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Tourmaline Beach Photo Session with Marina the Husky/Pit Bull Mix

Monday, February 9th, 2015

I met Marina & her parents at Tourmaline Beach for her photo session recently, and I learned very quickly that Marina loves the beach! Luckily, her family lives a short walking distance from the coast, so this is their favorite beach to visit together after work & on the weekends. Marina was so excited to be there, tugging on her leash and dashing from side to side as soon as we hit the sand – you’d have thought it was her first time there, but nope, she’s a regular! Haha! Don’t you love that contagious canine excitement?

 

Marina is a husky/pit bull mix, which means she has a LOT of energy. And boy did she let it out – every time she fetched the tennis ball, she’d sprint off & take it for a big, winding “victory lap” all around the beach! It was so cute – she paraded the ball around, as if to say “hey everyone, look what I got!” She’s a total sweetheart, and wanted to play with every dog that walked by, too. I absolutely loved capturing her spirited action on the beach – she definitely kept my shutter finger busy! :)

 

Here she is, happy as a clam to be at the beach again. Look at those eyes!

beach dog

 

Sometimes (rarely) Marina likes to slow down and enjoy the view. (Only for a minute, and then she’s off again!)

pit mix tourmaline beach

 

Her face is so beautiful… isn’t she a unique dog?

tourmaline beach dog

 

Okay, okay, one more photo… I caught this blooper as she was shaking off from one of her many laps around the beach!

tourmaline beach dog photo

 

 

Sarah & Steve, thank you so much for introducing me to your gorgeous girl! And now, I have plenty of action photos to sort through… :)

 

More Photos of Aberdeen the Service Dog!

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

If you saw my previous blog post, you’re already familiar with the handsome face that I recently photographed: Aberdeen the CCI service dog. He’s a beautiful golden retriever/labrador mix, and he lives in Ocean Beach with his mom, Patty. Although we started our photo session on a beautiful day, some dark clouds came rolling in & prevented us from visiting the San Diego Yacht Club & playing on the nearby beaches –  so we got together just a few days later, and continued our session with cooperating weather! Aberdeen was excited to see me again (I think he considers me The Treat Lady) and I was thrilled to have him in front of my camera a second time. He’s such a happy dog! :)

 

Oh, and I want to make one side note to these photos, as well as the previous post’s: Aberdeen was always on a leash! It’s important that service dogs stay leashed at all times, so we made sure he was safe & sound, close by our side, for the entire session. I know it doesn’t appear that way in these photos, but leashes can be awfully visually distracting… and the magic of Photoshop is a powerful thing. ;)

 

Here he is at Liberty Station, where he & Patty can often be found.

service dog flowers

 

 

Here’s Aberdeen on the beach! Despite being a labrador/golden retriever mix, he doesn’t like water. So we played on the sand for a while, and eventually he got comfortable – and ended up going in deeper than his paws, for the first time ever! We were so proud of him!

service dog with owner

 

 I love Aberdeen’s features. He’s so handsome.

service dog close up

 

 He got deeper in the water than ever before! (I know this isn’t much for most labradors… but for Aberdeen, this was a big deal!)

labrador mix service dog

 

 But I still think he’s happiest on dry land. :)

dog running beach

 

Patty, thank you for an amazing multi-day photo session! I can’t wait to see you & Aberdeen again soon!

 

Service Dog Photography – Aberdeen in San Diego, CA

Friday, January 30th, 2015

In the past, I’ve done a bit of service dog photography with puppies in training, but I have to admit: this was my very first full-length photo session with a fully-trained, active service dog! I wasn’t sure what to expect, honestly: the service dogs I’ve photographed in the past were adorable puppies, not yet fully grown & only somewhat aware of the huge responsibility they’d have one day. Aberdeen, on the other hand, is an 8-year-old labrador/golden retriever dog who’s been with his owner, Patty, for years now! He’s an absolutely incredible dog – cheerful, helpful & amazingly intuitive – and it was such a thrill for me to work with a dog who’s doing his job at the same time I’m doing mine! :)

Aberdeen is from Canine Companions for Independence, a fantastic organization dedicated to providing impeccably-trained dogs to veterans & people with disabilities. And even though I’ve gotten to know a few puppy raisers in the past, talking with Patty & learning about Aberdeen’s upbringing was a truly educational experience for me. For example, I learned that CCI keeps cats around their facility all the time: they let them wander around, take naps & greet visitors around the dogs, because their dogs need to be comfortable with cats out in the world. (What a different upbringing, compared to my Bailey who’s terrified of cats! Haha!)

