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little lolli grows up ~ {Toronto, Ontario pet photographer}

with a heavy fall shooting schedule and now the post work on those dozens of sessions, we’re woefully behind in blogging.  in fact, the guardians of the next few scruffy faces you’re going to be seeing on the SDP blog have already received their full galleries and are in the midst of ordering …  yeah, that far behind!

i’m sure a lot of you will remember little Lolli from her puppy shoot last winter …

well, she’s grown up … just a little.

and although this little girl still goes like stink …

… she’s more able to multi-task … running, carrying a stick, and — what is not so readily visible — working on her complex math equations, all at the same time!

we started with some shooting indoors …

then, off to the great outdoors!

when Lolli’s parents mentioned the location they were considering, i was psyched … i knew Lolli’s colour would look fab with the red bricks!

and like any well-respecting retriever, Lolli has grown to love balls.

and b-i-g sticks …

i’m hoping Maria doesn’t mind me sharing a photo of her on the blog.  i don’t often post “owner” photos, and actually don’t often take this kind of “posed” shot, but i liked this …

and i loved Maria’s red boots.

as always, variety is big with a scruffy dog session, and this blue wall was a nice splash …

thanks for a fun afternoon, Maria and Andy.  i can’t wait to get working on Lolli’s Best in Show album!

shadow’s scruffy session ~ {Toronto, Ontario pet photographer}

if you follow the scruffy dog facebook page, you’ll have already seen several sneak peeks of Shadow, the ever-smiling golden …

i know i’m not the only one thinking: “Squirrel?!”

we had a lot of fun at our session, driving around and finding different locations in which to shoot this lovely boy … from parks, and Unionville station …

mom, Betty, was after a photo of her boy in a very natural setting like a field.  alas, those can be hard to find in Toronto, but how about this?

as the sun was setting, i spotted these long grasses behind a restaurant in some plaza just off the highway …

and some fun in Shadow’s backyard …

and his favorite park.

my favorite images from the shoot were taken at the tracks in Unionville …

of course, it was all going great until a wedding photographer and her entrouage elbowed their way onto our location, with no regard for our shoot …

so, we moved on.

we even found a not-quite-ripe soybean field to romp in …

thanks so much for being such a happy boy, Shadow.

little boy ryder ~ {Toronto, Ontario pet photographer}

the other weekend i had a blast with young Ryder during his first scruffy session …

a breed i’ve always admired from afar, this little boy didn’t disappoint.  Ryder was so much fun to work with.

Ryder is not mom Katharine’s first wire fox terrier, so she knows what she’s doing with this crazy boy, and the bond between them, even at his young age, is already extremely obvious.

and in spite of his youth, Ryder’s training is well underway, which always makes certain aspects of our shoot a lot easier.

and he had so much fun with recalls …

zoom zoom …

thanks for a fun shoot, Ryder.  i look forward to watching you grow up.

i hope you enjoy your gallery, Katharine.

a few more faces from this year’s Woofstock ~ {Toronto dog photographer}

well, yesterday was yet another incredible day at Woofstock.  i mean, could we have paid for better weather!?  although i woke at 3 a.m. with a migraine and had to medicate, i was feeling fine and ready to hit the road by shortly after 7 … flying into TO bright and early, with a surprising and new-found bounce in my weary feet.  of course, being true Canadians and none of us trusting a weather-forecast no matter in what form it’s delivered, my staff and i had stripped the booth walls of their artwork the night before in order to protect it all under tarps … just in case.  sigh … if only we’d been able to unzip that canopy to walls fully-loaded with all those big pieces and not had to rehang a thing.

still, everything went up quickly amid morning greetings and catching up with our awesome booth neighbors … and very soon the slobbery faces began trickling in.  ah, so many lovelies!

if i actually managed to tear myself out from behind the table on the weekend to snap a few quick shots of your dog, you will find at least something here on the blog of them … either in the Saturday entry, this entry, or the next one to come … so stay tuned.  please respect the copyrights of these photos and do not copy them from the blog.  instead, please email us and request them.  i’m happy to provide you with a copy for your facebook page!

so, without further ado … check out this handsome boy!  this young catahoula leopard dog was a handful.

yeah, that sit makes it look like he’s a poser, but don’t let it fool ya.  this boy is a mover and a shaker, and if you don’t give him the treat you’re bribing him with within 2.7 seconds, you’re going to hear about it.

