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… or at least, by Norbert yesterday afternoon and evening during our fun shoot. incorporating a big variety of locations, i have a lot to share of this young man, but thought i’d give you at least a couple of the zanier shots from last night before i have to rush off for some appointments. having spotted a stick, here young Norbert believes he can walk on water …
… alas …
he is sorely mistaken …
much more of the fabulous Norbert coming soon.
you may remember Miles …
his full blog entry from his previous shoot can be found here. and we had a great shoot last summer, but when mom Ingrid saw Buster’s latest shoot in the train tunnel and the tunnel of trees (for which a lot of scruffy dog clients travel here in order to have their shoot incorporate), she just had to bring Miles here for some similar shots. she especially wanted the train tunnel because of Miles’ past … picked up as a stray in Tennessee, Miles’ history is unknown, and Ingrid imagines him having toughed it out on the streets and in tunnels.
so, it was off to the train tunnel. at first Miles was a little confused as to the odd location, and maybe just a little uneasy … a quick tongue flick of nerves …
then … “wait, did i hear a train comin’?”
“and hang on a second, is that Skeletor? seriously, are you sure he can’t get me?”
“okay, okay …i’ll sit for you …”
“… and i’ll give you my best faces. howz this one?”
“and this one?”
but if you wait long enough for something to catch their attention, eventually even the craziest little terrier goofball becomes a stellar model.
even a bit of a runway … er … railway model?
this was the first shoot to which i brought Merrick along for the ride. he’d met Miles last fall during Ingrid’s studio-consult and these two “chill” little boys hit it off, so i thought it would be fun to take him along and let him run around at the second location. in the tunnel though, i set down my camera bag and asked my boy to wait by it; and the entire time i worked with Miles, my boy stayed by the cameras. still, i thought it would be fun to get a few shots of the the two adorable rescued terriers in the tunnel …
and this is the image that Ingrid is deciding to go with big … a 54″ canvas. i can’t wait to see it!
so after the train tunnel, it was a drive through Mennonite country to the tree tunnel. i swear, Miles was like: “seriously? more posing what am i?”
“oh, all right…”
“wait, do i smell something from that farm over there?”
and then i dared to ask for a “stand” from sweet Miles. “are you kidding me, lady?”
“now, where was that delicious smell i just had?”
“oh yeah, baby! there it is.”
“that’s one terrific smell … i love the countryside.”
“hold up. got an itch!”
okay, now we’re posing …
and … that’s a wrap, Miles. “seriously? we’re done?”
all done. “and i’m outta here!”
thanks, Ingrid, for a fun shoot, and thanks, Miles, for always being such a fabulous and patient model. you’ll be seeing another blog entry soon about Miles when i talk about dogs on posts … so stay tuned.
at long last i’ve set some time aside to take photos of the new scruffy dog Signature albums. why do we call them “Signature” albums? because these gorgeous, exclusive albums have been developed with our partner lab — with great love, devotion, and a lot of hard work — for scruffy dog and our awesome clients. these albums are the result of years of experience, years of designing and delivering countless books to scruffy dog clients, and knowing what makes the scruffy dog images look their most vibrant and superior.
yes, we’ve exhaustively sampled the top ‘presses’ and book-making companies in Canada and the US over the years, and have ventured into the world of press-printed (magazine style) printing, but frankly, press-printed simply can’t compare to having your images presented on real, archival photographic paper.
scruffy dog is extremely proud to present three stunning, custom-designed albums in which to present the photographic memories of your best friend. hand-bound, hardcover, flushmount albums, printed on real photographic paper, allowing for every hair to bristle off the page and the eyes to sparkle bright, and always the truest of colours to shine through.
so first up, the Best in Show album … let’s start with the deluxe box this comes in …
and the custom-designed keepsake bag … and when we say “custom-designed”, yes, we mean our own design, working with a local seamstress.
the spine and back is genuine leather, with many colours to choose from, and there is the option for either full leather cover with name embossed, or as you see here, with the partial photo cover (my preference) …
beautiful, flushmount binding …
studio imprinting kept subtle …
and true, lay-flat pages that come with flushmount albums.
yes, these are the same luxury albums that wedding photographers offer their clients, and frankly, there’s no reason our pets don’t deserve this kind of luxury and grand format too, right?
