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Maple & Daisy at Balboa Park

Thursday, September 13th, 2018

Maple and Daisy’s parents just moved to San Diego – so I thought it was absolutely perfect that they chose Balboa Park and the beach as the two locations for their photo session!! What could possibly be a better introduction to all the beauty of San Diego, right?! (At least it’s a great start – I’m so excited for them to settle in and discover all the great places around town. Including the dog parks and dog beaches, haha!)

Maple & Daisy are two dogs who absolutely love to have fun. For Maple the Weimaraner mix, that means playing with her parents, exploring new places and generally being a goofball. For Daisy the who-knows-what mix, that means hunting small creatures and playing fetch at the beach! They each have their own preferences & drives, and they were adopted by each of their parents individually, but these sisters somehow fit together so well I would have guessed that they were separated at birth. (If they didn’t look so starkly different or have a multiple-year age gap, that is.) I absolutely loved working with both of them, and I’m pretty sure they had a lot of fun during our session too! And guess what: their mom is an emergency vet, so if playtime ever takes an unexpected turn, they’re already in the best possible hands. How cool is that?

 

This is Maple! She loved seeing the sights at Balboa Park, and was more than willing to jump up on benches/into flowers/wherever I asked her to go! What a good model. (And I loved watching her stretch those long legs as she ran around at the beach!)

balboa park dog picture

 

And this sweet face is Daisy. Don’t let the cuteness fool you though – she’s an absolute BEAST when you show her a tennis ball!

balboa park dog flowers

 

Did I mention that Maple & Daisy’s parents are getting married?!

balboa park picture with dogs

 

Anri & Daniel, I’m so excited to show you the rest of our images soon! Thank you so much for letting me introduce you to two of my favorite places in San Diego! :)

 

Huxley is Not Your Average Toy Poodle – San Diego, CA

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

Aren’t breed stereotypes silly?

I think it’s crazy when people say things like “all labradors love water”, “chihuahuas bark all the time” or even “corgis can’t swim”. There are always exceptions to the rules, and even though breeding for centuries has imprinted some pretty strong instincts on most dogs, I’m reminded how unique each pet’s personality truly is when I meet individuals like Huxley.

Huxley is a toy poodle – so you’d think he just wants to be carried around in a purse, right? Don’t lie, I bet that image flashed into your mind!! Haha – and it’s okay if it did, since toy poodles are phenomenal companion dogs that don’t need tons of exercise, so there are plenty of toy poodles who love that kind of thing. But Huxley, on the other hand, seems to have the body of a toy poodle and the spirit of a rugged outdoorsman! His favorite thing in the world (besides his mom, of course) is hiking. This adorable little guy is happiest on the trail, out in nature, where he can explore the wilderness and breathe the mountain air. And no matter what your preconceived notions are, I know that’s not what you expected when I said “toy poodle”!  :)

So we spent our session at my two most-favorite rustic locations in San Diego, Mission Trails Regional Park and Old Poway Park. We incorporated plenty of outdoorsy elements that Huxley loved, and we had a great time! Plus, he wore his signature red bandana, and I’m pretty sure I’m not as good at fashion as this little poodle is… does that mean I’m stereotyping him after all?! ;)

 

This is Huxley! He smiles when he runs!!

toy poodle running

 

Okay, to be fair, he smiles all the time.

toy poodle dog

 

Are toy poodles especially good at smiling?! Because Huxley always looks so happy! Oh I just love this little boy’s spirit.

toy poodle san diego

 

Jina and Garrett, it was so great to meet you both & spend the afternoon with Huxley! Can’t wait to get together with you again soon!

 

Juneau, Ella & Roxy – A Family of San Diego Dogs

Monday, August 27th, 2018

I absolutely love photo sessions that take place during a time of transition: sometimes it’s for a family who just moved to San Diego, or is just about to move away… or a family that already has 4-legged children and is about to add their first 2-legged child to the family… or perhaps those 2-legged kids are headed off to college and we’re capturing how life has always been before things change. In the case of Ella, Juneau & Roxy, we were celebrating a very happy occasion: Roxy is a brand new member of the family! She’s seriously spicing things up in her new home, too; Ella & Juneau are older pups who’ve been loyal members of the family for many years, and I have a feeling their routine has changed (just a little!) since Roxy came home. But they love their new little sister, especially Juneau; he’s such a great big brother and it’s already clear that he & Roxy have formed a special bond. (And it’s adorable!)

Our photo session took place at Mission Trails Regional Park, as well as at a nearby grassy park for a slight change of scenery. And even though things started out with a bit of chaos, the dogs soon settled into a rhythm of posing for me beautifully. Plus, it helped that we had some yummy treats for them on hand! I have a feeling that the photos from our session will be a fresh, gorgeous complement to the portraits they’ve taken in the past… and I’m so excited to share them with you!

