I pulled up to their house, got out of the car, shut the door – and was immediately greeted with a cacophony of barks, yips and woofs from behind the fence! Billy, Jasmine & Snickers had all come out to greet me, and like all good schnauzers, it took several minutes for them to trust me enough for the barking to die down. (They had met me about a week beforehand, in my studio for our pre-session consult, but I’m pretty sure any absence of more than 5 minutes causes the same reaction… so I didn’t stand a chance, haha!)

We spent our session in their gorgeously-landscaped backyard in North Park, which provided the perfect mix of dog-friendly grass to run around on, pathways to pose on, and shrubbery to peek out from behind! Each dog had their own unique style, of course – and I have to admit, I really enjoyed working with Billy, the senior man of the bunch. He had such a feisty look in his eyes, even though he toddled around somewhat slowly on those 16-year-old legs… I think he really would have given me a workout a few years ago! But he let Snickers & Jasmine be the energetic ones for our session; they’re puppies by comparison at 4 years old!

All 3 dogs were really quite lovely to photograph; schnauzers are so expressive and not afraid to speak their minds! It’s that little dash of attitude that made our session so much fun. :)

This is Snickers! Can you handle that head tilt?!

This is Jasmine, in one of her favorite spots in the backyard. I think she likes to be surrounded by the outdoors…

And this is sweet Billy. That face, that expression, those eyelashes… he’s so amazing!

David & Ton, thank you so much for introducing me to your beautiful dogs! (And Karen & Kimmy, thank YOU for introducing US!)

Tags: backyard, dogs, pet photography, pets, photography, San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, San Diego pet photography, schnauzer, senior