contemporary, lifestyle, on-location animal photography

Miles is back ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

June 27, 2011

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.

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4 comments

maggieI had a dog like that once. The photos brought back memories that made me smile. Very good work.ReplyCancel
Kristine KubotaIngrid, I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very talented!ReplyCancel
LindaThis is the most beautiful dog ever! Makes me smile.ReplyCancel
DLuker#46 The quarter head turn & “smile” is absolutely PRICELESS!

#298 Only you can make doggy butts look good. Well, it does help that those little scruffy curls are insanely cute 😉ReplyCancel

scruffy dog Signature albums ~ {Ontario pet-exclusive photographer}

June 24, 2011

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.

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13 comments

Paula PetersStunning, the albums look amazing and enhance your beautiful work perfectly. I am jealous as I’ve been looking for a Canadian Album source of this quality as well. <3ReplyCancel
SusanBeautiful, I love the albums and I love the square format. Love the thought in detail down to the custom bag. Why shouldn’t a pet be honored with such a beautiful bound book? No reason that I can think of.ReplyCancel
Johanna GrisnikJust beautiful!!! How I wish you would come to Las Vegas to photograph my pups.ReplyCancel
PatriciaThis is beyond words! So Fantastically Awesome!! …ReplyCancel
LainerI totally would love to make one of these albums for my dog Ozzy. I’ve done a Blurb book of my 365 days of Ozzy, and an off-shoot book of the extras from that project. but due to me continuing the project, I am well over 630 days and counting. I’m closing in a two years of Ozzy. This album would make a nice art piece.ReplyCancel
FelicityThat’s it. I’m emmigrating to Canada with my Goobs just so I can get one of these 😉ReplyCancel
KarenThese albums look gorgeous.ReplyCancel
Joanna ReichertVery very nice – wonderful post and it really shows how attractive the albums are : )ReplyCancel
Grace VBeautiful albums, stunning photography. I’ve been following your blog for several months, and was so happy to see your interview in Pop Photography this month! I also lost my best best boy too soon at 6 years old, and – thinking I had years left to photograph him – had deleted several what I thought were “marginal” images along the way. Never again! Thanks also for the book recommendation from your earlier post.ReplyCancel
Holly Garner-JacksonWow! illona these are even more amazing than what you described to me on the phone. What a stunning way to show off your dogs!ReplyCancel
MargaretAmazing, Illona!!!ReplyCancel
SusanAbsolutely stunning! (as usual!) Real quality stuff.ReplyCancel
Liz uribeExtremely beautiful!!!!!!ReplyCancel

if you read only one dog book this year… ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

June 21, 2011

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.

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7 comments

DianeLewisPhotographThanks for mentioning this book- will definately go and buy it- have been so dissapointed in so many of the other dog books out there. My heart dog Bailey lies here under my desk as I write this, he is 15 1/2, God help me when he leaves. I have him to thank for so much in my life, he started my career as a pet photographer, my true love and passion in life was found because of him. He has taught me more than any teacher could… and for that I am eternally blessed.ReplyCancel
David G.Great photo to go with the blog post!

Thank you for your review of the book. Good job.ReplyCancel
AnoukI agree with you completely. I firmly believe that each and every dog is special in his or her own way. I think that sometimes the grief of our dogs’ deaths is so profound we aren’t willing to open our hearts up to really love and appreciate the dogs that come afterwards.
I didn’t realise you were a crime novelist. I will have to order your books (although after having read all the Harry Hole books by Jo Nesbo in quick succession and then finding myself freaked out by the dark I’m restricting myself to books without murders for a couple of weeks).ReplyCancel
inkpuddleAs someone so very tired of every dog owner and his brother thinking he is qualified to write a book about his personal favorite pup (thanks a lot, Marley & Me … not), I appreciate the review. And when I’m up for another dog-centric read, I will definitely look for this one first.ReplyCancel
Liz uribeThank you for letting us know, I just got A Dog Purpose, it hasn’t arrived in the mail yet, but I will get this one too, hopefully they have it here..”even though I shouldn’t be having more cryes, I already have my own issue to cry about… But I guess I like to torture myself. I read Mayas’ first rose and I cried so much, it’s also very beautiful and fast to read.ReplyCancel
Debra DucoteyI am going to buy that book as soon as I get the chance. My own wonder dog Sasha left this earth on Jan., 18th 2010. I have a new dog now, but its just not the same. I am still searching for my next wonder dog, will I ever find her/him? I hope to God I do, I miss Sasha more than anything!ReplyCancel
LauraThank you. I am picking this up on my way home from work today. I can already sense I will sob uncontrollably while reading this, so will hide out with my two monsters who won’t judge me for my tears.ReplyCancel