Thanks for visiting my blog! My name is Allison, and I work in San Diego, CA, capturing the personalities of dogs and cats of all sizes & temperaments. I do photo sessions on location and in-studio, and my photography style is natural, playful & soulful.
Here on my blog, I tell the stories of recent sessions and events. You might even find an insight or two into the behind-the-scenes side of my business! You can see my portfolio & session info on my main website, via the link above.
Call: 619-357-6624 // Email: Allison@AllisonShamrell.com // Visit: 11828 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 204, San Diego, CA 92128
Officially Voted the Best Pet Photographer in San Diego, 2014-2026.
Photography sessions can be meaningful for many different reasons. Sometimes I photograph older dogs, who don’t have much time left, but their parents request sessions to have those last photos they can treasure for years after they’re gone. Sometimes I photograph dogs together with their human children siblings, and I love seeing the bond between best friends; what’s cuter than a boy and his dog? Sometimes dogs help us through hard times in our lives – deaths of friends and family members, divorce, natural disasters – and I feel so privileged that my clients have shared their stories with me, and I get to play a small part in helping them commemorate how special and important their dogs are in their lives.
My most recent session, however, is special in a different way. The dogs I photographed are young (Sanders is one and Florence is just eight weeks old), but their mom won’t get to see them grow old. And maybe I shouldn’t even call Elisa their mom; she’s training them for a life of service for someone else in need. She is a volunteer with CCI (Canine Companions for Independence), a non-profit organization that prepares dogs to live with and work for people with disabilities. Check out this video (and try not to cry!) to see the story of a wounded soldier named Jeffrey Adams, who is now independent and happy with the companionship of his CCI dog. The work that these trainers like Elisa do is nothing short of staggering; their hearts are so big to live with and train puppies, and eventually give them up to someone who needs them… I can’t hardly imagine doing what they do. Sanders is over one year old, so she’ll be heading into her final evaluation/graduation soon. Florence, on the other hand, still has a lot to learn! But they both have a long road ahead of them.
I’m not through with all the photos of Sanders & Florence yet, but here’s a Sneak Peek of just a few. Remember to like my Facebook page to see more of these two – because these dogs are so gorgeous (Elisa requested the black-on-black look, and I’m loving it!) that I’m sure I won’t be able to resist posting more photos of them soon!
I thought Florence seemed like a pretty calm puppy… then again, I only saw her for an hour! But she’s definitely a sweetheart.
Sanders (left) definitely knows how to pose!
The photo on the right features the dogs in their capes. Sanders knows that when she’s wearing this, she’s working. Florence – well, she’ll know that one day! For now, let’s hope she grows into her too-big cape soon! :) I love their expressions in that photo, though: to me, Sanders looks ready to be off on the next stage of her life, and Florence looks ready to learn and be of service one day.
Oh, and just for fun: this photo made quite a splash on Facebook! My caption: “Under the cover of darkness, puppy Florence plots an attack on older sis Sanders…” hee hee! Can you think of another (better) caption?? Post it here in the comments or on Facebook!
The work these dogs do is just incredible, and I’m honored to have met them and Elisa. I’ll be posting more photos soon; thanks for visiting and stay tuned!
Today is May 2nd. It’s been exactly eight months to the day when we heard the news that would change our lives, but mostly, my husband’s life. When I see people at events and they say “I heard you were leaving town…?”, even today, it breaks my heart a little. We were supposed to leave. We definitely were. I wrote this blog post because I feel like I owe my past and future clients an explanation as to why we’re still here… and to clarify what’s really been going on in this crazy life of ours.
Let’s start with a timeline.
September 2009: we move to Pensacola!
October 2010: at this point, my husband Ken has completed two basic preliminary flight training programs – and maybe during another year, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal. But with an overloaded aviation force, the Navy increased the passing grade to 94% (the passing grade) and gave all sorts of opportunities and packages to those willing to transfer to other communities (such as Intelligence). They even gave a few people free passes out of the Navy. Having graduated from Notre Dame’s ROTC program, Ken knows this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but passes it up on his path to becoming a helicopter pilot. So this month he begins Primary, an intensive fixed-wing training course with the T-34.
