What’s that old expression, about never working with children and dogs? Clearly, I never got that memo.
I was looking back over the last year or so of my photography clients and realized that more and more families are asking if it’s okay to bring their dogs along for a family portrait session — and the answer is a resounding YES! (Ahem, as long as they are mostly well behaved and won’t be too much of a distraction.)
How could I say no to this level of adorableness?
It, ahem, doesn’t always go as planned.
But is there any photo more sweet than a boy with his best friend?
I was even asked to be the photographer for an elopement at a local dog park. Now that’s my kind of wedding!
Lately, I’ve started working with more small businesses and entrepreneurs to showcase their business stories — but there’s still room for a little doggy love – especially in the case of this little doggy!
Whether you’re looking to capture your ENTIRE family, pets included, or show how your pup is a part of your daily work and home life, I’m happy to tell your story with your pet!
Over the Christmas break, I found myself with enough time on my hands to try a funky little photo tutorial I’d found online. (I mean, I could have done something productive like housework, but isn’t playtime what vacations are all about?)
You might remember this photo from the amazingly fun impromptu family photography session we had at Watson’s Mill in Manotick in between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I absolutely love outdoor family portraits in the winter, especially when it’s just below (but not too far below!) freezing and overcast so the light is soft and even. The hint of tiny snowflakes in the air was just the icing on the cake. And if some drifting snow flakes are awesome, MOAR SNOWFLAKES must make it better still, right?
I followed this tutorial to add moving, drifting snow to a still photo, and while it’s far from perfect (there’s a little hitch where the video loops, and the speed is a little off) it was fun for a first try.
Fun, right? I learned a lot, since it was the first time I’ve ever used the Timeline feature in Photoshop. Let’s just say it’s convenient to have a spouse who happens to teach Photoshop at the local college on hand when I get a little lost. But I figured out myself how to resize it because apparently it’s one of WordPress’s peccadilloes that you need to upload a .gif in full size in order for it to play.
Yay me! New tricks for this old dog.
It’s possible we still have just a little bit of winter left to get through, so if you can’t wait for spring for your family photo sessions, now I know how to make the winter ones just a little bit more fun!
A lot of amazing things will happen in 2019. In July, Beloved and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, and then in August I turn (gasp!) fifty!
I wanted to do another photo challenge to mark this amazing year, but another 365 photo-a-day project felt too ambitious. A 52-week photo challenge is perfect! And I liked the #Dogwood52 photo challenge because each week has a prompt, and I figured that would keep me from being lazy and maybe push my boundaries a little bit.
Right off the bat, I was stumped. The first weekly prompt is ‘take a picture that tells us who you are, without actually showing your face.’ I’ve been thinking about it for days. How to tell the story of me in just one photo? Mom? Writer? Photographer? Friend? Collector of vintage crap? Lover of books and grunge and spicy food? And then it occurred to me to include ALL THE THINGS!
It’s me in 50 items! I like that some of them serve double and even triple duty on facets of my personality, like the photo books are family AND photography, and the Monty Python card deck says I’m equally happy playing cards or riffing about how your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberries.
And yes, the blog is in there too. I haven’t forgotten entirely how to blog, but I might be a little rusty. Here’s to getting a little more practice in on that, too, in 2019.
It’s going to be an awesome year. Let’s do this!
What would your collage about items that tell the story of YOU have in it?
#dogwood52 #week1 #dogwood2019 #52in2019
I don’t know why more families don’t seek winter family photo sessions. It’s certainly different from a family photo with the bright blues and greens of high summer, or the saturated colours of autumn, and granted, you need to be a little bit more diligent in playing along with the weather – there’s a fine line between pink cheeks at -10C and frostbitten noses at -25C. But there’s something magical and utterly Canadian about being bundled up with scarves and mitts against gently falling snow – and in the case of this almost-impromptu winter session, a treacherous coating of ice so bad we had to be deliberate with every single step!
Of course, it doesn’t hurt when you have a beautiful family, a cute dog, and a great location like Watson’s Mill in Manotick for your background. I love it when all the elements come together!
Lucky for me, in addition to being charming and lovely and willing to negotiate icy walkways and paths, this family had a great sense of humour, and responsed with good humour to my prompts and suggestions.
And they came with ideas of their own, like recreating a family piggy-back shot from years past. (We had to find a non-icy spot to pull this one off!)
I always know a photo “works” when it makes me smile while I’m editing it. It’s good to know that sisters can be just as much fun as brothers!
The other really nice thing about winter family portraits is that my weekends are usually wide open, so chasing that perfect not-too-cold and not-too-snowy and not-too-messy weather is a lot easier. If you’d like to try winter family portraits, I have all sorts of ideas for great locations – get in touch and book your session today!
Traditional head shots aren’t a genre of portrait photography that I’m drawn to, but when Maranda wanted some photos of her being herself in her amazing condo for her business website, it sounded like a lot of fun. She’s a non-traditional sort of person, and she wanted photographs that would show her personality. Now THAT is something I love to do!
There were costume changes, and props, and I’m not at all surprised that her adorable wiener dog Sadie totally stole the show. Here’s a sample of the fun we had.
Isn’t she stunning? And fun and kind and smart, too. If you find yourself in need of a registered nutritionist with expertise in essential oils and life coaching, reach out to Maranda. And if you find yourself needing business pictures of you being YOU, give me a call – I’d love to work with you. Bonus points if you have a sassy attitude and adorable dachshund.
I don’t generally accept requests to take photographs at weddings, but not because I don’t like them. Being invited to document someone’s most important day is a huge honour, and there are always so many beautiful moments to capture. (Truthfully, it’s photographing wedding receptions that’s not really my jam, mostly because they occur to close to my bedtime for comfort. The travails of an inveterate morning person.)
So anyway, when Sarah and Richard said they were looking for a photographer to document their simple elopement ceremony, I knew I had to say yes. Informal, candid and playful — and did I mention it happened to be at the Manotick dog park? Most! Fun! Wedding! Ever!!
The late afternoon light was warm and soft as they exchanged their vows with the witnesses looking on. The maid of honour read a lovely poem about how falling in love is like owning a dog. It was delightful!
It’s not always easy to get two dogs looking at the camera even when you don’t have a park full of much more interesting things going on behind you. You see the look on the dogs’ faces? I had just warned the humans to beware of pending screech and then let out the most high-pitched, annoying squeal I could muster to get the dogs to look at me. Worked like a charm, and the humans laughed too. Win-win!
And then they lived happily ever after.
Thank you, Rich and Sarah (and furbabies Audrey and Timmy), for letting me be witness to your amazing wedding in the park!
