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Tag: ‘rancho santa fe pet photography’



Molly, the Rescue Puppy from Olivenhain!

Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

I’m so excited to introduce you to Molly! Not only because she’s one of the most adorable pups around, but she is also one of my first official “Puppy Plan” participants! Molly is a 2 month old Great Pyrenees, labrador, and (supposedly) Bassett hound mix who gives the cutest little head tilts for the camera. She is definitely in the puppy phase where everything needs to go in her mouth. Toys, food, leashes, collars, pant legs, shoes, my camera bag… nothing is safe from those puppy teeth!

We held her photo session at her parents’ gorgeous home in the Olivenhain neighborhood of Encinitas/Rancho Santa Fe. Her mom and dad have a beautiful setup in their backyard where we were able to get amazing portraits with plenty of natural light coming through the trees. A photographer’s dream! Molly had a lot of energy, so I think she had a pretty great time playing and posing for me. And get this: whenever she needed to take a break from all of her running around, she decided to quench her thirst by drinking the dew off of the grass! She reminded me of a little lawnmower as she cruised around, head down & searching out the wettest blades of grass, haha! She was too cute!

I’ll be seeing Molly and her parents again when she’s about 6-7 months old for the next stage of her Puppy Plan. I cannot wait to see how much she has changed by then! I bet she’ll have grown by leaps and bounds (especially if that Great Pyrenees in her heritage has any say in the matter). Which means even then, and for the rest of Molly’s life, these photos from when she’s only 2 months old will be awww-inspiring keepsakes. :)


Don’t be fooled by that cute head tilt. There’s a silly, rambunctious, mischievous puppy behind that innocent face!

rescue puppy


Ohhh that early morning light… I love it! And can you see the dew on Molly’s face that came from drinking the water off the grass?!

rescue puppy photo


Marilyn & Stan, I am so excited to capture Molly’s first year as a puppy with you! I look forward to seeing you again soon! :)

Bernie & Otis, Two Fluffy Pups from Rancho Santa Fe

Thursday, February 14th, 2019

I recently had a playful and action-packed session with Bernie and Otis! Of course, when I say “action-packed”, I mean Otis doing most of the action and Bernie happily watching his (big) little bro! :) And I learned that even though they don’t go at the same speed anymore, one thing they do have in common is their love for treats. Especially since they don’t get treats on a regular basis – special occasions only! (Which means I might have been their new favorite person during the session, haha!)


Bernie is a 13-year-old schnoodle and a sweet little mama’s boy! He has such a calm nature and is just a very good boy. I really love photographing senior dogs – it’s an honor to capture all their distinguished gray fur, and so much fun to imagine how differently they used to look and act. According to his parents, Bernie was very much the energetic dog in his younger years, but has since passed the torch on to Otis. (I suppose that’s allowed when you’re 13!)

senior dog from rancho santa fe


Otis, the handsome 3-year-old labradoodle, came to the session ready to play! He is a dog on a mission when it comes to fetching tennis balls! His parents have a gorgeous estate in Rancho Santa Fe full of lush greenery near their barn, which made the perfect backdrop for photos AND the perfect spot for Otis to lose a ball! At various times we thought we would never find the ball in the tall grass, but nope! There was no stopping that boy when it came to his toys. Here he is on the horse trail on their property – I was tempted to share one of his many action photos, but I couldn’t resist that head tilt! :)

rancho santa fe dog on trail


After we were done playing near the stables, we set off for the beach in Del Mar. Let me tell you something: it was COLD out there! I’ve got to hand it to this family for sticking it out with me, despite none of us being quite prepared for the chilly weather, because getting out there for the beautiful sunset was totally worth it! Between the beach being wide open & uncrowded, the stunning sunset & colors that lit up the sky, and the lovely people & dogs to photograph, I’d call this a win in my book.

rancho santa fe dogs


Thank you Trish & Ralph for braving the cool February evening with me for a fun session with your four-legged kiddos! I’m excited to get together with you both again soon!

Dakota, Firefly & Bella Rose! (Horse Photography in Rancho Santa Fe)

Thursday, June 29th, 2017

Oh my goodness – I am SO excited to share this sneak peek with you!! I don’t get to photograph horses every day, so this session was an absolute treat for me – and hopefully the photos are a nice treat for you, too!

Dakota and Firely are incredibly gorgeous horses – my eyes basically popped out of my head when I met them the other day after Gemma’s photo session (she’s their feline sister!). So I recently headed back to give them my full attention, and we had a spectacular time together! The boys are both slightly jumpy, so we kept the pace nice & easy, and I did my best to get their attention in a way that was interesting but not scary – and those of you who’ve heard the funny noises I make to get a pet’s attention know exactly what I’m talking about! But their handlers were a huge help, so with a bit of teamwork I think we were able to create some gorgeous images.

Not to be overlooked (literally or figuratively), Bella Rose the miniature horse joined us as well! She kept us laughing the whole time with her adorable antics, since she’s got enough attitude for a full-size horse, that’s for sure!