… and then he’s going to launch himself onto the booth table and clean out the treat bowl himself.

others were a little less direct … calmer and quieter in their approach …

maybe even a little bashful.

and then these two scruffmuffins …

gauging by the drool on both of them, i think they’d been sampling a number of booths before hitting ours.

“did someone say: squirrel?” yup, that was me. i’m such a tease sometimes to get the shot.

next up were these two lovely labs owned by one of our facebook followers … i just loved this girl’s face …

… and her sweet, quiet brother was such a doll.

i would have loved to snap a few more shots of this gorgeous girl, but from the first release of the shutter i could instantly see that she was wary.  if a dog ever shows even the trace of nervousness with the cameras or their energy is just a little off, i always work with them first.  but in a situation like Woofstock, where there are crowds and noises, and the overstimulation can be overwhelming for a young dog, and i’m unable to work with them, the last thing i’m going to do is set a standard for her in regards to cameras.  so sadly, in spite of her stunning looks, this is all i allowed myself to snap …

perhaps one day i will meet her again, and have the time needed within a shoot to develop her confidence.  just look at that face!

but here’s a little nibblet who had no issues with the camera, even though it was bigger than she was.  this little gremlin was just the cutest!  i think i died a little inside when she took the bits of dehydrated liver from my fingertips … SUCH a little dollface.

and her wilder, scruffy buddy …

and if this guy isn’t begging for a scruffy dog shoot, i don’t know who is.  ;)

and this hunk of sweetness? just look at those white whiskers … and those eyes!

i have to admit, it’s rather frustrating shooting in this kind of environment … extremely tight quarters, overwhelmed and overstimulated subjects … and frankly, when i see these gorgeous faces, feel their amazing spirits, and meet their loving owners, i just want to be out on a shoot with them, not in a booth in the middle of festivities, with concrete and crowds as a backdrop.  sometimes i think i’d do best to leave the camera at home.

still, i wouldn’t see this at a scruffy dog shoot, would i?

and this armful of sweetness.  (apologies as i’m struggling with a migraine today, but i can’t remember this darling’s name) this little rescue pup is definitely wary of the camera, so it was just a quick shot, but i had to.  apparently mom drove all the way from Windsor to see us at Woofstock!

and what’s Woofstock without a wolfhound?  of course, since this big guy had just had a drink, i had to quickly clear the table as he sauntered into the booth and i encouraged him to come on up to the table.  yeah, his highly respectful owner tried to pull him back, dribbly beard and all, but i asked for it … i just had to say hi!

although yesterday didn’t seem any busier than Saturday, it was steady, and i have to admit, i simply love meeting everyone who stops by the booth: past clients, current clients, people who follow the scruffy dog blog and facebook page, and others who simply had to stop when they saw the display photos … especially goofball Oxford (a client from last year’s Woofstock) standing on the fencepost.  he was quite the hit.  and meeting all the dogs!  my gosh, what a mish-mash of gorgeous faces and amazing characters.  it was difficult to tear myself away from the booth just to go to the washroom!  so yesterday, sadly, i did not make it out for any wandering around.

i’ll be posting another round of faces from the booth tomorrow, so stay tuned.  and again, if your gorgeous pup is posted here and you would like a copy of the photo for your facebook page, just drop me a line.  please do not copy the photo from the blog as this is a copyright infringement. thanks, everyone!

oh, and of course, we can’t forget wee Sasha … she was our booth dog this weekend, belonging to staff member Kim.  my how she’s changed since her first shoot a couple of years ago.

again, stay tuned for more!  and stay tuned for when we announce the winner of the draw for the free scruffy dog photo shoot!  (i haven’t even dug out the ballot box yet … but soon! i promise!)

last day to vote! ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

here at scruffy dog, as the last of the Christmas orders have been shipped out, pickups are a flurry, and we find ourselves catching up with post-production on our incredibly busy fall schedule, we’re looking forward to some fabulous snowy winter shoots coming up …

but today’s entry is just a quick reminder that there is only one day left to vote for your favorite pet photographer servicing the GTA.

as a lot of you already know, scruffy dog photography had the honor of being nominated for Best Pet Photography in The Toronto Pet Daily Readers’ Choice “Best of 2010″ Awards.  we’d love for you to head on over to The Toronto Pet Daily’s site, check out the other photographers nominated, and VOTE!   it’s easy, really!  there’s no signing up, no account to create, just a “click”.

but this shouldn’t be a popularity contest, so please do take a look at the other three photographers and vote for your favorite.  (polling is down the right-hand column)

then, get out and enjoy the snow!