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Internationally-renowned, award-winning animal photographer Illona Haus created scruffy dog photography inc. as the province's premier pet photography business in 2007 ... the first of its kind in Canada ... and, still today, continues to serve clients across Ontario, the US and the world. Based in Kitchener, Ontario and photographing exclusively animals for almost 20 years - both commercially and for private clients - Illona is considered one of the world's leading and most influential pet photographers.

 

To learn more about scruffy dog photography, its creator, history, and the scruffy dog experience, feel free to browse through the menu above, and scroll over a decade's worth of blog entries below!

 

Please drop me a line! I'd love the opportunity to capture stunning, creative, one-of-a-kind photographic memories of your 4-legged loved ones to treasure in artwork for a lifetime, and show you just what makes the scruffy dog experience second to none.

Woofstock 2012, part two ~ {Toronto dog photographer}

today we are sharing part two of the 2012 Woofstock experience.

(*NOTE: due to copyrights, please do not copy these images.  if your dog appears in this blog entry, drop us a line!  we will be happy to send you a copy of their photo to share on your facebook page!)

if you’ve never been to Woofstock, it’s difficult to describe.  as North America’s largest outdoor dog festival, complete with fashion show and numerous other on-stage festivities and contests, things can get a little wild, very colorful and … well … at times, flamboyant …

for some reason, this year, we didn’t see a lot of the zaniness around the scruffy dog booth … perhaps because our audience tends to be the “real dog” audience, and since i do like to spend time talking with visitors to the booth, and clients who stop by to catch up, i always request our usual position farther down Front Street, far enough away from the main Woofstock stage where most of the show-stopping, jaw-dropping craziness goes on.

we had a lot of awesome dogs drag their owners into the SDP booth on Sunday.  at times the booth was too crowded or i was too busy to be able to take out the camera … but when there was an opportunity, i’d grab a quick shot when i could.

look at this gorgeous hound … i just love love love a sweet hound face …

and the scruffies too, of course! how about this little scruffbundle of shyness?

she was painfully shy, or perhaps just a little overwhelmed by the heat and the chaos of the day. she really wanted nothing to do with the camera, so i grabbed only a couple of quick snaps so as not to add to her stress.

i would love the opportunity to work with this little niblet.  how gorgeous is she?

or this little one, peeking around the corner of the SDP table while i talked to their mom?

of course, Sunday was the hottest Woofstock day i’ve ever attended … absolutely brutal.  inside the booth was even worse … in fact, it made standing in the sun feel downright cool!  this little wire doxy had the right idea … flaked out in the right corner of cross-breeze …

of course, you have to know how much i love the wires.

and how’s this for a wire! loved this little dancing guy …

“what? no biscuits?”

“fine. i’ll dance some more. how’s this?”

and yes, there were treats to go around … in fact, The Barkery supplied us with some of their awesome home-baked biscuits once again this year.  check them out!  they’re what i feed the resident scruffies.

and how cute is this scruffnut?

then Chewie and his new brother stopped by.

i met Chewie at our first Woofstock a few years ago … you can find him in this old blog entry.  as you can imagine, Chewie was pretty hot.

and Chewie’s very handsome brother …

i was visited by these two pretty Porcelaine hounds … don’t worry Anne; i’ve received your inquiry (along with numerous others) and will be responding very soon!  you should be seeing these lovely faces in a scruffy dog session soon …

got slobber?  yup, i ended up wearing that slobber-beard on my thigh.  that’s why i always wear my Sunday best to all scruffy sessions and dog events … not.

“really, lady … i smell those treats.  i know you hid them behind the table when those two unruly labs came in right before me, but this is me now … me … me, me, me, me.”

and how about this sweet little Porti … such gorgeous color and markings …

this little min-pin senior was happy to grace us with her huge smile …

… and her very flashy feet.

stay tuned tomorrow for the final installment of Woofstock faces, including a couple of familiar faces!!

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  • Claudia RobbinsThese photos are precious. Love them!ReplyCancel

  • anne greenstienHi, Illona, You got to photograph my cousins dogs. the porcelaines Gracie and Elvis. What a small world. Her maiden name is the same as mine. Anne Greenstein.ReplyCancel

  • Holly Garner-JacksonAnother wiener of a blog entry!!! You so know how to capture the essence of each of these dogs! Can’t wait for the next installment!ReplyCancel

Woofstock 2012 ~ first installment

well, we’ve gotten through another Woofstock … the scruffy dog mobile is still packed and sitting in the drive ($50 to anyone interested in unloading a big pile of artwork!!). of course, the highlight of any Woofstock weekend is the steady stream of fabulous scruffy faces that visit our booth … and it’s nearly impossible not to sneak out from behind the table to sneak a few quick shots.  apologies for not remembering names.

