on the heels of three blog entries cluttered with puppies, i have to share the sad news of the passing of a scruffy client. sweet, man Buster …
this lovely old man had his Honour Session™ in June …
if you want to see more from Buster’s Honour Session™, you can see it here.
goodbye, Buster, you sweet man. i know you are dearly missed here on earth.
this tall, dark, and handsome man is Orville …
dashing, isn’t he?
this boy was adopted from the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society. as you can tell from the backdrop, this shoot was done in the graffiti tunnel right after Memphis’ dad, Don, painted it specially for Memphis’ custom shoot. i didn’t want the painting to go to waste after Memphis’ shoot so we booked Orville for a quickie …
you’ll be seeing more of Orville later this year as he is scheduled for a proper big shoot in the fall …
… when he can run and fetch and be a goofball on some real doggy turf, not some grotty train tunnel.
still, Orville was a good sport about his little graffiti shoot … even though i know it was tough for this high-powered athlete to sit still for this kind of shooting …
thanks, Orville. and i’m looking forward to seeing you really let loose in a more species-appropriate setting this fall!
for those of you who follow the scruffy dog facebook page, you’ll already have seen a sneak peek of this scruffy boy Norbert …
some of you might even remember Norbert from our scruffy dog contest earlier this spring. in the heavily voted-in contest, with over eighty entries, young Norbert finished in the top ten.
we covered a lot of ground during Norbert’s shoot, and because of some awesome locations, the resulting gallery is big on variety … SO big, in fact, that i’ve decided to bring you Norbert in two blog installments. yeah, two!
first off, we started out — at mom, Sarah’s, request — in the graffiti tunnel …
although still very young — 8 months — Norbert’s obedience training came in handy. especially when dealing with specific locations like this …
obedience isn’t required for a shoot, but it obviously helps with certain shots and locations.
don’t worry though, after the train tunnel, we definitely allowed Norbert to let loose right after this. off to some fields of grass …
… and flowers!
how gorgeous are these?
i couldn’t imagine a more stunning backdrop for this gorgeous boy.
rocket-boosters on!
can you find Norbert’s little friend?
and one of my favorites in the golden field …
having come very close to catching a song bird as he flew after it through the flowers, Norbert was full-speed ahead, hoping to rouse up another potential victim.
i think this pup could have run through the yellow flowers all evening if we’d let him. but we had other places to go.
next stop was Langdon Hall, where Sarah works … and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to shoot on the grand front steps.
apparently Norbert hangs out at the Hall when Sarah works, greeting guests and lounging around. how awesome is that?
and let me tell you, the staff at Langdon Hall are extremely dog-friendly … not to mention Norbert-friendly. shooting this boy on the front steps wasn’t easy … every staff member who came through those doors caused Norbert to break his sit and run up for affection … not to mention the attention he garnered from guests in the short window of time we used the entrance.
and the grounds of Langdon Hall are stupendous! for those out-of-towners (and out-of-province’rs) coming for their scruffy dog sessions and looking for a place to overnight, i highly recommend it as a true, one-of-a-kind get-away with your dog. beautiful, wooded trails …
breezy fields and country lanes …
a swimming hole and room to run … but you’re going to have to wait for those images. stay tuned for more of Norbert.
for those of you who follow scruffy dog photography on Facebook, you’ll have already met Memphis. and for those of you who don’t follow SDP on Facebook … um … why not? it’s where you’ll catch all the latest!
so this is Memphis …
these first few shots were taken during a pre-shoot session. “a what?” yup, a pre-shoot shoot …
and why the need for a pre-shoot session? well, here’s the thing … we use this train tunnel from time to time, and — not unlike a few other scruffy dog clients — the graffiti in the tunnel was something that Memphis’ owners definitely wanted for their boy. and, hoping to capitalize on the awesome skull that they’d seen in our recent shoots there, they decided to book a Starter session now, before their fuller Standard session later this fall.
however, after a quick trip down to the tunnel, Memphis’s dad, Don, discovered that the graffitied skull had been covered up. yes, it’s quite a busy tunnel!
so, being a bit of an artist in his own right — decades building and painting NHL goalie masks, and now painting NASCAR driver helmets — Don decided to paint his own graffiti for his boy … and in order to establish the best spot for his artwork, we arranged a pre-shoot. and that section right above Memphis’ head was the decided-upon canvas.
after some arranging, a busy morning, and a surreptitious rendezvous, we were set. Don had a busy morning, i was on call, and Memphis was in waiting. and when we brought Memphis into the tunnel that second time, with Don’s work fresh on the concrete wall, i kid you not, one of the first things Memphis did was check out his dad’s work!
… perhaps a little intimidated by the bull terrier skull looming behind him?
” … maybe if i don’t look at it.”
but overall, i think the big boy approved, as quite soon he was relaxed and posing …
even a little action-jackson …
just look at this gorgeous boy!
“hey, lady, put that camera away and give me some more treats already!”
“snarl!”
“hey, dad? you finished? we gettin’ outta here any time soon?”
thanks for a fun afternoon, Don and Memphis. can’t wait to pick up your canvas for you guys! and i’m really looking forward to our fall session.
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.