 

This is Dakota – I can’t get enough of his warm brown fur against the rich green grass. LOVE him.

horse photography

 

This is Firefly! I adore his unique patches and so-dark-it’s-almost-black fur. He’s a big fan of carrots.

horse photography image

 

Of course, this is Bella Rose! She was looking fresh for her portraits – that mane has volume, haha!

miniature horse

 

We have several images of the horses together, but most of them are going to require a significant amount of retouching… so for now, I’ll just share this peaceful moment of the horses enjoying their chance to munch on the soft grass.

horse photo

 

 

Tanya, I’m so excited to get together with you soon!! Emily and Sue, these photos certainly wouldn’t have come together without you – so thank you for being willing to work with me! :)

 

Kendall & Raven: Rancho Santa Fe Dog Photography

Friday, September 12th, 2014

I absolutely loved this Rancho Santa Fe dog photography session! These beautiful sisters are Kendall & Raven, and they visited the studio before showing me around their home & backyard for their photo session! These girls are complete opposites – Kendall has been a part of the family for many years, whereas Raven is an 8-month-old puppy. Kendall is content to lay by the stairs of the pool and drink a bit of water, but for Kendall, it’s not an afternoon at the pool unless she’s jumped in after her tennis ball and gotten completely soaking wet – and then laid on the outdoor furniture right afterwards, to make it sure became just as wet. Of course. Kendall doesn’t move very fast anymore (she’s the slow but steady type), but Raven is about as fast-moving and wiggly as you can possibly imagine!

But these dogs have plenty in common, too – most of all, both of them are complete sweethearts. They couldn’t be happier pups, and I know their family loves them so, so much. So it was an honor to meet these beautiful sisters, and spend the afternoon playing in the studio and in their pool together!

 

Raven is the black lab on the left, and Kendall is the yellow lab on the right. In this photo they’re looking up at their mom; don’t you love the sweetness in their eyes? :)

rancho santa fe dog photographer

 

This is Kendall’s favorite spot in their house! Her mom opens up the front doors and Kendall lays here, soaking up the sun, and keeping watch over everything just inside the doors. Have you ever seen a more welcoming face?!

rancho santa fe dog photography

 

Some dogs have me laughing for our entire session – and Raven was one of those dogs! She was hilarious from the moment she stepped into the studio and had to be slowly convinced that the backdrop wasn’t a painful terrible thing (we eventually convinced her)… to the moment we posed her next to a few flowers, she decided to “stop and smell the roses”, and the next thing we knew she coughed out dozens of petals! Haha! This little cutie is almost too much to handle…

rancho santa fe dog photography

 

 

Deb & Kit, thank you for an absolutely fabulous afternoon. I simply couldn’t be more excited about our photos! I’ll see you again soon, but please give your girls a hug for me in the meantime! :)

 

Rancho Santa Fe Dog Photography: Chocolate Labradors Chloe & Emma!

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

I had the opportunity to meet two gorgeous dogs who call Rancho Santa Fe, CA their home – and we had a great photo session! And I’ll be the first to admit that I thought I’d have no problem telling these pups apart – after all, I met them just a few weeks ago, and Emma the puppy was a bouncy little ball of energy compared to her big sister, 5-year-old Chloe. But we ended up having to push our session back a couple of weeks further than we anticipated, and to my surprise, I was greeted at their (beautiful) home by two big dogs! Emma had completely sprouted! She was waaaay bigger than I recognized, so I had to rely on their personalities (and collars, haha) to tell them apart. But luckily, that wasn’t too hard either – these dogs have totally distinct personalities! Let me introduce you!

This is Chloe, the older girl and 100% eager-to-please labrador. She’s ball-crazy and wouldn’t let us forget it as soon as we introduced my squeaky tennis ball! But the whole time, she always reverted back to see what her parents were up to – she’s absolutely devoted to them. In her opinion, they should always be throwing the ball for her (especially into the pool!) but she definitely has a mature demeanor, compared to her sister…

rancho santa fe dog picture

 

 

This is Emma the goofball! And let me tell you, we had to go through several rounds of running back & forth to get a photo that wasn’t completely blooper-worthy! This girl runs her little heart out every time she gets the chance, and most of the photos on my hard drive right now have her ears flopping awkwardly, her legs splayed out in all directions, and her face with total “crazy eyes” as she belts toward me! That’s why I often ask my clients to repeat running scenarios several times during each session; with two ears, four legs and a long tongue, there’s a lot that can go awry! But I’m glad Emma pulled it together for this photo… even if she reverted back to her crazy-face in the very next frame! :)

rancho santa fe picture

 

 

And finally, here are both girls together. Emma is on the left and Chloe’s on the right. Aren’t they beautiful?

picture of two dogs

 

Ray, Monica & Saylor – thank you so much for a fun-filled, gorgeous Rancho Santa Fe dog photography session! It was a fabulous idea for Monica’s  birthday present. I can’t wait to show you the rest of your images… see you soon!  :)

 

 

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