Tag Archives: Puppy

Family Portrait

July 3, 2008 – 8:10 am

I know I have a few people hanging out to see some more of Max and his family’s photo session, and who am I to keep them waiting!

I nearly fell over when I was going through the photos of the day and this one popped up. I knew at the time it was going to be a good one, but I was surprised how the finished product came out. It almost looks like it was taken in a studio, but I can assure you that this was taken in Balboa Park using only natural light.

I had Rebecca and Pat stand a few metres away from the wall and just out of direct sunlight so there is plenty of lovely diffuse light on their faces, but the background is dark and has been thrown out of focus. The thing I love about on location photoshoots is the opportunity to find these great spots. Studio photography just does not challenge me in the same way.

And don’t they all smile so pretty? I usually try to be reasonably candid, but this is one family who loves the camera…. or does the camera love them? Maybe a bit of both.

By admin | Posted in Pug, beagle | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (6)

Don’t Mess with Max

June 30, 2008 – 9:52 am

On Saturday afternoon I had an awesome time photographing my good friend Rebecca, her husband Pat and their new Puggle puppy, Max. It was a stunning afternoon so we headed to Balboa Park for a good mix of beautiful gardens and interesting architecture. 

Max is only four months old, but he took his photography session so seriously. Whenever the camera was pointed in his direction he would stare at it with such fierce concentration. I’ve never seen a puppy with such an attention span, but it certainly made my job easier.

This is my first client session in about 10 months. I was worried it wouldn’t all come back to me, but it’s just like riding a bike (but more fun). Thanks to Rebecca for giving me the opportunity to get creative again and try new things.

By admin | Posted in Pug, USA, beagle | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (11)

This may hurt a little…

June 25, 2008 – 8:10 am

I’m going to go off on a little tangent today. So far I’ve been bringing mostly nice doggie pictures and happy stories to this blog. Today, I feel the need to remind myself and as many other people as I can that there are so many dogs in this world who do not live happy lives.

“Of the hundreds of millions of dogs and cats in the world, around 80% are thought to be strays.  They are threatened by starvation, disease, traffic accidents, aggression from other animals, and abuse at the hands of humans. ” WSPA 

Never was this more evident to me than in India. Of course they were great subjects for photography, but the reality is that every one of the dogs I photographed was living a tough existence. There is so much work that needs to be done to control the stray dog population and it seems to me that the most humane way to deal with overpopulation is the ABC (Animal Birth Control) method. The Visakha SPCA in Andhra Pradesh is doing some great work in this area.

And while the problem is very evident in India, unwanted and dumped dogs occur far too much in Western society as well. There are fantastic organisations working throughout the world to save dogs from death row every day, but we need to educate people that it is not ok to buy from puppy mills and it is not ok to buy from pet shops who are often supplied from puppy mills.

I personally feel like I should be doing more and I have some thoughts about how I can do that. I intend to do something with all my dog photos from India, and it will be something for good. Leave me a comment to let me know what you think I should do to raise awareness (and money) to put to this very important cause.

By admin | Posted in Charity, India, Stray | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (9)

Lord of the Fleas

June 11, 2008 – 8:25 am

This puppy very nearly made it into my backpack when I was visiting India last year. If I thought I could smuggle her onto the plane and then make it through Australian customs without getting caught by the sniffer dogs, I would have done it.

The last time I re-entered Australia I got pulled up by the Labrador for smelling like my dog, Zoe. The entire plane-load of people behind me had to wait patiently while the lab circled me a few times and had a really good sniff. Then while waiting for my luggage to come off the carousel, the customs beagle discovered a whiff of three day old banana in my carry-on, so I had another long discussion with customs officials. As you can imagine, bringing a flea infested (although very cute) puppy from India was impossible.

However, for the couple of days I was in Orchha I kept an eye out for this little one. This photo was taken at the top of the town’s holy temple and it’s almost as if the puppy is presiding over her subjects. I have another great shot of this one with a holy cow, which I’m sure will make it onto the blog one of these days.

By admin | Posted in Cross-breed, India, Stray | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (16)

How do you define your style?

June 8, 2008 – 8:23 am

I just love black and white dog portraits. There are few dog photographers I admire who seem to work solely in the medium:

Kendra Luck Dogumentarian

Kim Levin Photography

Frank Bruynbroek

And even though I love other people’s black and white shots, I just don’t seem to convert many of my own portraits to greyscale. I’m not sure why.

When I look at other photographer’s work I can see a clear style, but I sometimes think I’m all over the place with my images. I feel like I haven’t settled on *my* style yet, however I think sometimes we are a little too close to our own work, so I probably do have my own style and don’t realise it. Anyway, I guess it’s good to keep trying new things.

What do other photographers think about their own style? Have you deliberately defined it, or has it just happened over time?

By admin | Posted in USA | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (7)

And the Winner is…

May 22, 2008 – 7:49 am

 

Kendrick from Kendrick Disch Photography!!! Woo Hoo!! For those of you just now coming across the action, I ran a little competition a couple of days ago to help me remember the breed of this stunning dog.

This dog is indeed a Caucasian Ovcharka. No wonder I couldn’t remember the name of it. I don’t think we even have these in Australia, or if we do, they are very rare.

Other names for this breed include:

 

  • Gampr 
  • Çoban iti 
  • Nagazi nagazi 
  • Caucasian Shepherd Dog
  • Caucasian Mountain Dog
  • Caucasian Sheepdog
  • Kavkaski Ovcar
  • Kavkaz Dog
  • Kavkaz Mastiff
  • Kavkaz Volkodav
  • Kavkazskaya (…kiaia) Ovcharka
  • Russian Kavkazskaya Ovtcharka
  • Ovtcharka (Owtcharka)
  • Sage Ghafghazi
  • Volkodav
Haven’t we all just learnt something new today? I know I have.
A big thanks to everyone who left a comment. Kendrick, I’ll be in contact with your coupon code.
By admin | Posted in Competition, Cross-breed, India, Stray | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Holy Cow

May 11, 2008 – 8:00 am

In early 2007 I spent some time in India. During that time I photographed the local dogs in their environment. Today’s photo demonstrates the order of things in India. Cows are considered Sacred and Holy. They are plentiful and roam the streets freely. They live by scavenging for scraps and off the charity of humans. In this photo, the calf has been given some food by the people in the background. The puppy decides that he wants some and is eventually shooed away by the people so that the calf can continue to eat in peace. The poor pup is very hungry and will do anything for food, even if is is just a few leaves. 

By admin | Posted in India, Stray | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)