the Best in Show album is 12×12 … that’s why it’s called “Best in Show”! so with the turn of each lamination-protected page, you’re presented with a full 12×24″ print …
but for other spreads, there’s ample room to have fun with design and multiple photos, of course.
so why all the hullabaloo about albums anyway? well, face it, unlike a photo shoot of yourself or your family, Rover simply doesn’t have a bad side … even if his nose can be a little long. and scruffy dog photo sessions are big on variety. so once presented with their proofing galleries full of variety, more than eighty percent of scruffy dog clients decide that an album is the best way to have the photographic memories of their pet presented. albums are almost always purchased within one of the scruffy dog packages which also include prints and wall mounts, but over the years, we’ve found that it’s the albums that most clients love and cherish the most … and that’s why we’ve put our own heart into them.
but some clients find that the Best in Show album is a little big … so for them, we have two smaller sizes. first, the 8×8 scruffy dog Signature album …
a solid, compact, hardcover album presented in a protective box …
beautifully and meticulously hand-bound …
printed on archival, photographic paper, the pages are a heavy stock, not flimsy press-printed paper.
and like the Best in Show, the Signature albums are flushmount as well, which allows your pages to lie flat and your images to be unhindered by the gutters normally found in press-printed books.
and in spite of its smaller size, there are still great design options …
however, having spent several years designing these books, we keep the scruffy dog books clean and simple … uncluttered from extra design flourishes … so that the images can stand out. and yes, text can be included. as i put this blog entry together now though, i realize i failed to photograph any of the spreads which incorporated text … so here is one typical spread with text …
“She is your partner, your defender, your dog. You are her life, her love, her leader. She will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of her heart. You owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion.” ~ Unknown
but back to the 8×8 Signature album …
and then there is the 10×10 Signature album …
but as with any product, touchy-feely is always the best, and you’ll always get to see these in-person at the time of your shoot.
i hope you’ve enjoyed this peek at the scruffy dog albums. NOTE: for those photographers inquiring about product, etc., please understand that we don’t have time to respond to all inquiries, especially as we are currently in our busy season.
i know it’s been a while since i posted a “things we love!” blog entry … sorry ’bout that. just too much happenin’ in these parts … and i knew that i wanted to write about this book as the next “things we love” blog entry. plus, well, i had to finish reading the book first, and frankly, i had to tackle the ending in small doses.
but trust me, if there’s only one dog book you read this year, let it be Steve Duno’s, last dog on the hill …
as you’d expect, i have quite a library of dog books. but as a published novelist for two decades, i confess i can be a harsher critic than many. i’ve got some high standards, both when it comes to writing, and when it comes to those i feel even have the authority to be writing books about dogs. needless to say, there are countless books on dogs in print, and out of those, many that — i believe — should never have met a printing press. admittedly, those are the ones that find their way — rather unceremoniously — on a quick trip via the blue bins to the curb in front of our house. “What? You don’t take them to a used book store? Donate them to the library?” sadly, no. i’m not about to waste someone else’s time with such tripe.
but once in a while, a genuinely solid piece of writing about dogs comes out … a story worth telling, written by someone who not only knows how to write, but has also learned a thing or two about dogs, and as such has some authority to speak about what he writes. Steve Duno’s story of his first dog Lou, and how this rescued mutt altered his life, is truly “unforgettable”. … beautifully written, never maudlin, perhaps a little embellished in places, but overall, a book that will remain the forerunner of all the “dog story” books on my shelf, as it will be difficult — if not impossible — to top.
if you’ve ever had that wonder dog, ever loved a dog so deeply you thought your life would end when theirs did, this is a book for you. whole paragraphs and single phrases are not only moving, but also touch you to the core …
” … because together, with this dog, things meant more.”
