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A Surprise Photo Session for Milbert!

Tuesday, August 10th, 2021

This photo session was a surprise gift for Milbert’s mom! How fun is that?!

(I had to specify “Milbert’s mom” before you think I’m crazy – I mean, I’m pretty sure ALL my photo sessions are a surprise for the dogs being photographed! Ha!)

Milbert is a rescue dog from Tijuana, and he may have recently turned one year old, but I can promise you he’s still 100% puppy. He’s got to be one of the most sociable pups I’ve met in quite a while, too: he’s convinced that everything and everyone is his friend! So when he & his parents walked into my studio for their pre-session consultation, he was all smiles and ready to play. His mom, on the other hand, needed to pause a moment to process what was happening: because Milbert’s dad had planned our photo session as a gift for her, and she had NO idea she’d be meeting a photographer (me) that day! What a fun surprise – and thankfully, I’m happy to report that after she got over the initial shock, she was very excited about it! :)

When I met Milbert’s parents, we found out we have a mutual friend in common: Canine Education! They are a wonderful dog training company here in San Diego, and they do amazing work. So Milbert is a work in progress (aren’t we all?), and his parents are working hard to teach him all of the best manners that a Tijuana street dog didn’t quite grow up with. A high energy labrador can be a challenge to train at times, that’s for sure – but his parents are doing an outstanding job!

His parents wanted views of the beautiful San Diego skyline, so we headed over to Coronado and even got access to a special private dock on the water. Afterwards we headed to Presidio Park, which is a much bigger space than the small grass patch & dock we had just come from. So… we let Milbert have a little freedom off-leash to run around (safely, of course)… and he LET LOOSE with the zoomies! Leaping and bounding all over the place, having the time of his life! I’m telling you, he had the biggest smile on his face! And what impressed me the most was that after that burst of energy, he became the perfect model dog. He would sit and stay for minutes at a time – when back on Coronado he was bursting with wiggles, too excited to pose for more than half a second at a time. It was a great reminder that a little exercise does us good – dogs included! It was also a nice example of my theory that it’s always easier to photograph a dog when they’re tired. Honestly, my philosophy is simply to let the dog do what they want to do. If your dog wants to go crazy and run around during their photo session, let’s do it! It helps me get those fun, action shots AND it makes them tired enough to ensure those “posed”, stationary portraits are a whole lot easier to capture later on. Nothing is worth forcing. Nothing. When you try and go against the dog’s wishes, the photo session doesn’t flow naturally and everything takes longer, not to mention everyone gets frustrated. So why do things that way? When you go with the flow, you’ll have more fun and everything goes more smoothly! This photo session was a great example of that. Milbert is a free spirit, that’s for sure – and I’m so glad we let his personality shine!

     

Milbert is a lucky dog, he found a happy home with his parents in San Diego. He belongs here!

labrador with san diego
     

I wasn’t kidding about the zoomies!

labrador dog running
     

His mom brought a clutch selection of bandanas. Milbert’s “outfits” were on point!

labrador archway photo
     

I can’t get enough of this face. What a sweet boy.

labrador dog
     

Vincent & Monica, I loved working with you both for this fun surprise photo session – and I’m excited to see you again soon in the studio!

San Diego Dogs Harley & Mason

Thursday, December 3rd, 2020

Today on the blog I’ve got some portraits I’ve been so excited to share with you – featuring two adorable doggy brothers from San Diego, Harley & Mason! These boys are tough-looking dogs, but I’m going to spoil the surprise right now: they’re actually complete sweethearts. (Sorry, boys!) When I first spoke with their mom about planning their session, she came to me with a very specific vision for where she wanted to go, and the look she wanted for the session overall. I was pretty impressed, since that doesn’t happen very often – many of my clients have no idea what locations they’d like to visit! (Good thing I have a Location Guide for them to browse, ha!) But Harley & Mason’s mom knew exactly what she wanted and we were able to have fun planning all the details and expanding on her ideas. And I think we were able to create everything she envisioned!

That being said, the photo session turned out to be a fun & unique one – because no matter how much we planned ahead of time, the dogs wound up doing what they wanted to do, haha! This is totally okay, and one of the many reasons I love working with dogs: they are independent, honest, and sometimes (okay always) they have their own agenda. That’s just who they are and ya gotta love them for it! They still did a phenomenal job posing for the camera – especially Mason, that ham! :)

Our first location in Coronado – overlooking the San Diego skyline, an absolutely stunning spot – was a little tricky since the particular place I love requires a bit of obedience to get the best possible portraits. (It’s a smaller, more confined space than most of my session locations.) Luckily, their mom thought ahead – and rather than attempting to wrangle 150+ lbs of dogs all on her own, she brought along their walker to help! I’m so glad Robyn from Robyn’s Pet Care was able to join us because you can never have too much help. :) We were able to stretch their obedience skills and get some beautiful, very-San-Diego portraits of the boys!


dogs with san diego skyline


The next location we visited was truly special because it was in La Jolla, at the beach where Harley & Mason’s parents got married. I loved incorporating a location that was special to them & their family! And while we were there, I got to see more of how devoted Harley & Mason are to their parents. They way they were running around with their dad on the sand, with the biggest grins on their faces, always looking back at mom to check in – it was the sweetest thing! It’s not a location where I’ve done many photo sessions, but I’ll definitely be back because it turned out to be a picture perfect setting! Harley and Mason actually haven’t been to the beach too many times, but they seized the opportunity got to loosen up and stretch their legs! We finished up just as they were hitting their limit, so to speak, because all the sights and smells can get a little overwhelming, and I’d never want to push a dog beyond their comfort zone. Thankfully we were able to capture some beautiful moments without overstaying our welcome!


This is Harley – having a BLAST at the beach in La Jolla!

dog running on beach


And this is Mason, the younger brother, who was just as thrilled to be out in the ocean air.

dog at the beach


Mollie & Kevin, thank you so much for introducing me to your handsome boys! I’m excited to share the rest of our portraits with you very soon!

 

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