San Diego Pet Photographer Allison Shamrell ~ The Blog

Brand-New San Diego Vet Clinic’s Grand Opening: Highlands Ranch Animal Hospital

September 17th, 2013

This weekend, the brand-new Highlands Ranch Animal Hospital celebrated their Grand Opening! This beautiful new vet clinic is located in the Rancho Bernardo, Torrey Highlands & Ranch Penasquitos area of San Diego; it’s right off Hwy 56 and Camino Del Sur. They share a small commercial complex with a local pizza shop, a salon, and several more cute shops – and I think a new veterinary hospital is the perfect addition to the area! They invited me and several other great pet service companies out to their location on Sunday the 15th to help them open their clinic with a bang!

The face of the newest San Diego vet!

“Pssst… this is gonna be a great new vet!” (The lovely puppy raisers & dogs from CCI were my booth “neighbors”! More photos of them in a bit…)

There were tons of prizes and freebies up for grabs! Kate from Pawtails Pet Services was there answering questions about her great pet-sitting & dog-walking business, and I had a fabulous time chatting with her… keep your eyes peeled, because we just might team up on a fun Halloween event soon!

Seriously. There were a LOT of raffle prizes.

Tons of dogs came to meet the CCI “representatives” and explore all the festivities…

… but alllllll the games & vendors to meet & greet ended up tuckering out a few pups! There was even face painting for the two-legged children.

Take a look at the inside of this gorgeous new facility. This is all the latest state-of-the-art equipment; to the right is a brand-spanking-new x-ray machine, for pets of almost any size.

That’s a horse bone on the screen! (No horses were harmed in the making of this photo.)

Back outside, I had a new spokesdog in front of my booth!

Oh man. Competition between spokesdogs… cutest contest ever?

I loved meeting these dogs! On the left is Jussie, a Bouvier des Flandres – I’ve never had the privilege of meeting this breed before, so I was delighted to say hi to her! And on the right is Finnegan, a soft-coated Wheaten terrier. I grew up with Wheatens, as it turns out – so I loved meeting this rambunctious puppy just as much as I loved his thoroughly Irish name! :)

A young fan pages through one of my accordion books, while the Helen Woodward Animal Center mascot holds down their nearby booth!

Yep – we had treats.

I loved this “rainbow” of CCI dogs!

If you’re unfamiliar with Canine Companions for Independence, and the great work they do for the disabled, as well as our country’s heroes, please click on this link to visit their website. You can see quick & informative videos, learn more about what service dogs do and how they’re trained, and see upcoming local events they sponsor.

Now, everybody get down, you’re blocking the CCI logo.

Oh… those sweet faces. Love.

Anyways, if you live up near Camino Del Sur in San Diego – or even if you don’t! – I hope you get the chance to visit Highlands Ranch Animal Hospital. Dr. Kelly Myers is incredibly knowledgeable (she’s been a veterinarian for quite a few years) and has a lovely, warm personality. Great qualities in a vet, if you ask me! :) Dr. Myers and her team can be reached at 858-240-5239, via their website at this link, or via Facebook here.

Tags: San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography
Posted in events | 1 Comment »

San Diego Dog Surfing at the 2013 Helen Woodward Surf Dog “Surf-A-Thon”

September 9th, 2013

There’s no better celebration of San Diego dog surfing culture than at the Helen Woodward Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon! This massive event was yesterday – Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013 – and it was a BLAST! There were several heats for small, medium, large & extra-large dogs, a costume contest, and tons of local/national vendors offering freebies & products for sale! Seriously you guys – this event was paw-some! :)

All the proceeds from the entire day (entry fees for competitors, booth fees for vendors, and raffle proceeds from the dozens of prizes up for grabs) went to the Helen Woodward Animal Center, a incredible organization right here in the San Diego area. Definitely a worthy cause!

The day started when the bullhorn sounded the first race! People had big smiles on their faces as they ran into the water!

First round: small dogs only. This chihuahua even had her nails painted to match her lifejacket!

This Jack Russell terrier braved the open ocean…

Shaking off the splashes as he came into shore!

There were a few wipeouts… I love this dog’s super-supportive mom in the background! :)

More love for the dogs!! This is Shelley, and she ended up being one of the finalists – she was great!!

Her dad was THRILLED to see her do so well!

This little gremlin was hanging on for dear li- uh, I mean, hanging ten!

This little pug was so cute – he posed like this ALL the way in to the shore. Like he was defiantly telling the ocean, I’m here, and you can’t stop me from surfing!! Too funny…

This was an incredible moment; this talented Jack Russel actually stayed on his board for the whole ride, even though it almost flipped him into the water! If I’d been on the board, I would have jumped off for sure. Not this brave little dude! The whole crowd yelled & cheered for him!

