Me with my muse, Bailey!

About Allison Shamrell Photography:

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.

Tag: ‘pets’



Pet Photography Video

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Putting yourself out there isn’t easy. I think it comes easily to other people, but I always hesitate. I guess I’ve gotten pretty good at talking myself out of making my business personal – or at least it’s something I constantly have to remind myself to do.

So the idea of really putting myself out there, talking about myself and this business I love so much – let’s just say it wasn’t an easy thing for me to wrap my head around! But I look back and think about all the people to whom I’ve ever said “I’m a pet photographer” and their questions follow: “Pet photography? What is that? How does that work? How do you take pictures of dogs?” The puzzled looks on their faces always go away after a few minutes of explanation, but I realized that an introductory video would answer those questions for anyone who cared to know, all at once, and better than I could answer them just with words.

So a few days ago I released this bad boy: my promo video. It still makes me incredibly nervous to know that it’s out there; I feel like I’ve bared a small part of my heart and it’s open to judgement by anyone, anywhere. But at the same time, I know it’ll give people that’ve never heard of pet photography a great idea of what actually happens during a session. And that was the goal all along.

There’s one more thing you should know about this video: it was made by my husband! I think it’s incredible that he has next-to-no videography experience, but this looks like something I should have paid a LOT of money for! He worked incredibly hard on it, for weeks, and all on our old laptop that constantly gave him issues. The fact that something like this is the result boggles my mind.

This video can always be found on my Facebook page and the homepage of my website. I really hope it answers lots of questions for people who’ve never known what pet photography is – and that it shows how much FUN we have!

 

 

 

A Bulldog and a BIG Lab Puppy: Deuce & Huntley

Friday, March 30th, 2012

This session was so much fun! I think it was especially interesting because we used our fair share of props, and while these dogs are both oh-so-handsome on their own, I think incorporating their favorite things really brought out their personalities! First, we used a stick, and this was not any old stick – it was brought from home, because Huntley the chocolate lab puppy has a love affair with it. And let me tell you what, getting his focus when I had the beloved stick in my hands was a piece of cake! The other prop was – well – edible. And I don’t recommend it for other dogs! But Deuce the English bulldog has, over time, built up a tolerance (and a love) for this particular food.

Since this is only the Sneak Peek, I can’t show you everything… but here are the handsome boys!

 

An English bulldog with an overbite sits with his owner in a park.

 

 

A chocolate lab puppy chews on a stick.

 

Did I mention it was a gorgeous afternoon in a pretty new park? Deuce is diggin’ it.

A happy English bulldog in a park.

 

Okay, here’s a preview of Deuce’s snack…

McDonald's food bag with an English bulldog's snack.

 

Stay tuned for the rest of these boys’ photos! Thanks for such a great time at the park, Nicole & Andrew – I’ll be in touch very soon!

 

Premium Albums: The Leather Cover

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Ahhhh, we’re here. This post reveals the last Premium Album that I offer, from one more totally separate album provider. This is the album I’ve been most excited about all along, for two reasons. First of all, it’s leather, and leather is always what I’ve envisioned as being a huge characteristic of a top-of-the-line photography album. I suppose I have a soft spot for it. Secondly, this album features my favorite dog in the world: my girl Bailey.

 

The box it comes in is leather, and has a small magnetic closure.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Oh. Oh yes. Take in that leather.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

And the imprinting of Bailey’s name on the cover…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

I hope you can see the texture of the leather. It’s top-of-the-line, and I could tell you the technical qualifications a quality guarantees surrounding it… but suffice to say, it’s NICE. And not just “nice”… I mean NICE.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

The pages have a substrate in-between them that’s actually a different color than the prints. I think it gives the album’s side view a really distinctive look!

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A black spread to start…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

With my embossed logo on the inside cover!

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Could these pages be any flatter? They’re so flat they’re bending back with the cover! I love that they lay directly against it like that.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Sigh. I know I’m a nerd for swooning over an album… but that’s okay with me.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Oh hey Bailey! Here’s an example of a spread – you can see that there’s a seam in the middle (not really a gutter, per se) but it’s so thin that in the 24-inch span of this book (it measures 12×12 when closed) I think it hardly makes any difference in the overall layout.

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A closer look at the pages…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

More leather texture. Man I wish you could feel this through your screen…

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

A premium album with a leather cover, featuring a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, dog photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

I know these photos haven’t done this album (or the photo-cover one, or the silk one) justice. But I hope you can see a small part of why I’ve been so, so excited for a very long time to introduce these products. They are at the very top of the line, the best of the best in the photography industry, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to offer them to my clients!

Thanks for taking a look!

Premium Albums: The Photo Cover

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Okay, I’m going to run the risk of sounding really repetitive over the next few posts. Let’s just get out there what I’m feeling:

I am so excited about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. It may be hard to believe, but that obnoxious amount of exclamation points was actually necessary. Because this is something that I’ve been planning, researching, preparing and waiting for, for about six months. I’m introducing a new product line, and as the title of this blog post says, it’s a line of premium albums.