Bailey (in his flight suit) is very proud of him!
March 2011: Ken completes Primary and moves on to Advanced, where he can finally fly what he’s been waiting for: helicopters. Both of his brothers work with helicopters (one is a Marine crew chief, and one is an Army pilot) so Ken’s choice wasn’t exactly a huge surprise! :)
Ken's graduating Primary class
July 2011: A routine eye exam (for a new contact lens prescription) causes a doctor to recommend that Ken gets looked at a bit more closely by an ophthalmologist. He’s almost done with Advanced, though, and the briefs and flight schedules are so intense that he schedules the appointment for a few weeks later. (He’s doing 5-6 flights a week at this point; Advanced is a series of over a hundred hours of training flights.)
September 2, 2011: During Ken’s appointment with the ophthalmologist, he’s told that he has optic nerve head drusen and visual field defects. These are words that I’d never heard put together before, but now, they potentially mean the end of my husband’s career in aviation.
September 3, 2011: My 25th birthday. Not the happiest birthday I can remember.
The rest of September 2011: We worry about everything. But with only two flights left to complete (two! after so many!), Ken’s CO goes to bat for him in a big way. He authorizes the flights, and Ken earns his wings of gold.
September 20, 2011: Ken flies to Miami to see a world-renowned specialized ophthalmologist, who does sophisticated tests and tells Ken that his binocular vision is completely fine. We have hope.
September 30, 2011: Winging ceremony at Whiting Field. My husband asks me to pin on his wings, and I’m honored to say yes. He’s officially an aviator! One of the happiest days I can think of… :)
Ken with a TH-57 trainer helicopter.
October 1, 2011: we go shark fishing in Destin with our parents to celebrate the winging! Because we definitely have cause to celebrate! (in the movie below, feel free to fast-forward to 0:35, when the action starts happening!)
October 2011 – January 2012: we wait for Ken’s waiver package to be submitted. There’s a ton of data and reports and charts, and getting it submitted electronically is no quick thing. If Ken is awarded a waiver, he can continue to fly helicopters. (Like in the video below! This was taken by another Navy wife who thought the pilot was her husband, but it was actually Ken completing the landing!)
January – April 2012: We wait to hear what the board of doctors says. Lots of waiting.
At least we can go to the beach to wait!
Friday, April 13: Ken’s squadron doctor calls. The final decision is no. Just no.
Now: Ken is exploring his options. He’s enrolled in an eight-week class for Aviation Maintenance officers, he’s also considering civil engineering (seabees), and there are a couple of other possibilities (military and civilian). His future with the Navy is totally up in the air. That also means that our time left in Pensacola is uncertain, too. Let me tell you: on September 1 of last year, I believed 100% that he’d soon get assigned to a squadron elsewhere in the country, and we’d spend Halloween in a new place. Now I’m wondering if we’ll be here for another Halloween. We’ve learned not to plan things (trips, vacations, etc.) more than a month in advance. Oh, and running a business? That kind of timetable doesn’t make things easy on the pet photography side, either! But we’re making it work.
I hope no one takes this post in the wrong light. I’m not mad at the Navy, I’m not asking for pity – I just want to air what’s been happening, because even just writing this post is a bit therapeutic, and I know some people (all five of you that read my blog, right? haha) are curious. I don’t know the point of a blog, or a business, if you can’t be honest and real with it. So this has been our struggle. What’s kept us functioning is the knowledge that things happen for a reason. God has a plan for us – it’s just hidden from view right now, and for that reason, life hasn’t been easy the last few weeks. But I hope this clears up the reason why we haven’t left town yet, because I know people wonder why that pet photographer lady was going to be gone but she’s still here… To be totally honest, one thought haunts me: that anyone thinks I announced we’d leave falsely, as a publicity/sales stunt. I’ve never even heard a whisper of this idea from anyone outside of my own head, but hey, you don’t get to manage a successful business without imagining a few worst-case scenarios. I hope and pray that no one would believe such a terrible thing. And I wish I could sum up this post with a “lesson learned” or happy ending… but I don’t think we’ll figure out that we’ve learned anything until years from now, looking back on this. And we’re still in the thick of it – Ken doesn’t know what his career will end up being – so the happy ending just hasn’t come yet. But we know it’s on its way.
