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Tag: ‘pet photography’



Hillcrest, San Diego Pride Party with Dogs at Fido & Co. Canine Country Club

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

The Pride of Hillcrest is something I’d never been to before, but I learned quickly: it’s one big party! This yearly festival & parade is held in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego, and I absolutely loved the happy, joyous atmosphere of the whole weekend!

Fido & Co., Hilcrest’s “canine country club”, invited me to photograph the event, and I’m so glad they did! It was so much fun to hang out with their members and enjoy the festivities! On Friday night, the band D’Nile took the stage in front of Fido & Co. and played long into the night – and you should have seen all the people that came up and started dancing! Saturday morning was the parade, and my gosh, people flocked to Fido & Co. to watch it all. (I suppose it could have had something to do with the bottomless mimosas they were serving…)

Take a look!

They decked out the whole building for the event! 

dog boarding gay pride party

 

The event was a perfect opportunity to collect proceeds for charity, and the recipient was Ferdinand’s Familia, San Diego’s only all-species rescue! I was talking to one of the volunteers, and they said they got a call a couple of weeks ago for a stray llama in Chula Vista. Um… what??? Ferdinand’s Familia has stables & facilities in Imperial City and they rescue everything from cats & dogs to goats & horses! What a great choice for a charity to support.

band fundraiser charity

 

D’Nile was awesome!

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Soooo much dancing…

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How cute is Gabi (the pug) joining the fun?!

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I decided to bring out my fisheye lens for a few photos, too…

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Saturday morning! This picture is misleading, because I took it before FIdo & Co. got PACKED! There were easily 3-4 times as many people there by the time the parade started.

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Karla & Lisa, the owners of Fido & Co., pose in front of the big peace flag in the lobby! (love these two!)

dog boutique owners

Dogs attended the festivities… obviously! :) That’s Gabi the pug & Ruby the yorkie.

people and dogs gay pride

 

Gabi donned a pink tutu for Saturday… so. perfect. Who doesn’t love pugs & tutus? You can see how everyone was loving her in the photo on the left!

pug in a pink tutu

More love for sweet Gabi…

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These boys got plenty of attention too! I don’t know their names, but aren’t they handsome?

dogs in canine country club

 

Haha! Everyone laughed when this dog used his brother as a head-rest! And this is Patrick the Boston terrier, who loved the camera…

dogs in san diego's boarding facility

And then the parade began!

san diego pride dog-friendly

 

Sadly, I couldn’t stay for the parade – some extended family came into town –  but if it was anything like the pre=parade party, I’m sure it was a BALL!

 

Thank you, Fido & Co., for inviting me to the event! I had a great time and I’m already excited for next year. :)

 

San Diego Pet Photographer Featured Internationally

Thursday, July 11th, 2013

Hello, lovely blog-readers! Some pretty exciting things have happened lately with a few of my photos, and if you’re not already a fan of the Facebook page, you might have missed hearing about it – and that’s no fun! So here’s the big news: my photos have been featured internationally!

Itty Bitty & Fluffy is a British-based blog about pet style & photography. They showcase the latest & greatest products in the pet industry, whether they’re from upscale boutiques or handmade by artisans. They’re also a storehouse of fantastic pet photography by artists around the globe. So when they notified me that they’d be featuring my session with Socrates the labradoodle, I was thrilled! Not only that – they took a dip into my blog archives and specifically asked to feature Gus’s session from last year as well! So those photos will be featured soon too! Check out a few screenshots of their post here, or click here to see the whole article on their site.

 

san diego featured pet photographer


san diego featured pet photographer

 

san diego featured pet photographer

 

Exciting stuff, right?! I’m still pinching myself over being featured (soon-to-be-twice!) in a blog with such high standards, and a such a reputation in the pet industry for only showing truly outstanding work. YAY!

 

Now, there’s a difference between being featured for stylized pet portraiture and being featured for national event coverage… so I’m equally thrilled (just in a different way!) to say that my photos from the Loews Dog Surfing Competition were requested & published by the UK Daily Mail! (Looks like I haven’t lost my journalism touch… shooting for a paper was actually how I got started in photography, and let me tell you, it’s not always easy to capture photos that stand out from alllllll the other photographers’ at the event!) The Daily Mail is one of the UK’s most popular news sources with millions of readers, and they published an article the day after the event, detailing the competitors & atmosphere of the day. The article is here on their site, or you can just take a quick look below:

 (This first photo actually isn’t mine; it was taken years ago and is just a stock photo showing Tillman.)

san diego honored pet photographer

 

 There’s Ricochet the SURF-ice Dog, and a couple more competitors!

san diego honored pet photographer

 

(To be completely honest, I think they lost a bit of saturation in the photos’ colors, which slightly disappointed me… but hey, I’m a perfectionist! haha!)

 

So it’s been a big week, I suppose! :)  And I think a few more good things are coming soon… you can keep up with all the updates by scrolling down to the bottom of this page and entering your email address under “subscribe”. You’ll get a cute little one-liner email whenever I publish a new post here! That way you won’t miss any of the exciting news. I may have just arrived in San Diego, but I have a feeling there are PLENTY of good things on their way! :)

 

San Diego Dog Photography Portfolio Video

Friday, July 5th, 2013

Amidst all the surfing dogs and studio renovations, I’ve been working on several behind-the-scenes ways to introduce my business (and myself) to the San Diego area lately. I thought about how I’ve been showing photos from big events lately, and posting iPhone-quality studio construction photos… not exactly the kinds of things I normally like to share! I mean, it’s fun for a change, but I usually like to control every aspect of my photos: the setting, the light, the colors, the atmosphere, etc. And honestly, I haven’t had that kind of control since my last session. So I could just post more photos from my past sessions… but I thought of something much more FUN!

