Elmo + Jackson

Last night my friend Angela had a girls' spa party at her house. I went a little early to test out my new camera & lenses on her dog, Elmo. She also has a six-month-old baby, Jackson, who admittedly is cuter than Elmo (not that we love Elmo any less for his unique appearance).

Elmo is a Sharpei rescue that Ang has had forever. Words cannot accurately describe Elmo; I've never seen another dog like him. He's a pretty laid back character and seems happy to share the attention with baby Jackson. When I arrived both Elmo and Jackson were hanging out in the middle of the kitchen floor (where the light happened to be wonderful), happy as could be surrounded by the commotion of the party.

Elmo:










Elmo does have a super cute bum:




And here is little Jackson (and my first stab at baby photography).

Part of what I love so much about photographing dogs is that if you give them a little while to warm up to you, they're absolutely themselves. They're not thinking about how they look, or feeling uncomfortable about having a camera three inches away from their noses. Well, turns out babies have that same quality.

a la Chuck

I have four shoots towards the end of this week/beginning of next week, which means that next week you can expect to be regaled with beautiful photographs every single day. But this is what you get this week:


Roux, a la Chuck.

Hannah

I did Hannah's shoot at 8:30am on a Saturday morning. I'm a morning person so I didn't mind, and luckily Hannah's mom is a morning person too, because the light was worth the early start. Hannah is a 12-year-old Yellow Lab who is lucky enough to live in a very cool and very modern house. The background in some of the photos is pretty fun (and the light was phenomenal inside), but even if it hadn't been Hannah is so darn cute it wouldn't have mattered. I have a soft spot for the senior citizens and can only hope Roux dog will grow to be as old and as sweet as this dog.

I love these next two photos because you can see exactly how squishy and kissable that nose is.

After almost every photo shoot when I'm editing photos I come across at least one photo that I absolutely love. These often aren't anybody else's favorites, there is just something about them that grabs me - a hint of the moment that was happening when the photo was taken. This is one of those photos. I love that you can barely see Hannah's mom in the top of the frame, I love the light and the way it makes you feel like you'd be right at home there, and most of all I love Hannah's expression. She looks like she's trying so hard to pay attention to what's being said, but really all she wants to do is move closer and get a belly rub. I'm no authority on Hannah, but I'd say that's sort of Hannah in a nutshell.

Little updates

When we decided to let Roux start spending chunks of time outside alone we bought several accessories to make her more comfortable, including this big cot-like dog bed so she wouldn't have to lie on the cement patio, but could still be in the shade. At first she was scared of it, but she ended up loving it and would choose to lay out there on her outdoor bed instead of hanging out inside (this is big for a dog who usually prefers the temperature-controlled indoors). She also really loved to "dig" while she was on it, which has recently created a monstrous hole right in the middle. I figured we'd have to replace it, considering if she laid on it now her bum would fall right through and be sitting on the ground below.

This morning I was working in my office and went to see what she was up to - like you do every half hour or so when you have a puppy. She wasn't coming when I called, which means either she's getting into trouble or she's really comfortable. Finally it occurred to me to check her dilapidated bed, and sure enough there she was soaking up the sun.

Maybe we don't have to replace it after all; she looks pretty happy...

I have a shoot scheduled for tomorrow morning, so expect those photos early next week. The rest of the weekend we're taking off with Roux for a little camping trip, which will be good because that means I won't spend the entire weekend working and Roux won't spend the entire weekend lying next to me looking like this:

Happy Friday, everyone!

Della

Meet Della, a 7-year-old French Bouvier:




If you don't know what a French Bouvier (also called a Bouvier des Flandres) is, don't feel bad. I didn't either. If you're really motivated, you can read more about them here. If not, I'll just tell you they're sort of like Great Dane-size Schnauzers.

Della came over to my "studio" for a shoot at the beginning of this week. I was a little worried about it because she has a tendency to drool excessively when she gets nervous. And because she was adopted at age three by her current owner (who is also my lovely grandmother), she has a less than ideal history and can be a little timid about things. I thought I'd have to spend a good half hour coercing her onto the set, but she seemed quite happy to be my model for an afternoon. The drooling did start eventually, and at first I incessantly wiped it up between shots. After a while, though, I decided that maybe her drool wasn't unsightly after all. It's just a part of who she is, drooly dog. She is also an extraordinarily sweet dog, truly a gentle giant.

From the "studio"

I think part of what I like so much about how Denver Dog Photography is set up is that it's mostly on location, which means that the dogs are in surroundings that they're comfortable with. It's also a challenge - constantly being aware of your background, working with the natural light you've got and following the dogs around to get the shots you want.


I'll probably always want shoot on location. That said, I don't have much experience with a studio and my curiosity is piqued. I plan to take a few classes and do some more research, but in the meantime I'm experimenting on my own. I had a cancellation today, so I spent some time setting up a "studio" (if it can really be called that) at my house and shooting Roux. I didn't spend long (working on DDP business cards is taking up most of the day), but it seems like a promising venture, and I definitely want to spend more time on it in the near future.

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And of course the new image of Roux in the header is from this afternoon. I've really been craving some white space lately (probably also part of the inspiration for playing with some studio shots), so I ditched the black background on this site... If you preferred the black, leave me a comment and let me know.

Riley + Mollie

On Wednesday I did a shoot for a girl who stumbled upon this blog when I first created it. We've been talking/planning the shoot for a while, which inevitably leads to some amount of build up. I always worry that somehow I won't get the photos I'm imagining out of the shoot (which I know is something I've mentioned here before), but when I started editing these I actually got goosebumps. I realize not everyone gets it, but there is something so satisfying about ending up with a product that is exactly what you pictured. It's like a puzzle that fits into place, that big a-ha moment. These photos did that for me. I'm hoping Riley & Mollie's moms will feel the same way.

Riley is a rescue mutt (probably about four years old, although it's hard to say exactly) and Mollie is a nine-year-old Beagle. Both dogs were instantly likeable, but also undeniably unique. I always think you can tell when a dog has been homeless; they just seem so thankful. It's not anything in particular that you can point your finger at, but somehow their demanor indicates that they are glad to be there with you. Riley is a good example of this. She loves her ball more than anything. Except her mom. And I think that's totally obvious if you spend five minutes with them.

Mollie is one heck of a character. She's like a granny that tells you how it is. I'm pretty sure if she could talk she'd have told me I looked ridiculous lying tummy down on the grass with a camera in her face. And she would have been right. I really loved Mollie's strong personality - almost as much as I loved her white eyelashes and her uncanny ability to stand endlessly on her back legs waiting for a treat.