Anyways, I get to show you lots of photos today, because Patty chose the photo session option that allows us to visit as many places as we want! So we started off at her home in Ocean Beach, we took a walk around her neighborhood, swung by Sunset Cliffs, and we also visited Starbucks because Aberdeen loves to carry Patty’s bag of purchases & soak in all the attention he invariably gets! But before we could visit the San Diego Yacht Club like we planned, the weather interfered with thick overcast clouds… so next week we’ll be picking up where we left off! In the meantime, I simply can’t wait to share these images with you – and now you can officially count me in as a big fan of service dog photography! :)

 

Look at that handsome smile! Aberdeen loves relaxing in the backyard with his mom – plus, his yard is a photographer’s dream.

service dog photo

 

Always helpful!

service dog

 

Sunset Cliffs looks good on you, Aberdeen! Don’t you love the blues of the ocean & sky with his jet-black fur?

service dog photography

 

Aberdeen’s favorite place: right by Patty’s side.

service dog photo session

 

Oh my goodness – every time we’d reach in the treat bag (which was actually just his kibble, since Aberdeen has a sensitive tummy) he’d majorly tilt his head! Just like a puppy! Aaaaah, too cute!!

service dog cute photo

 

I’m so glad we were at Sunset Cliffs at sunset. It’s too pretty to miss.

service dog photography

 

 

Patty, thank you so much for introducing me to your sweet boy! I’m excited for our next adventure! :)

 

Outdoors-Loving Dogs Emerson, Russell & Bells!

Saturday, January 24th, 2015

In any career, I think, there are projects that go smoothly and projects that, well, don’t go as smoothly. And it’s no different for me; honestly, most of my sessions are scheduled without any issues, go off without a hitch, and there aren’t any moments of unexpectedness, confusion or frustration. Unfortunately, though, this was NOT one of those sessions! My clients & I truly fought the odds for Emerson, Russell & Bells’ session to happen: first, two out of three dogs were feeling bad at the beginning of the week! Bells had stepped on a stick while out for a run with her mom, and it left a gash between her paw pads… and Russell came down with a sickness that required an intestinal antibiotic for inflammation! Both dogs were feeling miserable – certainly not photo shoot-ready – and so we had to play it by ear & see how they were feeling by the end of the week. Luckily, they felt better, and despite a random case of car sickness on their way to the studio, our session started smoothly… but then we pulled up to our second location, and found that the parks service had locked us out!! We had our hearts set on visiting Lake Sutherland, but it turns out you can’t get down to the lake unless it’s fishing season… which starts in March. Gah!!! But we turned a negative into a positive by finding a couple of amazing spots to work in, just off the road, which worked absolutely perfectly – they were totally unique and we definitely wouldn’t have the photos that we have now (with gorgeous vistas & long, flowing grasses) if we’d gone straight down to the water’s edge! So despite the – ahem – difficulties, we ended up having a fantastic session & I’m loving our photos of these outdoors-loving dogs! :)

 

This is Bells, the tough little cattle dog mix who hurt her paw just a few days before our session. She goes on runs with her mom all the time, and we knew we wanted a photo of her “wearing” her mom’s running shoes – how cute is this?! Haha!

dog running shoes

 

 

This gorgeous mutt is Russell, the usually-healthy dog who came down with a bit of sickness. He was completely back to being himself again in time for our session – and I’m so glad, because I just love his smile! He’s a labrador mix (with pit bull? Great Dane?) and a goofy, happy boy.

dog hike photo

 

And here’s Emerson, the handsome chocolate lab. He tested my skills on getting his ears perked up for his photos; usually that’s a tricky thing to do with greyhounds & whippets, but not labs! Emerson is old & wise, though, and he’d (apparently) seen pretty much all of my tricks before. Good thing I still had a couple up my sleeve, though – that ears-up profile is too good-looking to miss out on!

outdoors dog photo

 

 

Shaela & Chris, thank you for battling the odds with me! I can’t wait to show you the rest of our photos soon! :)

 

Mission Hills Pet Photography Session: Penny & Buddy

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015

First of all: if you recognize the dogs in this Mission Hills pet photography session, don’t say anything to their dad (Philip)! He doesn’t know that I’ve met his pups; this photo session is a surprise gift from his thoughtful spouse! So please don’t spoil the surprise for us? :)

 

Anyways – this lovely afternoon photo session features two dogs with very different personalities! Buddy the goldendoodle is a 4-year-old goofball, who loves to be the center of attention! He adores his parents, and he’s also incredibly bonded to his older sister, Penny. She’s a 14-year-old labrador, a gorgeous old girl with pure white fur, and the most soulful eyes you’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, just last week Penny was diagnosed with cancer, and that’s why I was able to fit these dogs so quickly into my schedule – I always save room amongst my regular clients for emergencies like this. So although the initial circumstances were sad, I had a wonderful time with these happy pups around their house, backyard & neighborhood. We thought about visiting a beach or nearby park, but Penny doesn’t get around too easily anymore, and Buddy never wants to be more than a few yards away from her – he’s a very considerate younger brother, even slowing down on walks so she can catch up! So we stayed close to home & simply relaxed. Their bond was absolutely gorgeous to witness, and I loved getting to know these pooches – not to mention the fact that being able to work in their gorgeous home in Mission Hills was icing on the cake!

 

How cute is Buddy?! I love that classic goldendoodle fluffy fur!

mission hills pet photo

 

Turns out, Buddy is excellent at posing, too!

mission hills pet dog

 

And this too-sweet-for-words face belongs to Penny. Can you even handle that smile?!

mission hills pet photography

 

Oh Penny. You’re such a good girl.

mission hills labrador dog

 

 

Thanks again for a great afternoon, Kevin! I can’t wait to reveal our surprise soon… please give Penny a hug for me in the meantime! :)

 

 

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