So I thought the above quote by Mike Tyson was rather fitting for this post, and for our lives: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Plans change. I’m sure that’s been the case in your life at one time or another. So even though my husband was punched pretty damn hard, I’m still so impressed at how he’s handled everything. He’s incredibly strong and brave, and I’m so lucky to be his wife. And we’re happy to stay in Pensacola as long as we can – or at least, as long as we should. Right now it looks like we’ll be here through June. And then? Who knows where? And while the planner and businesswoman inside of me is DYING to know where we’ll go next – and when, and for how long – life is full of surprises, right? I guess if anything good has come out of this, I think it’s that my husband and I have learned pretty well how to roll with the punches.
You think your dog’s ball-obsessed? Think again. Bella pretty much owns that title. She’s a three-year-old affenpinscher mix, lives in Gulf Breeze, and will probably never have enough of those colorful miniature squeaky tennis balls. We played at her house for a while the other night, and I think she always kept an eye on her prized possessions throughout our session. What’s the only thing that can come between Bella and her balls? Her mom, of course! I loved watching Bella and her mother Kaye play together – it’s so clear how much they mean to each other!
Without further ado… here’s Bella!
We played at Bella’s front door for a while… I took these images asplit second before Bella dashed outside to be with mom again!
Oh that face.
Kaye and Sarah, I hope you enjoy this Sneak Peek! I can’t wait to see you and Bella again soon!
Usually for Sneak Peeks, I try and choose a few of my favorite images from a quick browse through all the photos from a session. I usually settle on three or four pretty quickly; I’m a relatively decisive person (don’t know how I could be in this business otherwise!) and most times, my clients end up loving their Sneak Peek photos most of all!
This time is different. I was honored to spend a fabulous afternoon with Elaine and her pup Daly, and let me tell you what, I am having the hardest time picking any favorite photos! I’ve gone through her images so many times and my usual decisiveness has gone out the window. So here is a truly random assortment from our session! I still think they’re pretty cute :) Enjoy!
Daly’s story is so interesting: her mom rescued her from a big litter of puppies in New Orleans about eight months ago, and it turns out, one of Daly’s biological siblings came to live in Gulf Breeze too! She’s named Lizzie and looks much more like a labrador than Daly (they have a labrador mother, which I’d never guess just by looking at Daly)… but, together, you can’t hardly tell what either of them look like because they’re just one big blur of dog! It was sooooo funny to see them play together!
Elaine, I absolutely cannot wait to see you & Daly again. But first I have the monstrous task of picking the best photos out of your gallery – something I’m equally excited and terrified to do! Haha thanks for showing me such a fabulous afternoon, and I’ll be in touch soon!
Repeat clients have got to be one of the greatest joys of this business. I SO look forward to sessions with people and dogs that I maybe haven’t seen in a few months, but already know! They typically have me smiling with anticipation as I pull up to their driveway… and this was one of those sessions! (it also helps when those repeat clients are hilarious, wonderful women that I get along with fabulously… just sayin’.)
Anyways, long-time blog followers might remember these schnauzers! They’re Jolie, Beau & Bella, and I love that each of their names mean “beautiful” or “handsome” in a different language…
Bella loves to get attention, so she’s happiest in her parents’ arms… and Beau, well, he seriously has it out for this toy.
Jolie looks so beautiful standing in the sunlight! (oh yes, it was a bit windy out.)
The pool is a constant obstacle for these poor dogs.
This was such a fun session and all of us were spent the entire time laughing… I hope to share more photos with you soon! Thanks for stopping by!