 

This is Ella! She LOVES treats and has the most beautiful lab smile… one of my favorite moments of our session was when she spontaneously started crawling toward me (okay, let’s be honest, she was probably headed for the treat bag) near the end of our session!

chocolate lab

 

This handsome hunk-a-lunk is Juneau, the golden retriever and mama’s boy of the bunch. Whenever his mom & I stepped more than a few feet away from him, he would whine and fidget – he just looooooves his mom! And he’s such a sweetheart, I practically fell in love with him too.

golden retriever on grass

 

This little spitfire is Roxy! She’s part chihuahua, dachshund and about 5 other breeds, with an insatiable zest for life. She certainly keeps her new family on their toes!

chihuahua mix dog on hiking trail

 

One more photo of Roxy, just because this head tilt is too cute to resist. I mean COME ON.

chihuahua mix dog

 

Cinda, thank you for introducing me to your gorgeous dogs! I’m excited to see you again soon! :)

 

Baxter the Goldendoodle! (Photos in San Diego, CA)

Monday, July 30th, 2018

I’m pretty sure Baxter the goldendoodle and his mom deserve an award or two… because although our session was a lot of fun, we had to jump through so many hoops (literal and figurative jumping!) to make it happen! So let’s walk through their awards (actual trophies forthcoming)…

First and foremost, they deserve a Really Fun to Work With award – because Erin and Baxter are a blast! We had a great time laughing and talking, mostly at Baxter’s antics, and I feel like I gained 2 new friends… although Baxter has rarely met a dog or person that he doesn’t get along with, so I’m probably just the newest person in a long line of his friends!

Let’s see – they also deserve the Most Patient Clients award, since the weather prevented the second half of our session from happening 2 3 I don’t know how many times! But trust me, it got to the point of truly absurd. I think Mother Nature was holding a grudge against us for some mysterious reason, because last I checked “June gloom” was supposed to end in June, not continue through July/early August! And yet here we are. Part of me can hardly believe we actually, finally finished our session – thank goodness Bax has a flexible schedule. ;)

They also earned the American Ninja Warrior Clients award – because our beach location was a little extreme! We jumped from a rock down to a hidden cove – and it was all very exciting until Baxter vetoed the big jump. Apparently that was a hallmark of his younger days (he’s 10 now, after all) but he didn’t want to try it this time. So eventually we headed to Ocean Beach for some safe, flat fun. And now I think I may add a clause in my agreement requiring future clients to disclose whether the locations they have in mind require rock climbing expertise… because that’s something I definitely don’t have, haha!!

Haha – this session was memorable in a bunch of very good ways. And I’m loving our photos! So enough talk – here’s Baxter!

 

I can’t resist his happy goldendoodle face! What a sweetheart!

studio goldendoodle photo

 

One of his favorite hobbies is stealing his mom’s shoes, so we recreated his antics in the studio! (He was more than happy to oblige.)

goldendoodle studio picture

 

After long last, we found ourselves at the beach. And Baxter wasted no time getting soaking wet!

goldendoodle water photo

 

A quick pause to make sure mom’s coming before he walks back to the car – because although Baxter is a social butterfly, he truly only has eyes for his mom.

goldendoodle at beach trail

 

 

Erin, thank you for your unending patience with Mother Nature. I’m looking forward to getting together again soon! :)

 

Photos of Gus, the La Jolla Rescue Dog

Wednesday, July 18th, 2018

Rescue dogs don’t usually have many advantages in life (besides being cute, obviously). They often come to shelters and their adoptive parents with issues ranging everywhere from nutrition to socialization to internal health… and it’s up to the rescue organization and the dog’s future family to overcome those issues and eventually help that dog lead a healthy, happy life. That’s a tall order – it was definitely a challenge for Gus, whose previous caretakers tried to crop his ears in such a shoddy way that they botched it and caused nerve damage. I mean… if I were Gus, I’m not sure if I’d ever trust humans again – but Gus is a truly remarkable dog. He not only learned to trust again, he learned to love – and now he’s an incredibly sweet part of the family, living in La Jolla along with his parents! Now he serves as a vigilant guard dog, a constant companion, and he even moonlights as a cuddle buddy for his 3-year-old niece. I absolutely love his story, because many dogs aren’t as lucky as Gus – but his parents/rescuers helped him overcome his past and start enjoying the fabulous life of a La Jolla rescue dog. (Which, let’s be honest, is not a phrase you hear every day! “La Jolla rescue dog”? Well I think it’s a great title to bestow on any pup, and Gus can be the new ambassador – he already keeps a close eye on his neighborhood from his upstairs porch, haha!)

 

This is Gus! Such a good boy! (I took this photo during a brief moment in which there were no other dogs walking by… otherwise he certainly wouldn’t be looking at the camera, haha!)

la jolla dog picture

 

Gus at home. Don’t let those big eyes fool you; he takes his role as guard dog quite seriously. If you visit, you WILL be barked at!

la jolla dog at home

 

He loooooves his parents. And they love him.

la jolla mutt with parents

 

Ashley & Tom, thank you for a lovely afternoon! I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon! :)

 

 

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