Busy, busy

I did a shoot yesterday that I'll (hopefully) post tomorrow. In the meantime, I think I'm due for a Roux post. I've been extraordinarily busy lately and I think Roux's been feeling neglected. (She tipped me off on that when she ate a pair of my shoes and the clasp on my camera bag the other night - the first time she's ever destroyed anything). Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining about being busy with Denver Dog Photography. But in the next few weeks I'll be wrapping up at my current nine to five job, and after that I'll have a lot more time and flexibility for DDP. And for Roux. She hasn't been totally neglected; luckily her dad's been around to take her on a few runs, and I make it a point to stop what I'm doing and play with her (even if only for five minutes) when she meanders into my study while I'm editing photos.

I've been getting up at the crack of dawn to work on photos this week (don't feel too sorry for me, I'm a morning person anyway), and was in the midst of that this morning when I walked out of my study to get a cup of coffee. Roux was completely absorbed with the Chinese Jumprope we gave her to play with last night (don't worry, she doesn't eat it). Amused, I headed back into my office to finish editing. I was about to sit down when my camera caught my eye and it occured to me that I need to photograph my own dog more often. I used to photograph Roux almost daily, and while that might've been overkill, I don't think I've taken a photo of her in weeks. So from here on out I'm going to make more of an effort to spend time with Roux, and to photograph some of that time. I've been talking so much to people about how valuable it is to have these photos of their dogs' every day lives, and working so hard on taking those photos for other people. . . It just occured to me that I want those photos, too! These are from this morning:

Montana: Dog Heaven

Sorry about the lack of posting last week; I was exploring Montana. My best friend and I took a road trip west, and fell head over heels in love with the Bozeman/Yellowstone area. We were lucky enough to stay with the Gary + Nancy, some of the nicest people you'll meet. And what do you know, they had three dogs. I didn't really take the time to do an all out shoot, but I did play with the camera a little bit in the evenings. Interestingly I like pretty much all of my Montana photos better in black and white, which I think has something to do with the timeless beauty of the place.

This is Madison, a 14-year-old Golden Retriever who believes he is still a puppy. He tries so hard to keep up with the younger two, and really I think he does a pretty damn good job.









This is Tucker, also a Golden Retriever, but much more of a puppy. Tucker is like the little brother, always trying to keep up but never quite sure how. He's a total lover and would rather sit on your feet while you scratch him than run with the other dogs. Also, he's a little fish and probably spends about 50% of his time actually in the water.











And this is Gus, the biggest lab I've ever seen. His snout reminds me of a bear it's so large, and I'm pretty sure if he was a person he'd big a big lovable jock, intimidating at first, but actually just a plain old nice guy.

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These dogs have it made: freedom to run, a river to play in, and a helluva nice family to boot.

Welcome!

New readers:

Welcome! If you're heading over to this site after the segment on Fox News this morning, then thanks for stopping by. Enjoy browsing around. (If you're a new reader who happened to stumble upon this site during your regular internet travels today, then thanks to you too for making it over!)

This site is set up as a spot where I can showcase some of my photo shoots, but also a place where I can share my reflections. (And occasionally post my own photos from daily dog life as well). Feel free to contact me at DenverDogPhotography@gmail.com, or check out my Denver Dog Photography photo set at Flickr. Of course I'm always happy to talk about setting up a shoot, but I'm also always happy to answer any of your own pet photography-related questions as well.

At first I'd planned to post an adorable photo of my own dog, the real inspiration for this whole pet photography business, but that was thwarted when on my way to capture a photo of her this morning before the show I stepped in dog poo. I'd considered posting the photo of my sandal covered in it, because that's about all I had to show. In the end, I thought better of offending new readers' delicate sensibilities, and decided instead to combine this welcome post with posting the Jack + Indy shoot from over the weekend.

Jack + Indy are two very special dogs who live in a gorgeous loft downtown. I came away from the shoot worrying I didn't get photos that would really capture how incredible the lighting and location were, but I was wrong. It turned out to be hands down one of my favorite shoots I've ever done, and I really believe you can see a lot about who Jack + Indy are in these photos.

Indy is a five-month-old Cocker Spaniel puppy who not only is a total ham (I don't think I've ever seen a puppy besides my own that loves the camera so much), but he's also an old soul, and that's something I see whenever I look at his photos.

Jack is a two-year-old Gordon Setter who is a total sweetheart. He doesn't love the spotlight the way Indy does, but instead sits quietly observing. These photos of Jack are ones I'll treasure, even though he's not my dog. I really think these photos encompass what I love about dogs in general - you can see how absolutely loving this dog is just by looking at his eyes.