(*NOTE: due to copyrights, please do not copy these images.  if your dog appears in this blog entry, drop us a line!  we will be happy to send you a copy of their photo to share on your facebook page!)

first up, a little basset/lab dollface whom i fell in love with.

and this little scruffy … in fact, i think his name was Scruffy … just one of a number of scruffnuggets that might have gone “missing” if his parents had turned their backs for even a second.  😉  doesn’t he look like a cross between merrick and my old man morley?

then there was Dragon … the latest addition to fellow raw-feeders friends Sheila and Dan who never miss a Woofstock and never fail to pay us a big slobbery visit with at least part of their big pack.

and their sweet Berner … obviously very concerned that i capture her absolute best side …

then this cute little Norfolk … my kinda darling …

and how about this little goober, checking me out while his mom filled out a ballot to maybe win him a scruffy dog session?

of course, no Woofstock would be a Woofstock without bulldogs …

i was visited by this Irish beauty …

 

as well as this tall shot of Irish …

and what about this beauty?

i ran across this stunner while out on my one brief foray on Saturday morning …

lots of labs, of course…

and always loads … i mean, stroller-loads of yorkies.  this one, aptly named Princess.  i have a feeling she was taking in all of the SDP photos and imagining kicking off her hot pink booties, tossing aside her bejeweled tiara and flying through some muddy puddles on some of our natural locations.

“oh hey, got treats!?”

“seriously, got treats?!?”

and there’s only one thing  better than a Boston … a red Boston!!

…drool and all.

and of course, as mentioned yesterday, it’s dogs like this little goober that epitomize Woofstock …

…a little heady from all the excitement, drunk on free treats, giddy from too many dog butts and the prospect of 1,589 new friends who now have your pee-mail address, and then finally being confronted by a photographer who knows how to get a rise outta ya. yup, life’s a party!

stay tuned for more photos from our Woofstock weekend … this is just the first entry!  and again, if you see your dog here, please respect the copyrights of these images; they are not to be copied from this site.  but feel free to drop us an email and we’d be happy to send you a copy to share on your facebook page!

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a wild black pug, some sweet old lady borders, and my own little angel ~ {Ontario dog photographer}

if you’ve missed these fabulous scruffy faces on the scruffy dog facebook page here they are!

first up , we have the wild little Fushi …Fushi’s parents won a scruffy dog session last year, but, sadly, their old girl passed away just as the facebook contest was ending so we were never able to photograph their sweet old puggy girl.  i extended the date on their prize so that they could get their new little monkey photographed.

they brought little Fushi in from Toronto to enjoy one of our most in-demand locations …

we had lots of fun in a dandelion field in full bloom …

of course, this little girl is even shorter than some of our local dandelions!

and here’s the curly end of little Fushi monster …

and while in the woods, here is an image of sweet old man Duke in the tunnel of trees … this image was printed as a large canvas to grace the tall, 15′-ceilinged walls of Duke’s home.

i enjoyed a lovely session with two older border collie ladies — Holly and Millie — whose mom also requested our most-popular location…

i loved working with Holly’s border collie intensity … it’s just a matter of coordinating the right angles of the ball and the camera.

Millie, on the other hand, had lots to say …

stare-down in the woods …

 and no blog entry would be complete without a few shots from our resident scruffies, even if they just sort of laze around the studio …

merrick goobernuts mcscruffy was also pretty stoked about his spread in the June edition of Cesar’s Way magazine.  he even went to the mailbox himself to pick it up.

here’s his opening spread …

i also had some fun with the goober on the back deck for his 52 Weeks for Dog shot when we answered the challenge for an “action blur” shot … the idea being to capture blur to signify action.  when it comes to balls, this boy is just a blur anyway.

and while out back shooting for his special project, i was able to capture something i’ve always believed in but never thought possible to capture.  what you need to understand first, however, when it comes to shooting action blur, is that you’re shooting low shutter speeds.  now, under normal circumstances, i wouldn’t take a photo of merrick using anything under 1/500 of a second, unless, of course, he was sleeping.  anything lower, of course, would be at risk of action blur.  these shots, however, since the goal was action blur, were shot at 1/8 second.

and now, at long last, we have the irrefutable proof of what i’ve believed since the day we saved him off that mill/farm … the goober really is an angel on earth. there is no camera trickery in the photo below … no post work, and i’ve never seen any kind of sun flare like this before from any of my lenses. and, YES, my lens is spotless. his angel wings simply beat so fast that, until now, we simply have never seen them.


i just kinda thought those wings would be a little pointier you know?

have a great weekend, everyone.  enjoy your own 4-legged angels!

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  • Jane McClearyAll the pictures are so adorable! I do enjoy my “4-legged angels” and I love them do much!ReplyCancel

  • AutumnWhat a sweet “angel” and you are an angel for rescuing him!!!ReplyCancel

  • michelle bradshawAwesome shots illona…love those wings!ReplyCancel

  • Tucker's MomAll the pics were great, as usual, but I think Little Miss Fushi was my fave this week!ReplyCancel

  • jenniyour work is AMAZING… that said i so desperately want to get better action shots, like yours.
    i shoot with a d3s as well , use 3d tracking set to normal, on continuous mode set to release.
    usually on CL but sometimes CH, i use 51 points of focus. try to shot @ 1/500th or faster.

    so how can improve upon this my ratio for anything good is 15% good to 85% blah. what am i missing here?

    any comments you may have would be incredibly appreciated. Wow i consider you to be the best pet photographer in my book!

    Forever grateful jennReplyCancel

    • illonathanks, Jenn. if you’d like to ask quick questions, there is a scruffy dog Got Questions? forum on the SDP facebook page, and there has already been some discussion on shooting action. if you have a question beyond what has already been posted, feel free to ask there.

      i also offer different mentoring services, as well as very intensive, personalized One-on-One, two- and three-day mentoring sessions, if you’re interested. just drop me a line and i can send you information.ReplyCancel

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