Category Archives: Commercial work

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Cowbelly goes ’studio’ with Libby and Parker

August 22, 2008 – 8:00 am

My very first shoot in the new studio yesterday! Actually, my very first studio shoot ever. Not bad for a total newbie, eh?

Parker the resident studio pup. Libby my client’s dog.

I’ll post and write more on studio stuff soon. But here is a sneak preview to whet your whistle. :-)

Parker. Shop dog. Fergie’s new buddy and stealer of Starbucks breakfast sandwiches. (Parker, I was eating that). He was my model for 5 minutes before Libby showed up. Dogs with furry faces are hard to photograph- in the studio is no exception I learned. 

Libby. My client’s super sweet (and extremely obedient!) lab mix pooch. I couldn’t have had a better dog as a newbie studio shooter. Libby is awesome. 

This shoot was for a small commercial job with both Libby and her mom, but I couldn’t resist taking some of just her alone. How cute is she? And I worried I wouldn’t be able to get dogs to smile in the studio! Pas de problem. YAY!

I decided to take some behind the scenes shots to show y’all, since I know you have been wanting to see my new studio. It’s a pretty amazing space. But remember, it isn’t all mine! I share it with 4 other amazing photographers who I will tell you about soon. I swear have learned more from them in the past couple of months than I have in the last 5 years combined! Look how good Libby was while I took these shots. I said “stay” and she stayed. Yay. 

Check out the photographer’s-dream cyclorama wall. I would have used it but the floor is duuurty right now. (Hence the reason for my shoes sitting just off the paper, so that I could walk on it without leaving footprints). Actually, Rocky and I rolled on a coat of primer yesterday after my shoot and after we get a coat or two of paint down it will be looking much better. I have another studio shoot mid-week next week and I may just use the cyc wall if the floor is looking pretty. There is lots of experimenting to do!

Happy Friday! Hope you all have a lovely weekend! :-)

By Jamie 'Cowbelly' | Also posted in Private client shoots, Studio Stuff, seattle dog photography | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (9)

I am crazy: four shoots in one day!

May 5, 2008 – 5:16 pm

Yesterday I had FOUR photo shoots booked. One of them we rescheduled due to a skin infection (poor Murphy!), but the other three still happened. Now, I normally wouldn’t do more than one or two shoots in one day, but yesterday was special. See below.

The first shoot was for Lily- a private commission on Queen Anne, the second shoot was in Federal Way for a litter of NINE 7 1/2 week old Golden Retriever puppies (SO. CUTE.); the puppies I had been so desperately needing for my commercial project, and the last was for 5 dogs at Discovery Park in Magnolia- the very last and final commercial shoot for this particular project (yes, it’s still going on but I sent in the last of the deliverables late last night- Yippee!)

Yesterday was 7 hours straight of driving and photographing (with no assistant!) but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love being a dog (and puppy) photographer!!

Now, you may think I may be taking it easy today but no, I’ve gotta go buy some Red Bull because this afternoon I am doing a very exciting editorial photo shoot. I have had some location/background ideas in my head for a long time and today is the day to finally try and get them on my camera, and in the coolest way with three of my favorite people, and possibly my favorite two dogs ever.

I promise to share more once I can release details on today’s shoot! And the commercial job as well.

AND, I will post photos as soon as I can! I’ve got a bunch to share!! Since I recently purchased a new external hard drive- badly needed as the admin mac computer is nearly full- I have made the full switch to shooting exclusively in RAW and I am surprised I am actually really liking it!

