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thor & indy ~ {Toronto pet photographer}

1 February 2012 – 8:02 am

here at scruffy dog we’re still working on the post production of a number of our fall sessions due to the extremely heavy shooting schedule last season.  and even while some clients’ galleries are up, and orders are already being processed, we’re woefully behind in blogging the amazing sessions we’ve had … with dozens of sessions, unfortunately, never making it to the blog.

wherever i can, i’m trying to make room to do up a blog entry here and there, but right now it’s only a dream that i’ll get even a fraction of last fall’s sessions onto the blog.

some of you who follow the scruffy dog facebook page will already have seen a few of these images of Thor and his little sister Indy … and they would have made an appearance in the facebook recaps posted intermittently here on the blog … but since they’re among my favorites from the session, you’re getting a couple of repeats.

Thor is a repeat client from several years ago.  it was so amazing to see this big guy again as he was one of my most memorable sessions early on in scruffy dog history …

and wee little Indy … well, need i say more?  “hey, lady, down here!”

how adorable is this little sweetie?

and those wee, undersized legs work just fine when it comes to keeping up with her big brother …

and how utterly handsome is this big guy?

and this boy can move!

although it’s been my experience that long-haired doxies can be a little on the shy side, i think this little girl actually believes she’s a great dane as well …

we had a lot of fun at one of our favorite locations, and then made our way to the red caboose …

thanks for a lovely session with your two, Jennifer, and sharing them with me.

these two are certainly a couple of my most favorite scruffies …

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another facebook recap ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

21 January 2012 – 12:31 pm

once again, the following images come to you care of the scruffy dog facebook page … if you’re not currently following SDP on facebook, you might want to reconsider!  … loads of fun, daily photos, client sneak peeks, before-and-after captures showing some of the work going on around here at SDP headquarters … yeah, and scruffies … lots of scruffies.

first up, some feet … a few people thought these were vizsla feet, which makes me realize that although we’ve shot hundreds upon hundreds of dogs, we haven’t had a vizsla client in the past couple of years!  but these particular feet belong to big, Rhodesian Ridgeback James …

James is a repeat client, so some of you might remember him from his shoot last year …

then there was my girl matea.  people are always asking me what kind of dog she is; if you want to learn more about this gorgeous girl of mine you can find her fuller story here.  she had to visit the vet this past week with the intention of having a tumor removed from her hind leg/foot.  however, as suspected, it was infected, so we have to give her time for the infection to go down before we have it removed at the beginning of February.

merrick gave his own opinion in regards to the computer issues we went through here at SDP headquarters … a complete overhaul and upgrades of all the studio software.  what an ordeal …

and little Indy and her big brother Thor.

here’s a shot of my boy from earlier this summer when fellow photographer, Brian Douglas, and were checking out some possible locations …

and while on the subject of resident scruffy merrick, here’s a little video clip of this boy overcoming his fears of the new LG laundry machines.  these new appliances (along with some other new appliances in the house), with all of their new beeps and trills and songs, had taken the goober to a level of anxiety that caused him to shut down.  in spite of turning off all of the alarms and indicators on every appliance, the damage had been done … if we so much as opened the laundry room door, this boy would fly upstairs and not come down again.

so, the other day, when he seemed to be in a more daring mood, actually stepping into the laundry room briefly before trying to take off again, i decided to do a little work with him.  it was a major step in the right direction. (and let me qualify, i do not endorse putting pets in your dryer! this was a much-needed exercise to help a formerly abused dog conquer his fears.)

what an amazing boy this goober is.  we’ve all learned so much from him and his rehabilitation.

also on the facebook page, we shared a before-and-after, which a lot of SDP facebook followers seem to love.  here is monster boy, Thor…

this was Thor’s second shoot with SDP.  he was one of our clients very early on in SDP’s history.  we find him with a few more white whiskers, but with the same awesome spirit, joy for life, and … well … same flappy jowls and drool.

i just love these two together … big Thor and his wee little sister Indy …


and finally, another shot of the goober … this one taken with the Nikon V1 … a new addition to the SDP lineup of cameras.  although not intended for client sessions, it’s a fun little camera to carry in one’s purse.

hope you all have a great weekend!

By illona | Posted in facebook images recap | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

another facebook recap ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

11 January 2012 – 8:46 am

as usual, i bring you the latest sneak peeks from our current clients on the scruffy dog facebook page … and it was a bit of a Yorkie week, with two shoots of two yorkies!  so, why not start with some Yorkies?