“Better to bear an unending line of sweet, tail-wagging idiots than to bury you again,” Duno writes to Lou after his passing. “Pity the dogs who follow a legend. I’m done searcing for your doppelganger.”
and as my girl Matea — my own wonder-dog and hero, and a dog i’m pretty sure Duno would be impressed with and no doubt see some similarities to his incredible boy — as she steps into her senior years, coping with spondylosis, Duno’s convictions and experience ring loudly for me. “Work is life. You stop working, you’re dead.” … and i realize i have to do more with my wonder-dog, even though her body can’t run and fly and jump and leap and hunt the way she used to.
so, thank you, Mr. Duno, for an unforgettable story, for some beautiful writing, and for the cry. i hope your heart has been touched as deeply by a new dog, just in a different way. as someone who has gone through the deep losses of a couple of very special dogs already, i can say that they are all legends in their own way, they all touch our hearts just in very different ways … we just have to be open to it. or maybe i’ve just been really lucky in dogs.
meet Buster … an amazing, proud, old man, who is surrounded by a truly amazing amount of love.
Buster’s shoot is a Father’s Day gift, so i hope these images and his blog entry are a real surprise.
from Toronto, Buster came to our neck of the woods for his shoot because — like a number of our clients — his owners really liked some of the settings that they have seen on the blog.
14-year-old Buster is suffering from degenerative myelopathy — a progressive spinal cord disease which is affecting his mobility. but in spite of some rests, this boy was rarin’ to go during the shoot. in fact, Sara and her sister claimed that they hadn’t seen this old man move so fast and have so much fun in a long time, especially once we got out to our natural setting. you could hardly hold him back!
on the way between the graffitied train tunnel and our favorite shooting spot, i made sure to stop at a small park to capture the last of the wild flox. when scouting earlier in the day — checking out the state of the latest graffiti — i passed this amazing patch and just knew that we’d have to make use of these pretty flowers for our tough pitty boy, so i way-pointed it on the GPS in order not to miss it later that evening during our shoot. and at that point, with the late afternoon sun, it was glorious.
“woof!”
and then, up to the infamous tunnel of trees for this old boy …
i’d like to take a little time to talk about our Honour Sessions™. as i mentioned in our most recent newsletter, i’ve struggled over the last few years to come up with a proper name for those very special sessions that we shoot for clients with ailing and aging pets. other pet photographers call them “bereavement sessions”, but that term has always felt a little too morbid and sad to me. friend and Minneapolis pet photog Sarah Beth, calls hers Joy Sessions®, but for me, the name still eluded me. for me, based on the number of these sessions i’ve had over the years, these sessions aren’t always joyful, nor are they sad and full of bereaving. instead, for me, they are a serious time, a deeply heartfelt time, and — most of all — a truly reflective time.
so, at long last and after much thought, i’ve come up with the name “Honour Sessions”. these are sessions where the clock stands still … where we do whatever it takes to capture as many unique and powerful images as possible of your beloved pet … where we strive for as much variety as your pet can muster … where we sit and talk, sharing the experience … and through it all, truly honour your pet, the love and bond that connects you, and the lifetime you have shared together.
no matter what, these Honour Sessions™ are always worked into the scruffy dog shooting schedule. even other clients are happy to shift their sessions to accommodate a sick and ailing pet. after all, we all know the love of a pet, we all share the common understanding, and as such, share the same compassion.
at the same time, i always advise people not to wait too long to make that booking for their dog. i’ve had numerous Honour Sessions™ where the clients wished they’d booked a year earlier, when their dogs were still relatively vibrant and able to run and catch a stick, or just walk amongst the grasses. to me, those are the memories best captured. but still, many wonders can be worked even with a pet who is relatively immobile, as i’ve done in many Honour Sessions™. (and by the way, if you don’t already receive the scruffy dog newsletter, drop us a line, and we’ll rectify that, pronto!)
but back to Buster … during our shoot, you’d hardly know he was struggling. this big-hearted, never-quit boy was on the move … he had things to sniff, trees to pee on, and lovely long blades of fresh grass to mow down …
in fact, he was so determined to eat this entire field of grass, it was nearly impossible to get just this one shot of him not eating!
yup, still licking his lips from his salad-bar experience as we headed to the shore …
Buster, it was a true pleasure and delight to meet you, and an absolute honour to photograph you. i hope i have done your courage, strength, and great will-power justice through these photos
Sara and family, i look forward to hearing from you, and i hope this is the happiest Father’s Day ever, for all of you and for Buster most of all. you have a large gallery of images to sort through. do not hesitate to contact me for help, and i am here if you would like to set up a studio consult.
and Buster, you three-toed wonder … dude, you’re the best. just keep on keepin’ on!
