Ruby was one of the sweetest, most well-behaved dogs I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I just wanted to scoop her up and take her home with me. 
poor girl. Standing on a soaking wet bench, trying not to slip through the slats. Oh the things we put our dogs through for a good picture. lol
Thank you so much Jessica for bringing Ruby and allowing us to bask in her unflappable optimism for life.
I was beyond happy, positively bowled over, when Ruby and Buster’s parents offered to come up to Santa Monica from their home in Orange County to allow the pups to participate in my workshop last weekend. Some of you may remember them from our Napa Valley shoot last fall. I was so happy to see them again (the whole family), I nearly cried. Buster has lost a whopping 12 pounds and is looking sleek and svelte. hee hee
Here are some of my favorite images from our shoot:
I processed these in Lightroom with a very bright, saturated hand. I wanted to give a colorful Southern Cal feel to them.
Rarely does a shot I take make me laugh out loud, but I had just gotten done telling the workshop group that greyhounds and whippets can look funny if you shoot them straight on, so I guess I just needed to inadvertently prove my own point (I forgot about this when I took this picture, but now I’m glad I did, lol)
It was some of the worst shooting conditions, being bright, midday full sun, but I like teaching about that in my workshops, because in the real world, you don’t always get to control where and when you shoot. Friday’s shoot was inside the very dark hotel lobby. That was also a basset hound, a total sweetheart named Sophie. I’ll share her pics later in the week.
Had to get the famous Santa Monica pier in the background. It was a Sunday, and extremely crazy busy that day, but the dogs were fantastic. They did *such* a good job. I’m so proud of them.
I *love* the pink with Ruby and am so happy that these turned out! Tristan you can wear a pink shirt to our shoots anytime!! lol
Tristan and Mark, thank you so very very much for coming all the way up to see us that day. I know the attendees had a great time, and it was so meaningful to me to see Buster and Ruby again. What a gift. I look forward to getting your whole gallery online! Oh, and if you talk to Lynn, tell her that her sneak peek is coming later this week. Sophie’s shots are even more challenging for me to pick from because she is so adorable in so many of them. I even have a shot of her running on the beach with her ears in her mouth!
And a huge THANK YOU to the workshop attendees for coming. Each and every one of you is special in your own right and I am excited to watch you all progress and grow. I plan to do another review post with some shots I took with my little point and shoot, so stay tuned for that!
Oh, and to the 3 people who don’t know, I am currently in LA on vacation, and won’t be returning to Seattle until Sunday. Off to Long Beach tomorrow, then San Diego this weekend for the big Loews Coronado Surf Dog Competition. Meeting up with some local pet photog friends for dinner tonight and my social calendar for the week looks like it did when I was 21! I’m having an awesome time and will post more soon!
I can never get tired of receiving emails like this:
“Hi Jamie & Christina!
Ruby & Buster’s Decopaws arrived yesterday. Woohoo!!!!! They are so freakin’ cool! We positively love them. The colors are perfect for our family room and they go really well with the canvas paintings we currently have in that room.
Thank you both so much for all the hard work you have put in for our beautiful prints and Decopaws. I know I’ve said it before, but it really is an honor to have Cowbelly pieces hanging in our home.
Thank you so very much,
Mark, Tristan, Ruby, and Buster Brown”
Awww, this brought tears to my eyes. THIS is why I do what I do.
Here are Ruby and Buster’s completed art pieces:
More kitty images to come soon! And also Charlie and Seymour. *And* some shots of Fergie and I- a rarity for sure.
Ruby’s art I am currently working on. Behind on doing proof revisions, something I do for the vast majority of clients. Many art pieces needs a little tweak here and a little shift there to be ‘just right’ before being sent off to the printer. I have been battling a chronic illness the past month (one that has been around for two years and seems to be worse during the first quarter), and although I thought I was on the upswing last week things actually got worse, which has left me behind on so much. So now I am doing the best that I can and trying to get the most important things done every day. Also taking my ‘magic tonic’ which has amazing curative properties even though it tastes like moldy herbs in alcohol! Mmm, mmm….
Ruby. Her proofs are unique in that I have never done anything like this before. I am working with size contraints, so instead of choosing the size from my price sheet, we designed our own based on my client’s space. And what is so cool about this commission is that my client is agreeing to go with my idea of doing 3 separate tall canvases instead of one large triptych. I positively can’t wait to see how it looks on their wall!
Imagine the 3 proofs below as separate canvases. I want to do this for my home too!
I would love to do a die-cut triple fold card with the following proofs. A thin black border around each of them would look so cool.
If I get a chance to photograph Ruby’s art once hung I will share those shots here.
