I’m thrilled to announce my grand opening promotion for San Diego pet photography sessions! I promised I’d reveal the special once my Facebook page hit 1,000 fans, and it’s already soared past that number in just a few days! So without further ado, here it is:

I’m experienced & skilled at pet photography, but I’m not familiar with San Diego, having just moved here a few short weeks ago.

So to see & experience the best of San Diego while re-launching my business, I’m introducing a limited-time offer:

the first client to book a session in each of the following locations will receive a complimentary 20×30 canvas gallery wrap!

~   BALBOA PARK

~   CORONADO

~   DOWNTOWN

~   FIESTA ISLAND

~   POINT LOMA HARBOR

~   TORREY PINES STATE RESERVE

Can you just imagine how great a dog will look, gazing serenely into the distance over the rough landscape of Torrey Pines State Reserve? Laying contentedly in the grass in Balboa Park? Or catapulting himself through the sapphire-blue water at Fiesta Island? Each of these places offers incredible diversity & beauty, and I would adore meeting an adventure-prone dog amidst the sailing boats in the harbor, or San Diego’s most social pup strolling through the Gaslamp District, saying hello to all the tourists.

 Each of these places are scenic locations I’m just itching to visit – and I have a feeling they might become “regular” spots for sessions in the future.

The truth is, they may follow hundreds of Florida families, but I’m about to photograph my very first California clients. As a thank-you for kick-starting the relaunch of Allison Shamrell Pet Photography in San Diego, I’m happy to reward my first clients that are willing to visit one of these places in their session with my most popular size of canvas gallery wrap!

These products are worth over $300 each – that means I’ll be giving away more than $1800 of canvas gallery wraps in total! I wanted to go above & beyond for these families, and 20″x30″ is definitely not small – in fact, it can fill up a wall!

If you’ve never seen a canvas gallery wrap before, check out these close-ups:

Canvas gallery wraps are one of my most popular products, and for good reason: they’re fabulously modern and incredibly well-constructed. Everyone loves them!

(Can I make a suggestion? These locations don’t have to be the only places we visit during our session. I think it would be marvelously fun for my clients to choose The Dalmatian Package and start at one of these locations for some beautiful scenic vistas, then head back to their house for a few super-personal photos in the place where their dog spends the most time, and then finish up at my studio for some clean, modern images and a totally different look!)

So there you have it! I couldn’t possibly be more excited to re-start my business here in San Diego. It’s a funny thing, you know, building a business and establishing yourself in the market, only to move across the country and (in many ways) start all over again. But I’m not starting from scratch; I know I can provide an incredible (yes, I said incredible) experience, and create beautiful images for the families that choose to meet this Florida-grown photographer. :)

Do you know someone who might be interested in this special? I encourage you to share this post with them. You can also share my Facebook post about it. I appreciate you helping me spread the word!

So check out my portfolio, then take a look at session pricing and (most importantly) get in touch! I can’t WAIT to meet you!

Okay okay, the disclaimers:

1. First come first serve for each location. 
2. One canvas per client; no combining locations for multiple canvases.
3. Clients may choose any length of session; regular session fees apply.
4. Clients may choose to upgrade their canvas gallery wrap to a different size by paying the a la carte difference.
5. Guess what: I don’t pretend to know all the most photogenic spots in San Diego. If you want to have a session at a different public place (that’s just as scenic as the ones I listed), contact me and make your pitch! I’ll entertain all ideas, and just might extend this promotion to a couple more locations!

UPDATE – 7/1/13: Three locations have been booked! Balboa Park, Torrey Pines State Park & Fiesta Island have been spoken for. As of right now, the other three locations are still up for grabs!

Image sources: http://onecoolthingeveryweekend.com/2012/11/21/picture-tour-of-the-san-diego-balboa-park/, http://www.sandiegodigitalphotos.com/San_Diego_photos/Coronado_Centennial_Park.html, http://101thingstodosw.com/san-diego/family-time-on-a-budget/, http://www.billcaid.com/2012/BalboaParkandMissionBay20121208/BalboaParkandMissionBay20121208.htm, http://www.bcre.com/gaslamp-district-downtown-san-diego.php, https://www.facebook.com/harborislandwestmarina

Well, ever since covering the incredible Loews Surf Dog Competition, I’ve been REALLY busy behind the scenes at my new studio! I’m soooo excited to be working on San Diego’s newest pet photography studio & consultation area that it makes all the construction worth it. Because I’m not exactly the kind of person that loves renovation, haha… and there’s been a LOT of construction involved to make this place perfect! Let me show you!

Note: all photos taken with an iPhone. I’m saving my DSLR to take photos of the final, completed product! (It’ll look extra-pretty that way, right? haha!)

Hmmm, I wonder why my phone wanted to make the gray wall look yellow. Regardless, it’s gray! With a few stripes of blue!

I’m not so good at staying in the lines, apparently, so I used 2 pieces of tape for twice as big of a boundary. I’d be way too nervous painting like this with just one piece!!

This is one of two MASSIVE tape balls, after I peeled off allllll the tape from the walls. I have to admit, it was really fun to rip it off and see the clean lines underneath!

Here’s a big peek: one of the finalized walls! I felt a bit weird about painting a door, but when you look at the whole room it really looks great!

When all the painting was done, I had to do something that really scared me. I cut up the carpet! I’ve never done anything that even comes close to hard-core renovation like this! It’s just so permanent, you know? I guess I don’t really count painting as permanent. I feel like a first-time homeowner without ever having bought a home, haha!

The day I cut up the carpet was also an infamous day of 3 trips to Home Depot. In the space of about 3 hours. Because what was under the carpet was more than slightly unexpected. Let’s just say… I can laugh about it now! Wasn’t doing much laughing that day, though! :)

But LOOK! It was soooo worth it! Beautiful laminate hardwood floors!! And these were put in, from beginning to end, singlehandedly by my husband. He is just incredible – he’d never done this before, and they turned out absolutely perfect!

And last but certainly not least, look what just arrived TODAY! It’s a flashy new MacBook Air, and it’s part of a sweeping new master plan to improve the way I present session images to my clients! What used to be a fun, post-session get-together is about to turn into a grand unveiling! This laptop is only part of the plan, and I can’t wait to show you the rest of the experience. Seeing your session photos is going to be an unforgettable event!

Thanks for keeping up with the new studio progress – I’m excited to share more with you soon! Hopefully I just have one more blog post of in-progress work to show you, and then I can reveal the completed studio! (eeeek!) Fingers crossed! :)