I do love a bulldog in polkadots.

This lab was too funny – a massive chain of seaweed was right in front of the competitors’ area, so a volunteer was moving it out of the way, and this dog thought it would make for a great game of tug-of-war! He kept biting and pulling at the seaweed, completely working against the volunteer’s efforts! Haha! (don’t worry, the volunteer was laughing too!)

This golden retriever staked out the perfect viewing spot. He stood here stoically for quite a while, “overseeing” all the activity.

And then came the costume round… ha!

You might recognize this bulldog: his name is Louie, and he was on the cover of September’s San Diego Pets Magazine! Here’s a link to his issue/story; check it out online if you haven’t picked up a physical copy yet! He’s surfed all over the country, so it was great to see him hit the waves here in San Diego!

And then, of course, there’s Dozer! This big guy has a book coming out soon, and is quite the decorated surf dog!

Dozer “shakes off the competition”, while another bulldog has a great time out there, judging by the smile on her face!

And last but certainly not least – it’s Ricochet! This beautiful & talented girl not only won her size division, but fundraised the MOST money of any competitor for Helen Woodward – more that $7500!!! She’s a champ twice over! :) I love how she looks so happy when she surfs – and at one point she freestyled a bit and rode in backwards!

In addition to photographing all the action, I had the privilege of sharing a booth with Muttropolis on the beach. Even though I didn’t get to speak with many people that stopped by (I was in the water for most of the day!), someone won a $100 gift certificate toward a San Diego pet photo session! I can’t wait to meet the winner!

(If you haven’t had your fill of surfing photos yet, check out the Facebook page! There are dozens more there, in a big album from the day… and people are leaving some pretty funny comments!)

Thanks for coming out & supporting the Helen Woodward Animal Center! If you weren’t able to make it this year, I hope all the fun photos convinced you to come in 2014! Congrats to Ricochet, Dozer and the rest of the winners! :)

Tags: San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography
Posted in events, pet photography | 5 Comments »

A Pet Photographer’s Birthday Present to Herself – and Someone Else!

September 2nd, 2013

It’s tradition: each year, I give myself a birthday present that’s also a gift for someone else! :) And my birthday is September 3rd! Tomorrow! (Yay!) So it’s definitely time to announce the present…

Confused? Here’s what happens: I choose a dog breed that I’d LOVE to work with – one that I’ve never photographed before – and after a “casting call” of sorts, I give a complimentary session to the dog’s owner! It’s a pretty good deal for everyone involved, I think! haha! So here it is, this year’s birthday breed:

The Afghan Hound!

That long flowing hair, those graceful limbs, the deep expressive eyes… everything about the Afghan Hound says “beauty”. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting one, briefly, but I’d LOVE to actually photograph one! So if you know someone with an Afghan, first of all remind them how lucky they are. Then send them to this blog post! Here’s what they have to do to have a chance at winning a complimentary one-hour photo session:

~ Visit my main website, allisonshamrell.com, and make sure they like my style – which is natural, playful, and soulful. If they’d prefer formal, posed portraits in front of a fake fireplace background, I’m probably not the photographer for them. They should also check out the Pricing page – the Beagle Package is what’s at stake.

~ Email me at allison@allisonshamrell.com with a photo of their dog (it can be just a snapshot), and include just a few sentences about why they’d like to win the session, and what they’d do with the photos.

~ And that’s it! Within a week or so, I’ll choose a winner! It’s the best way to celebrate a pet photographer’s birthday, I think! haha :)

Last year’s birthday breed was the Bernese Mountain Dog, and Juno the 1-year-old Bernese was the lucky pup chosen to win! She brought her sisters (a chocolate lab and a golden retriever) along, of course, and we had a ridiculously fun session together. I can’t wait to meet this year’s winner – so, to all you Afghan Hound owners, good luck! :)

Disclaimers:

~ Contacting me does not guarantee a free session. Only one winner will be picked, and they must own an Afghan Hound. Email submissions from friends/family of the Afghan’s owner will not be considered.

~ Other dogs may participate in the session, as long as they live in the same household as the Afghan.

~ The Beagle Package includes one hour of time in any location in/around central San Diego. Additional fees will apply when including more than two dogs or requesting travel beyond 30 minutes’ driving time from the studio at 3251 Adams Ave in Normal Heights, San Diego.

