ADVENTURES IN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

I’ve been completely head over heels in love with our Luxe Lay Flat Albums for dog photography since the day they first arrived in our studio. From their vibrant, glossy full wrapped covers to the thick, pearl finish pages, this is a photo album you truly need to see to experience.  What better way to share with you than a video…so here it is. Simba & Bas are the stars of this feature.

If your dog deserves the very best (you’re reading this so I’m pretty sure that’s a YES) this is the album for you!
Contact us today to book your session. Let’s get out there and make some magic together.

Meet Miss Glamour. She’s a Belgian Malinois that I met at a remarkable historic spot in the South of France.

Pont Du Gard is a remarkable spot fit for a remarkable dog. There’s more to come on Point Du Gard in future posts but for now I’d like to focus on this little sassy spice gem. She arrived with 2 of her sisters, one of which was a gorgeous Bernese Mountain Dog with separation issues. Glamour wanted her solo turn in the spotlight but her Berner sister wasn’t having any of it and wanted to be right by her side but wasn’t warming up to having her portrait taken. With a little coaxing and a lot of yummy snicky~snacks we were able to get her to step slightly aside and give Glamour her turn to shine.

And then there was THIS!

I’ve never gotten a doggie EYE ROLL before but Glamour gave me my first! Ahhh the French and their sass. Gotta love love love it!

XOXOX ~ W

Would you just look at that squishy face?!?!? And don’t you just love it when a pup has that slightly off kilter sit stance? Meet Erik! We met in a quaint vineyard in the Provence region of France. Really. We did! Some people when casting their peepers upon his gorgeousness think…Corgi? Husky??? Mix??? In actuality, Erik is a Swedish Vallhund, which is a working farm dog breed. They are very smart, energetic and know just how to make you laugh. I found Erik to be quite true to his lineage. What an amazingly sweet and fun bundle of fur!

EEEEEEKKKKKK! You guys! I just got back from a week in the South of France, living in a Chateau once owned by the King and photographing many, MANY adorably fantastic doggies! I can’t believe this is my life. I’m a lucky girl indeed. I’ve got so much to share with you! I almost don’t know where to start. Almost. Of course I have to start with this little nugget known as Poppy. Poppy is the only pup we photographed that wasn’t actually French. She is a Brit and she was the official mascot of the week, always on hand to bring a smile to the faces of many of us who were missing our own sweet pups back home. Poppy’s mom is Cat Race, who just happens to be an incredible dog photographer, so she knows the drill. She’s a top model through and through.
Here’s Miss Poppy peering through the gorgeously colorful veil of Cat’s luxurious mane. I’m not ashamed to say this image makes me squeal with delight!

Stay tuned…with over 40 dogs at my disposal in France, there is a lot more goodness to come!

It’s wildflower season in Cali so we hit the road this week to Carrizo Plain National Monument. The trip was really to get some landscape shots of the incredibly vast fields of abundant wild flowers but the boys needed to have some fun too. I couldn’t resist getting a shot of my Chancey-love enjoying his snack break with the painted hills in the background.

Here’s some behind the scenes phone pics from our day. It was such a fun trip!

Chance loves to get out and explore. Knowing his history of being an abused dog in the city that wound up spending months in a shelter kennel, it makes me so happy to see him out in the vast beauty of nature enjoying his life. 

We’ve got the best photo assistants around. Here’s the boys making sure Emily gets her shot just right.

I’m not one of those people that knows the names of all the wildflowers around but what I can say is this…there were billions of these little beauties carpeting the valley floor to create a vast sea of gold.

It can get pretty dirty out there on the plain. I know it looks like they were crammed in there but just behind all our gear is a big, soft comfy bed for their traveling pleasure…plus plenty of doggie snicky snacks in the cooler too!

Driving down these roads surrounded by rolling hills blanketed with yellow, purple and orange hues was pure bliss.

Getting ready to watch an epic sunset over Soda Lake. At this point in the day they were getting pretty tuckered out.

One last piece of floral majesty. I honestly can’t convey just how many flowers were out there. What a treat to get to experience!

I’d love to get out and capture some pics of your pup while the flowers are blooming just about everywhere around us!
Give us a call to book a session today.

I’m sure many of you have seen the crazy weather to hit the Tahoe basin this week in the news…or if your lucky (or unlucky depending on your perspective) you’ve seen it first hand. We were out and about looking for a place for the pups to have a little snow play and I saw this spot fly by and just had to turn around. We had gotten a few days of what we thought was a major amount of snow. Little did we know it was just a tiny taste of what was yet to come. Incredible amounts of snow have fallen…people are still digging out for days!  It had just stopped snowing and the temperature was climbing. The drive was covered by a tunnel of trees and just beyond the gate there was a clearing. As I got set up the clouds broke for a few short minutes flooding the clearing with an amazing warm light. It was one of those magic moments that gives you chills and you hope you’ll be able to capture the goods to do it justice. And then I got literal chills…

When I shoot in Winter I’m always HOT. I’m out there with the layers and the water proof gear and usually climbing and rolling around to match the pup’s movements…I’m always unzipping my coat when I can so I can breathe. I may have a slight claustrophobia issue. Sure enough, just as I took off my hood and unzipped a bit the trees directly above me dropped the majority of their snowy bounty directly on my head. It was complete and total white out and it went straight down my neck and back. After the snow dust had settled I turned around to look at our truck and see Ken crying in hysterical laughter while Chance and Raider looked on in horror worried that some snow beast had eaten their Mama! At least I can always count on them to love me with wild abandon!

As a side note…did you know I have another photography passion? I’m also a a fine art landscape photographer. Pho(DOG)raphy actually started an extension of my landscape photography as I strive to capture dogs being dogs where they are most at home…the great outdoors. It turns out my two passions, gorgeous landscapes & delightful dogs are quite a complimentary fit. Eagle eyes in the group may have seen the link to Wendy Hudnall Photography on the homepage. If you’d like to see what it’s all about take a click on over! You can also visit Wendy Hudnall Photography on Facebook. Here’s a fine art landscape shot at this amazing location to give you a taste of what it’s all about.

Sending you Warmest Winter Wishes!

XOXOX ~W

“We are more fulfilled when we are involved in something bigger than ourselves.” – John Glenn
After the recent passing of the Astronaut and national hero, I heard one of his quotes and it hit home for me.

This past Saturday I spent a fantastic afternoon with Linda Blair and her wonderful team from The Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation at an adoption event for 6 beautiful rescue dogs. Each pup unique and each one so incredibly loving…just wanting special someone to take themhome and love them back. Linda has over 100 dogs on her ranch, most of them pit bulls, for whom she works tirelessly, devoting her life to finding them homes and raising awareness to the plight of this much maligned breed.