Olivia came bounding straight to me when she showed up for her shoot at the trailhead in north Scottsdale. Cuddles and treats with a stranger were the only thing on her mind. Behind that cute little Frenchie block head and gigantic smile, you would never have any idea that she was fighting mast cell tumors. And that’s how I wanted to keep it.
Some of you may recognize Miss Gertie from her super-adorable studio session a couple months ago. Her mom just knew she also wanted to capture her silly lady on-location at her home. We waited until the weather warmed up so we could get Gertie swimming in the pool...her new favorite hobby! After dodging some rain showers, the clouds parted and we had a nice, humid evening poolside. Gertie was excited to see me again (really, she's just excited to see anyone that will play ball with her) and put on her best show. We started off checking out around the backyard before cooling off in the water. :) 
Goofy girl!
How do I keep Gertie's attention? Pull out a squeaky ball. She's all mine!
Uh oh! The ball went in the pool! Better put on the lifejacket just to be on the safe side. Gertie won't go in the pool unless... 
...she has the safety of her pool float to land on first. 
Then there's no stopping her!
Again, her special float (and a super cute give-me-the-ball face)... :) 
I love this little munchkin! (PS - Her mom is the fabulous designer and owner of Olive Yew, a fantastic jewelry shop. You must check it out!)
And my favorite outtake! Gertie doesn't appreciate getting splashed. Hahaha!
Thanks, ladies, for such a fun shoot! So glad we got to de-mosquito and de-stink in the pool! :)
Who doesn't love a Frenchie? Seriously. If you are one of the few that don't, perhaps Gertie here will help change your mind. Gertie is just a pup...9 months old to be exact. And trust me, she had the energy to prove her puppiness (yeah, I made up a word). She had me on my toes! She was here and there and everywhere and I loved every minute of it! Check out this pretty Blue Fawn Pied funny face during her studio session...
This face is too much...
Now when I say that Gertie loves balls. I mean LOVES balls - any size, color, texture, whatever!! Here are some examples to prove my point:
Number 1: The Jolly Ball
Number 2: Red Bouncy Ball
Number 3 (and to show you that size and color don't matter): Basketball
I may have given you the impression that Gertie doesn't have a serious side. However, she does. See?
And one last goofy one for kicks...
If you love Gertie, let me know! She's going to have an on-location session in June and we're going swimming!!! Yippee!!!
Over the past couple weeks, I've been posting some super fun sessions done for the vets at Brawley Animal Hospital. Well, when one of the vets adopted a new pup just after our original session, we had no choice but to get pictures of her to hang in the office along with the other pets! And wouldn't you know, along with the new Frenchie pup, Lola, we also got to photograph one of the vet's cats, Hogan. Yep, that's right, Hogan came out on-location with us! Certainly a first and probably an only! :)
I introduce you to Mr. Hogan...
As you can see, Hogan is a cute little tripod. He came to the vet school with severe nerve damage to his leg after a possible run in with a car. He was basically dragging the leg along. :( When they figured out it wasn't fixable, his mom decided to amputate it and keep him for herself. The rest is history and he is now one happy camper!
It was so cute to see Hogan hanging out at a brand new location. He was astonishingly good! He tried to hop away a couple times to check out the nearby barn but, for the most part, he just hung out and posed for the camera!
What a seriously gorgeous face! I swear he's smiling here...
Oh, and the classic cat nap. However, Hogan was certainly still very aware of the people hanging out in the parking lot (no doubt very curious about the cat being photographed in the field) and the mountain bikers going by.
After we photographed Hogan, we got to spend some time with the new Frenchie of the family, Lola. Lola was rescued from a breeder after suffering a prolapsed uterus. At 2 years of age, there's no telling how many puppies she's had and she is very small and skinny. However, she is FULL of personality and was a giggle maker! She is going to be a well-balanced healthy girl in no time at all!
This is Lola's Gremlin face...
She soooooo tried to smile for the camera!
The funniest part of her session? She wasn't interested in squeakies, balls, or dog toys. Nope! But pull out a cat toy and she's all over it! We used Hogan's goodies the entire time we worked with Lola. Silly girl!
I can't wait to share the final artwork with you all!!! :)
Last week I had the pleasure of making a trip down to Charleston, SC to hang out with fellow pet photog friends Brittani (from Brittani Croft Photography) and Dana (from Dana Cubbage Photography). Of course, what are is a group of pet photographers to do when they get together? Well, take pictures of dogs of course! We put out a call for models and we had a wonderful response. It was REALLY hard to turn any down but we had to consider what we were looking for in each of our portfolios. In the end, we had four doggy models work it for our cameras.
We got to explore some of downtown Charleston during our shooting. To be honest, I was pretty jealous of the greenery and flowers they have there already...especially since I was following the dwindling trail of leftover snow on the trip down there. Soon Spring will be here too! Yay!
Anyway, I'll start the showcase with Bentley. This little Frenchie cracked us up. He was certainly into exploring Charleston too but had a great attitude with the camera. I love how his tongue is a little too big for his mouth. Cutie pie!!!
