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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)

your weekly Facebook recap! ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

29 November 2011 – 10:42 am

if you don’t follow the scruffy dog facebook page (and why wouldn’t you?), you’ll have missed some of these sneak peeks of scruffy clients …

first up, the lounging Daisy at the beginning of her session last week …

and her brother Duke … a.k.a. Ears McGee …

and fun in the park …

then i offered up a photo of little Baxter, in an attempt to share my feelings about Rogers and their service …

Scout showed off her catching abilities … eye on the ball, eye on the ball!

and i shared some more before-and-afters in regards to the post-production work that goes into scruffy dog images … these are some of Lolli’s images from a shot a few weeks ago.

then there was Jack and Fergus …

and Fergus showed off his newly discovered post-balancing skills …

then there’s big boy James during his second scruffy dog session … showing off the floatmount from his first session …

and last, but not least … sweet, sweet Macy, who i so easily could have taken home … always mindful of the camera as she quickly overcame her camera-phobia …

… especially once she let loose in the autumn leaves and along the beach.

and that’s what you missed last week on facebook!

By illona | Posted in facebook images recap | Also tagged , , | Comments (7)

gilmour and murphy very autumny shoot ~ {Muskoka, Ontario pet photographer}

28 November 2011 – 10:07 am

you’ve seen these two in their sneak peek earlier on the blog, and i know we’re behind in blogging due to the heavy fall shooting schedule, but here — at last — is their fuller blog entry.  these two sorta kinda loved the beaches.

Gilmour owns the strip of beach at his cottage …

and like just about any golden retriever, he loves the water …

add a stick, and this boy is in his element.

then there’s rescue-boy Murphy…

Murphy is almost completely blind but still manages to get around very well …

did i mention how much Gilmour loves his beach?

after some shooting at the cottage, we headed to a different beach … and the colours were glorious …

with lots of running …

and just because his vision is failing, don’t count Murphy out of some running games on the beach!

of course, sticks are always an integral component to any fun afternoon on the beach with a wet dog …

from the beach, we headed to the woods.  just check out the brotherly love …

grrrr ….

and that Gilmour sure knows how to have fun with mud …

thanks, Gilmour and Murphy for a memorable shoot.

By illona | Posted in clients & sneak peeks | Also tagged , , , | Comments (6)

another weekly facebook recap ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

22 November 2011 – 11:37 am

if you’re not following the scruffy dog facebook page, well, i’ve said it before: you’re just not running with the pack!  … and you’re missing a lot of sneak peeks.  but just in case you’re not very keen on facebook, i always make sure to share a few of them here on the scruffy dog blog.

first we have Indy, owned by Tami Packham of  Waterloo Dog.  you’ll be seeing a lot more of Indy … one of my favorite models of the year.

i also shared a couple of before-and-afters on facebook, as a lot of people enjoy seeing the work that is done on scruffy dog images.

we shared a couple of sneak peeks of handsome boy Kaiser from his Standard session …


… and crazy Baxter … expert leaf exterminator …

and little Gus, whose session was a squeeze-in a couple of weeks ago …

then there was wildman Sprocket and his flurry of attempts to catch a ball in spite if his dwindling eyesight due to PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) …

i also shared a photo of our two resident scruffies — Matea and Merrick — wanting in from the cold and our first snowfall …

and Indy again … she just cracks me up with her myriad of expressions …

and we closed out the week with a dramatic shot of resident scruffy Matea … my girl.  this photo was taken in answer to a challenge of “black” within the 52 Weeks for Dogs project on flickr (a photo a week of your dog) …

hope you have a great week!

By illona | Posted in facebook images recap | Also tagged , , | Comments (6)