I made a video of my portfolio! These are some of my absolute-favorite photos I’ve ever taken! Not all my favorites are here, of course – I couldn’t fit something from every session into one song, and I just like too many photos, haha! But this is a great taste of my natural, playful & soulful pet photography style, and the song it’s set to is SUPER fun! So, without further ado… enjoy!  :)

 

 
I told you the song is excellent!  :)  In case you’d like to share this with anyone you know, or even just post it to your Facebook page, you can find the original video here or share my post about it here. (Or, to take a slower look at my portfolio, see my portrait galleries on my main website.) Thanks for watching, and happy sharing!

 

San Diego Pet Photography Studio: Progress!

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Well, ever since covering the incredible Loews Surf Dog Competition, I’ve been REALLY busy behind the scenes at my new studio! I’m soooo excited to be working on San Diego’s newest pet photography studio & consultation area that it makes all the construction worth it. Because I’m not exactly the kind of person that loves renovation, haha… and there’s been a LOT of construction involved to make this place perfect! Let me show you!

Note: all photos taken with an iPhone. I’m saving my DSLR to take photos of the final, completed product! (It’ll look extra-pretty that way, right? haha!)

Hmmm, I wonder why my phone wanted to make the gray wall look yellow. Regardless, it’s gray! With a few stripes of blue!

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I’m not so good at staying in the lines, apparently, so I used 2 pieces of tape for twice as big of a boundary. I’d be way too nervous painting like this with just one piece!!

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This is one of two MASSIVE tape balls, after I peeled off allllll the tape from the walls. I have to admit, it was really fun to rip it off and see the clean lines underneath!

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Here’s a big peek: one of the finalized walls! I felt a bit weird about painting a door, but when you look at the whole room it really looks great!

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When all the painting was done, I had to do something that really scared me. I cut up the carpet! I’ve never done anything that even comes close to hard-core renovation like this! It’s just so permanent, you know? I guess I don’t really count painting as permanent. I feel like a first-time homeowner without ever having bought a home, haha!

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The day I cut up the carpet was also an infamous day of 3 trips to Home Depot. In the space of about 3 hours. Because what was under the carpet was more than slightly unexpected. Let’s just say… I can laugh about it now! Wasn’t doing much laughing that day, though! :)

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But LOOK! It was soooo worth it! Beautiful laminate hardwood floors!! And these were put in, from beginning to end, singlehandedly by my husband. He is just incredible – he’d never done this before, and they turned out absolutely perfect!

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And last but certainly not least, look what just arrived TODAY! It’s a flashy new MacBook Air, and it’s part of a sweeping new master plan to improve the way I present session images to my clients! What used to be a fun, post-session get-together is about to turn into a grand unveiling! This laptop is only part of the plan, and I can’t wait to show you the rest of the experience. Seeing your session photos is going to be an unforgettable event!

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Thanks for keeping up with the new studio progress – I’m excited to share more with you soon! Hopefully I just have one more blog post of in-progress work to show you, and then I can reveal the completed studio! (eeeek!) Fingers crossed! :)

 

San Diego’s Newest Pet Photography Studio!

Saturday, June 15th, 2013

Well, it’s official! I wanted to keep it under-wraps until the papers were signed and the keys were in my hand… and now, it’s true: I’m the owner of San Diego’s newest pet photography studio! Yay!!! This is sooooo exciting!!

 

san diego pet photo studio

 

I’m not going to show you any photos of the space yet, because honestly, they’re “before” photos. And what good is a “before” without an “after”? I promise, they’re coming! But right now, you’ll have to imagine the possibilities through these photos (taken with my iPhone, because I still haven’t found my card reader in our moving boxes yet… gah).

 

san diego pet photo studio

 

I’m feeling a lot of different emotions right now – probably what every photographer that’s opened a studio goes through. I’m scared the space won’t live up to the ideas I have in my head if I can’t decorate it well enough. I’m scared for my upcoming bill at Home Depot. I’m scared that the investment will start to weigh on me. I’m scared of a break-in. But at the same time, I’m so excited to have a space in the community where I can invite people, clients & dogs over! I’m excited to be able to simply say, yes, I have a studio! I’m excited to decorate & design it, and I’m excited to have a place that can do everything I need it for: client meetings, shoots, ordering sessions, etc. Honestly, I’m a little bit excited to separate my business life from my personal life, because – not gonna lie – my time-management skills could use a bit of work (coughfacebookcough) and I think having limited access to my files at home might be just the push I need to be as productive as possible while working.

So in the meantime, I’m accepting any & all suggestions on decorating & maintaining a brick & mortar studio. Ken and I are about to head to Home Depot now… and I’m praying the employees there have plenty of patience! We are first-timers, after all! :)

Thanks for reading – and stay tuned for more updates as I do my best to make this studio perfect! :)

 

 

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