I already offer coffee table books – and they’re great! But many clients have asked me for more options. I wanted to continue offering all the features my clients love in their coffee table books – lay flat pages, clean design, great presentation – and still add so much more. This is a HUGE step up, in both quality and price, and it’s absolutely perfect for those clients who really want to feature their dogs’ portraits in an incredibly special way.

This post features a premium album with full-bleed photos on the front and back covers. I actually have three providers for the different types of premium albums I offer, not just one, because I felt that once my clients decide to make such a fabulous purchase, they ought to be able to choose between the best album providers in the photography industry. As far as showcasing a photo on the front cover, this lab absolutely excelled in every possible category, so I’m thrilled to offer their albums to my clients! (Remember: this is only the first of three album types. The others will be featured in their very own blog posts, because I don’t play favorites, even with inanimate objects. I’ll post links to those posts here as soon as they exist.)

 

Okay – let’s get started!!

 

The photo-cover premium album comes with its very own custom photo box! Here’s its front and spine:

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Here’s the back side.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

I chose to put only the dog’s name on the spine of the box, for simplicity’s sake. Kai is a sweetheart of a pit bull, and she and her mom live in New Orleans – they came all the way to Pensacola for their session, and we had a fantastic time together!

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

The box opens from the side…

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

It has a beautiful sheer cloth insert to protect the book…

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

And here’s the book itself, sitting on top of its box…

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

And finally, just the book.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Ready to see inside? Me too!

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Here’s an example of a spread.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

The gutter normally found in big books is almost entirely nonexistent. This full-spread design was specifically made up of darker colors, so that you can see the most dramatic effect a white seam could have. I think it’s pretty remarkably small! I honestly don’t think it detracts from the photo much at all, so that’s one feature I love about these books.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

My past clients love how their coffee table books can lay completely flat, without anyone having to hold down any pages (like you would with a magazine). This book lays flat like a pro.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Let’s take a closer look at those pages…

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

The pages are thick; they have a substrate inside them that provides support and stability. Trust me, you’ll never rip one of these pages. And in the photo to the left of the collage below, you get to see a bit of how the cover is slightly padded with more substrate. To be honest, I feel bad for you: this book feels incredible and I wish you could just run your hands over it. The cover has an incredible matte finish and the slight plush cushion underneath the printed material is just… well, you have to feel it to believe it.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Here’s another look at the cover.

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

 

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

The back cover:

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

I even found a small place for my logo!

A sample copy of a premium photo-cover album featuring custom pet photography by Allison Shamrell.

 

Well, there you have it, the first of three incredible premium albums. I’ll be bringing these only sparingly to events; they’ll mostly be reserved for the eyes of clients  in their ordering sessions. So to see them all… just book a session! :) haha!

I hope you enjoyed looking through this book! I can’t wait to show you the accompanying two albums; stay tuned!

 

Dogs We’ve Lost.

Monday, March 19th, 2012

I feel it deep inside my stomach, or whatever organ it is that handles emotional pain. When a client calls or emails, and tells me that their dog has passed away, I feel it. It hurts to think about it, and I inevitably tear up as I dig that client’s file out of my archives. I look at the photos of their dog, and I allow reality to sink in. Because a minute ago, everything was fine. And now I know that everything is not fine, and we’ve lost someone. Someone that meant a LOT.

 

I became a pet photographer because it’s fun; because I love almost every aspect of this business (just not taxes!) and playing with dogs for a living is a dream come true. But when my first client’s pet passed away, as I cried, I realized that this is so much more than a fun career. To all my clients, past, present & future: I hope you know that I don’t regard my job as just taking photos of your pet. As past clients already know, I do more than that – but I want you to realize that you and your dogs mean a lot to me, too. You aren’t “just another client” to me; part of the purpose behind the Pre-Session Consultation and Ordering Session and all the follow-ups I do is because I’m letting you into my heart. To be honest, I envision all my clients as a family of sorts, and maybe you haven’t even met each other, but you’re all so special to me. I really have enjoyed getting to know each one of you, and just because I’m not calling/emailing/delivering your products certainly doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about you. Your dogs are such sweethearts and I know losing them hurts so deeply. It’s so heartbreaking to hear from you with this sad news, but I’m grateful that you do me the honor of letting me know.

 

Hmmm, I just re-read what I wrote. To someone who doesn’t know me, it probably sounds cheesy. But that’s okay – it’s true. I’m not changing a word.

 

I’ve recently heard that Sprockett and Bruiser have passed away.

 

Sprockett was a sweet little miniature poodle, super-attached to his mom and very much loved.

Miniature poodle who has passed away.

 

Bruiser was an old boxer from Pensacola whose life came to a sudden end. He was a gentle guy, and is now overlooking the water.

Boxer who has passed away, black and white photo.

 

These two dogs are the most recent losses of the “family”. In the past, I’ve gotten emails from more of my clients…

 

Buford, an arthritic old lab, whose passing was expected but still so painful…

Old labrador that has passed away.

 

And Lucy, who simply shouldn’t have died at such a young age. She was only a few years old.

Young miniature poodle that has passed away.

 

Please, give your dogs a hug today. They love you, and the time we have with them is much too short. I think I might take Bailey for an extra walk today…

 

 

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