Harley and Nahla were back for a second shoot.  you can see their summer shoot here.  these two niblets reside in California, so watching them deal with the snow was fun … and doesn’t Nahla look like a little winter princess?

this was a Starter session added on to Harley and Nahla’s summer Standard.  because of the cold, these little guys lasted about 25 minutes, but we got a ton of gorgeous photos from these two.  they really knew how to strike a pose.  maybe they’ve lived in Hollywood too long?

and with the coming of the new year, it was time for resident mcscruffy matea to “hand over the reins” for the 52 Weeks for Dogs project on flickr.  merrick is this year’s model.

i shared another photo of the spectacular Indy, whose photoshoot from the fall is still in the post-work stages … a girl can’t get any privacy!

and then gorgeous old man Dante, whose shoot also is in the post stage …

and this shot i thought was funny … imagining Dante yelling at someone out of frame.

then the resident merrick mcscruffy … this shot was taken with a new point-and-shoot … my purse camera.  along with some new appliances that beep a lot, merrick turned his back to the new Nikon down in the studio as he’d just had it with all the beeping!

this mcscruffy is far more comfortable with the big cameras …

and we asked facebook followers what was their pet’s favorite new toy received over the holidays …

then there was baby Harlow, another client whose shoot is still in the post stages. how cute is she?

and then … more Yorkies!  these two are Darla and Enzo … catching a few rays …

and you don’t need a doorbell if you share your life with a Yorkie!

and a little fun in the autumn leaves …

Enzo did well with a little fence-post posing at the end of our shoot while the moon came up …

i hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s facebook recap.  if you’d like to see more of these kinds of client sneak-peeks and SDP photos even sooner, join the scruffy dog facebook page and follow the fun as it happens!  see you there!

By illona | Posted in facebook images recap | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)

thank you to all of our 2011 clients! ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

3 January 2012 – 5:04 pm

2011 has been a great year here at scruffy dog photography. Even if it didn’t start out with a bang — the winter months offering very few great “snow” days, and the spring months being rained out — we still managed to fit in a record-breaking number of shoots, with some truly amazing dogs (and cats!).

And while our trip out east in the spring was pretty much a wash, and we had to cancel all of our pre-arranged sessions out there, we did manage to capture some memorable and unique shots of the resident scruffies on the beaches to bring home with us.

But the year would be nothing without our amazing clients.  2011 brought us such a huge variety of models, from seniors to puppies, and clients from as far away as California and New York City, as well as commercial clients on a global level.

Business-wise, we have made some big moves as well this year … trademarking the “scruffy dog” name in several countries, and even as I write this we are on the verge of rebranding, so stay tuned for that!

With enormous thanks to our clients and friends, followers and supporters, we were once again nominated and won the “Best Pet Photographer” category in The Toronto Pet Daily‘s Readers’ Choice Awards for the second year running.  This, along with wins in the categories of “Favorite Photographer” and “Favorite Photography Studio” in the Kitchener-Waterloo’s Readers’ Choice Awards, makes 2011 a pretty stellar year all around. And of course, there’s no way this could happen without the incredible support, word-of-mouth, and generosity of all of you.

But when I look back on the year of 2011, it will be marked more by the tongue-lolling, tail-wagging joy in so many of the scruffy faces I met and had the absolute pleasure of photographing.

We would be nowhere without our clients … and to show our appreciation, I have compiled a video of our 2011 clients. With the number of 2011 scruffy clients far exceeding 100, it took everything I had to choose just one photo from each shoot (for those of you with multiple shoots last year, you will find your dog appearing twice in the video). I hope you enjoy this 2011 retrospective!

Enjoy! And thank you for being a part of the scruffy dog family!

By illona | Posted in about us | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)

memphis’s red dust shoot ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

2 December 2011 – 12:25 pm

oy … we are so swamped here at scruffy dog headquarters, and so behind in posting.  of course, the SDP facebook page is where you’ll catch all the action … as it happens!

weeks ago i had already prepped some images from Memphis’s awesome shoot to share on the blog, so i’d better get them up here for you to enjoy!  (i can’t believe it’s taken this long, but prepping blog entries does take a lot of time, and in the fall, with the heavy shooting schedule, SDP doesn’t have a moment to spare.)

you probably remember this eggheaded chap from his graffiti shoot earlier this year … and then perhaps from the sneak peek of his bigger shoot this fall.  but i want to share just a small collection of images from his big shoot here on the blog.

as you’ll see, we used one of the scruffy dog lines for a lot of Memphis’s shoot … too many distractions in this wild location for the boy.  you’ll also notice he’s showing off a brand new custom-made, Karma collar!  if you’re interested in one of these collars, don’t worry … we’ll probably have another scruffy dog/Karma collar special soon!

of course, with any scruffy dog session, running is absolutely involved!

and just a little posing …

and more running in the red dirt …

here you can see Memphis wearing his original Karma collar made especially for him.  how handsome is he in this awesome gear?

just a wee beauty-nap in between some ‘takes’.

i just love shooting this location, and Memphis rocked it!

thanks for being such a handsome egghead, Memphis.  i know i didn’t make mom and dad’s job easy in picking out photos for their walls and album … but they’ll get there.  and thank you, Don and Krista, for a memorable afternoon/evening.

By illona | Posted in clients & sneak peeks | Also tagged , , | Comments (7)