Happy Monday to all! :-)

By doggirlseattle | Also posted in Behind-the-Scenes | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

The ingredients of a commercial dog shoot

April 21, 2008 – 10:02 pm

2238 shots taken

428 emails exchanged

23 dog models

26 pet parents

1 creative director

1 marketing director

2 R/T plane tickets

1 soccer game

6 cans of red bull

12 gigs of memory cards

4 Canon camera batteries

2 lenses

1 apple laptop

4 locations

4 hours of off-camera flash held by 3 different people

18 hours on location

6 dogs on standby

2 canine ‘observers’

1 tireless mind-reading assistant

1 incredibly generous fan

1 modern condo

5 small world stories

1 30-minute lunch-break

38 saved voicemails

3 dogs recruited on site

2 volunteer model scouts

5 large bags of dog treats

2 cuz squeaky toys

20 doggy goody bags

plus

countless thank-yous

= 9 product packages

Think about that the next time you go to the store to buy your dog’s food. :-)

By doggirlseattle | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Model call update

April 15, 2008 – 2:29 am

Thank you thank you to all of the folks who responded to my call for models!! I was really worried about getting that many dogs lined up in such a short period of time, but leave it to the canine-lovers of the Seattle area to step up to the plate. I was overwhelmed with responses. Boy do we love our dogs!

I am getting ready to send the last email to the last group of dog owners my clients have hand-picked.

I was moved by every single dog photo I received; some even made me laugh out loud. If it were up to me I would use every single one of the 50-some odd dogs who volunteered to participate!

Now, having said that, I am still in need of two dogs.

The Golden Retriever puppies!

I will be emailing some breeders tonight, but sadly none of them are anywhere nearby. If anyone knows of anyone who has a litter of GR puppies, or a breeder in Seattle or relatively nearby, please let me know!

Thanks so much and I will pick back up with blogging once the storm of work this week has blown over.

Happy Monday! :-)

By doggirlseattle | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Models needed STAT!!!

April 11, 2008 – 2:33 am

I am in need of dogs for a major commercial dog photo shoot, and I need to get them lined up ASAP!

(I have known about this assignment for the past couple of weeks but it was just confirmed today, otherwise would have posted this earlier I promise.)

The shoot itself is taking place on Thursday 4/17 during the day, most likely at Discovery Park in Seattle, and possibly in a couple of other Seattle locations.

Model parents only need to commit to a minimum of 1 hour but ideally 2. (Great excuse to take off work!). Times are flexible and TBD.

Locations TBD, but most likely all within the City of Seattle.

This is a very exciting opportunity for local pet owners! You will have the chance to not only have your pooch photographed by yours-truly but his/her likeness may also be seen on pet products around the country!

After seeing Fergie’s pictures in CityDog Magazine this week I can tell you it’s a thrill to see your dog’s face where loads of other people will see it and admire it too. Gives a person such pride in their furry beloved! Not to mention serious bragging rights.

Here is what I need:

  • All adult dogs, unless otherwise noted.
  • 5 years of age or younger.
  • Medium sized up to large sized, but not giant breeds.
  • All healthy and bright-eyed without any visible skin or teeth issues.
  • All healthy weights.
  • No dog, human or fear-based aggression. Get along great with both humans and dogs.

*And this is important* they need to have good solid, reliable obedience skills: at least: sit, stay, down, come.

Ideally what I am looking for is happy-go-lucky dogs.

UPDATED TUESDAY 4/15 9:15AM

Breeds:

  • several Golden Retriever mixes, or medium-light colored large mixed breeds: young: 2-5 years, female or male. Ideally happy-go-lucky ‘Smiley dogs’.

 

  • 2 Golden Retriever puppies- ideally different shades of fur (one light, one medium)

Each model’s parent will be required to sign a model release both for Cowbelly Pet Photography as well as for my client.

Also, I will need a digital photograph of each model to send to my client for approval before the shoot. Image quality isn’t important, we just want to get an idea of what the pooch looks like.

If you have questions, or have a dog (or dogs), who would like to participate in this awesome opportunity, please call me anytime starting tomorrow at 206.335.8096 or send me an email anytime at info@cowbelly.com

Also, if you know anyone who may be interested, please feel free to forward this to them!

This will also go out to my mailing list but I wanted to give my lovely blog readers a shot at it first.

Thanks a million!!

By doggirlseattle | Tagged , | Comments (0)