Tags: contest, San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography
Posted in events, just for fun, pet photography | 1 Comment »

Dog Photography Featured in International Style Blogs

August 29th, 2013

It’s been a big few weeks here at the San Diego studio, and I’m beyond thrilled to announce that while I’ve been working away here, several international pet style blogs have been recognizing & featuring my work! That’s right, my photography of dogs & their owners has been spotlighted by various blogs & magazines across the world recently! This is exciting because these are blogs that I used to read & browse back when I first started my business… so it’s pretty surreal to see my pet photography work featured there, as an example to people just starting their businesses! Not to mention having it seen by the pet product designers & industry leaders that also peruse these blogs… I’m really just honored & flattered that my work is up to par with these sites’ high standards. But – enough talking, check it out for yourself!

First up: Itty Bitty & Fluffy is a UK-based blog that featured my session with Socrates the labradoodle several weeks ago. They must have gotten a great reaction to that post, because – completely out of the blue – they took a dip into my blog archives and spotted my session with Gus the hound mix! So they requested to feature Gus, and now his sweet face is gracing their site! You can see their whole post about Gus here. Here are a few screenshots:

Gus has a wonderful story behind his adoption, and Itty Bitty & Fluffy interviewed me about it. You can read it all on their site.

I LOVE the photos they chose to feature!

Yay, Gus! :)

Another incredibly special spotlight to me features none other than the fabulous Daly, a mixed-breed dog with whom I was honored to share two different sessions. A fabulous blog called The Daily Dog Tag contacted me after I posted on my Facebook page that I photographed Daly twice, and they asked me if they could feature BOTH sessions on their blog! So of course I obliged. And get this – they also wanted Daly’s mom’s input for the post, so she even got to write a bit of Daly’s history and rescue background for the feature! Read both of our interviews here.

This is a fun blog – they feature new pet products & adoptable dogs all the time!

Yay Daly! :)

The pug lovers out there will enjoy this next feature! It’s Mr. Big, a goofy little guy with a too-big tongue. And this session was spotlighted by a great blog named Hair of the Dog, which is different than the above blogs because it’s specifically aimed at pet photographers. It’s a fantastic educational resource on running a pet photography business, so being featured here means exposing myself to the savvy eyes of my colleagues, as well as standing up as an example to beginners with fledgling businesses. It’s a different type of honor, and certainly just as humbling. See my interview & photos on their site by clicking here.

That tongue… it gets me every time.

I even got a small bio at the end of the feature! Too cool. Yay Mr. Big! :)

I actually have several more blogs to share with you – but for now, I’ve got to run off and scout Coronado for an upcoming session! So it looks like those will have to wait for another day… I hope you visit each of these sites and poke around a bit! They’re storehouses of incredible photography and great interviews, and even though you’re (probably) not a pet photographer, I’m sure you can find something you’ll like. Here are the quick links: Itty Bitty & Fluffy, The Daily Dog Tag, and Hair of the Dog. Enjoy! :)

Tags: San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography
Posted in housekeeping/fyi, just for fun, pet photography | No Comments »

In the Flowers at Balboa Park with Jasper the Dog

August 25th, 2013

I had a wonderfully fun dog photo session with a little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Jasper the other day – and we spent most of it in & out of the flower beds at Balboa Park! Jasper is an older guy, but that didn’t slow him down at all – his mom took him to other fun spots around San Diego earlier in the day (like Fiesta Island & other parts of Balboa Park), so he’d been out & about for hours by the time our session started – and it STILL didn’t tire him out! I know dogs that are half his age that only have half his energy, so I was totally impressed by the little guy!

For our session, his mom knew she wanted some pretty, scenic photos – and the more flowers the better! So we thought about where we could go to achieve that combination, and it turns out Balboa Park was already a special place to her, so it was a natural choice for our session location. And it didn’t disappoint! Check out their “sneak peek” photos!

I really loved shooting in Balboa Park! It presents a bit of a challenge, to be honest, with all the other people & dogs around, since they present distractions to the dog I’m working with as well as (sometimes) undesired background elements. But in the right spots, like near the Botanical Gardens, everywhere you look at any angle presents a pretty backdrop! And I’ve personally always felt that the best background for a dog, hands down, is simply green grass. What could be more natural, more simple? And the grass doesn’t get more green & lush than at the hands of the talented Balboa Park gardeners! So despite the distractions, I couldn’t help but absolutely love our Balboa Park session.

Maria – thank you so much for an incredibly fun session! Jasper, thanks for keeping me laughing! :)

Tags: San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography
Posted in pet photography | No Comments »

Brand-New San Diego Vet Clinic’s Grand Opening: Highlands Ranch Animal Hospital

San Diego Dog Surfing at the 2013 Helen Woodward Surf Dog “Surf-A-Thon”

A Pet Photographer’s Birthday Present to Herself – and Someone Else!

Dog Photography Featured in International Style Blogs

In the Flowers at Balboa Park with Jasper the Dog

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