a few family portraits. The experience was a total shock to Jackie’s mom, and I can’t wait to show her all of our photos!

 

Here’s Jackie! Patiently (or sometimes not so patiently) waiting for the next throw of the tennis ball, and then sprinting back with it! This dog is serious about her fetch; for example, she’s all about her one specific ball. She has no interest in other dogs’ balls, and she won’t leave the park if the ball somehow gets lost in the bushes – she’s just got to get it back! Oh, and my favorite part of how she played was that she’d bring the ball back to a different person every time it was thrown. It was like she wanted to involve all of us in the game! Gosh – how nice of you, Jackie! (I didn’t know standard poodles were so community-oriented!)

standard poodle photography

 

It took a while, but we tuckered her out and eventually meandered back to the house. Then we relaxed in the yard – but that ball always had to be close by!

standard poodle in solana beach

 

Emily, thank you for coordinating a fantastic surprise – and Lee, I’m glad you finally made it into town! Claudia, I’m so excited to see you again & show you all your photos – thank you for a fabulous morning! :)

 

San Diego Pet Photography Sessions by Allison Shamrell – Introductory Promotion

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

I’m thrilled to announce my grand opening promotion for San Diego pet photography sessions! I promised I’d reveal the special once my Facebook page hit 1,000 fans, and it’s already soared past that number in just a few days! So without further ado, here it is:

 

I’m experienced & skilled at pet photography, but I’m not familiar with San Diego, having just moved here a few short weeks ago.

So to see & experience the best of San Diego while re-launching my business, I’m introducing a limited-time offer:

the first client to book a session in each of the following locations will receive a complimentary 20×30 canvas gallery wrap!

~   BALBOA PARK

~   CORONADO

~   DOWNTOWN

~   FIESTA ISLAND

~   POINT LOMA HARBOR

~   TORREY PINES STATE RESERVE

san diego pet photography locations

Can you just imagine how great a dog will look, gazing serenely into the distance over the rough landscape of Torrey Pines State Reserve? Laying contentedly in the grass in Balboa Park? Or catapulting himself through the sapphire-blue water at Fiesta Island? Each of these places offers incredible diversity & beauty, and I would adore meeting an adventure-prone dog amidst the sailing boats in the harbor, or San Diego’s most social pup strolling through the Gaslamp District, saying hello to all the tourists.

 Each of these places are scenic locations I’m just itching to visit – and I have a feeling they might become “regular” spots for sessions in the future.

The truth is, they may follow hundreds of Florida families, but I’m about to photograph my very first California clients. As a thank-you for kick-starting the relaunch of Allison Shamrell Pet Photography in San Diego, I’m happy to reward my first clients that are willing to visit one of these places in their session with my most popular size of canvas gallery wrap!

These products are worth over $300 each – that means I’ll be giving away more than $1800 of canvas gallery wraps in total! I wanted to go above & beyond for these families, and 20″x30″ is definitely not small – in fact, it can fill up a wall!

If you’ve never seen a canvas gallery wrap before, check out these close-ups:

canvas gallery wraps promotion

Canvas gallery wraps are one of my most popular products, and for good reason: they’re fabulously modern and incredibly well-constructed. Everyone loves them!

 

(Can I make a suggestion? These locations don’t have to be the only places we visit during our session. I think it would be marvelously fun for my clients to choose The Dalmatian Package and start at one of these locations for some beautiful scenic vistas, then head back to their house for a few super-personal photos in the place where their dog spends the most time, and then finish up at my studio for some clean, modern images and a totally different look!)

 

So there you have it! I couldn’t possibly be more excited to re-start my business here in San Diego. It’s a funny thing, you know, building a business and establishing yourself in the market, only to move across the country and (in many ways) start all over again. But I’m not starting from scratch; I know I can provide an incredible (yes, I said incredible) experience, and create beautiful images for the families that choose to meet this Florida-grown photographer. :)

 

Do you know someone who might be interested in this special? I encourage you to share this post with them. You can also share my Facebook post about it. I appreciate you helping me spread the word!

 

So check out my portfolio, then take a look at session pricing and (most importantly) get in touch! I can’t WAIT to meet you!

 

 

Okay okay, the disclaimers:

  1. First come first serve for each location. 
  2. One canvas per client; no combining locations for multiple canvases.
  3. Clients may choose any length of session; regular session fees apply.
  4. Clients may choose to upgrade their canvas gallery wrap to a different size by paying the a la carte difference.
  5. Guess what: I don’t pretend to know all the most photogenic spots in San Diego. If you want to have a session at a different public place (that’s just as scenic as the ones I listed), contact me and make your pitch! I’ll entertain all ideas, and just might extend this promotion to a couple more locations!

 

UPDATE – 7/1/13: Three locations have been booked! Balboa Park, Torrey Pines State Park & Fiesta Island have been spoken for. As of right now, the other three locations are still up for grabs!

Image sources: http://onecoolthingeveryweekend.com/2012/11/21/picture-tour-of-the-san-diego-balboa-park/http://www.sandiegodigitalphotos.com/San_Diego_photos/Coronado_Centennial_Park.htmlhttp://101thingstodosw.com/san-diego/family-time-on-a-budget/http://www.billcaid.com/2012/BalboaParkandMissionBay20121208/BalboaParkandMissionBay20121208.htmhttp://www.bcre.com/gaslamp-district-downtown-san-diego.phphttps://www.facebook.com/harborislandwestmarina

 

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