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A big thank you to Jack, Indy and their parents for letting me do this shoot.

Horse Show Dogs

It's going to be an exciting week here at Denver Dog Photography. Stay tuned for news and some pretty cool updates tomorrow!

In the meantime, here are a few photos to tide you over. I spent about 12 hours at a horse show on Saturday. At least one of them was spent photographing Levi. I have a soft spot for Corgis, probably in part a result of growing up at horse shows where Corgis are a staple. Probably also because every Corgi I've ever met has a big huge personality in that little body. This is Levi, and he's no exception.






Corgi legs are the cutest.


You can't talk about dogs at horse shows without mentioning Jack Russels. There was a litter of Jack puppies, and we thought this was the cutest little bugger of the bunch.



Last, a few of my favorite equine shots:

A few canine friends

I often am asked who the dog in this blog header (also in a lot of my marketing) is. People who know I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback often think she's my dog.

She's not. In fact, she's not really anyone's dog.

In June we took a trip to a little town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica called Puerto Viejo. There are stray dogs everywhere, and contrary to what I've encountered in other countries these strays are loved by the locals. They don't shy away from you like they're expecting to be kicked, and they don't look mean or intimidating. Sure, they're sandy and dirty, but I have to say all in all they seem relatively happy. (Still, I have the urge to pack every one of them up in my suitcase and take them home with me so they can sleep in my bed every night).

This particular dog was a step above a stray, she was the resident dog at one of the hotels we stayed at. I marvelled at how beautiful she was and tried all week to get a photo of her, but she would always bolt away as soon as I crouched down with my camera. Finally on the very last day when we were all packed up and waiting for our cab to the airport, something caught her eye and she held still long enough for me to get a couple shots. The lighting, the background, her expression - all lucky coincidences. I didn't get paid a dime for it, but it's one of my favorite photos.

This one is also dear to my heart, mostly because I think it accurately reflects this silly little dog's personality. Every morning she'd wake up and run as fast as she could back and forth through the common area, sliding on the slippery floors when she got to the ends, spinning around and sprinting back the other way. I will always love how happy dogs are. I truly believe the we'd all be a lot better off if we could take a few lessons from our canine friends.

Moby (+ Roux)

I photographed Moby when he was just a wee little puppy. Now he's 6 months old, and already bigger than Roux, so here is the adolescent Moby. Half puppy, half big dog, and oh so cute.

And here are Moby & Roux together. I swear they were posing, and I am in love with their expressions in this shot. They look so aristocratic.

Bullet

Bullet is a 4 year old Vizsla, which is something of a coincidence because when Alex and I were looking for a puppy we considered Vizslas at one point. Ultimately we fell in love with Ridgebacks, but I still see Vizslas sometimes that I can't help but admire. Bullet really is a handsome fella, and Roux seems to agree because she calls him her boyfriend. She spent a few days at Bullet's house when we were out of town last month, and we try to get them together for play dates every now and again. Bullet is on my list for a real photo shoot, but I took a couple of quick shots while they were playing yesterday.

The light was low and (very) red and as a result none of the action shots came out. And these are not dogs that really sit still together, so about the best shot I got with both of them looks like this:

Not impressive. If it had been a "real" shoot, I'd have started shooting earlier and with a different sense of determination. You'll see, one of these days I will produce a photo that has Roux and Bullet in the SAME FRAME. With no blur.

I did get these of Bullet, which I like, except for the fact that we hadn't yet thought to remove his collar.

And this is probably my favorite. He has kind of a goofy expression, but after all he is a kind of a goofy guy. I'm pretty sure his sense of humor is what won Roux over.

Is it just me, or does he somehow look kind of like Tom Hanks?

Iz + Romes

Last week I photographed Isabelle and Romy. Both are dogs of a co-worker/friend, who I often swap doggie stories with. She's as totally into her dogs as I am with mine. I'd heard a lot about both dogs and had met Romy (a Boxer) before, but never Iz. Iz is a Pittbull, which intimidated me a little bit, but she definitely won me over. She's really a gorgeous dog and serenely let me photograph her to my heart's content. Romy, on the other hand, was a total goofball the entire time and I had a difficult time getting any regal photos of her. It was probably a good thing though, because some of the Romy shots are pretty hilarious.

A few favorites: (the rest are on my Flickr)

Romy:

Big smile!

And Isabelle: