Tag Archives: santa monica pet photography

Sophie basset- Santa Monica sneak peek

June 23, 2009 – 11:48 am

My other little model for the workshop shoot in Santa Monica was Sophie the basset hound. She was a delight to work with, and quite possibly the sweetest, gentlest basset I have ever worked with. I hope that her images really show her sweet, sensitive soul. She is a therapy dog, and helps those who need a little bit of extra support. I can see how she would be really really good at this.

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We started her shoot in the Viceroy Hotel lobby (the images seen here), then finished at the beach and park nearby. Although the lobby would have produced some cool shots, it was noisy and busy and just not good for doggies sadly. We were only there for a few minutes before we hit the outdoors, my favorite place to shoot anyway.

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It was a gloomy day but Sophie’s smile lit up the whole beach.

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Check out the ears in the mouth folks. Ah the things you need to worry about when you are a basset. IMO there is little funnier than a running basset hound. hee hee

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I love the canopy of palm trees on the right below.

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Here I was demonstrating how you can get shots of the owner and their pooch without them having to be cheesy and posed. I just said to Sophie’s mom “pretend we aren’t here and do what you would normally do with Sophie” and this is what she did. Love them.

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Ha ha ha ha, basset teeth!!

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At the tail end of our shoot I noticed the palm trees reflected in the cool wall at the front of the Viceroy Hotel. Reason #14 why I always try and keep my camera out of the bag until I am back in my car.

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Here is something really wacky and crazy. So I photographed two basset hounds in California- Sophie and Buster. Neither of which I had planned for, at least, not until 2 days before the shoot. This weekend I am photographing two more basset hounds near Seattle. And, what is even wackier, the weekend I was shooting my first two bassets, my dear friend Nichole Smith was also photographing bassets (lots of bassets) for a TV gig she did. It’s basset fever around here! When Nichole and I stayed together in Long Beach we compared our basset images in lightroom/bridge. It was a riot. :-)

Hope everyone is having a great week! I am trying to catch up on work and emails and getting ready for a super fun commercial job this Friday. It’s not a basset (lol) but it will still be a blast. I’ll keep y’all posted on that!

By Jamie 'Cowbelly' | Posted in Private client shoots, Travel shoots, Workshops | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (14)

Ruby & Buster- Santa Monica pet photography sneak-peek

June 17, 2009 – 2:57 pm

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:

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I processed these in Lightroom with a very bright, saturated hand. I wanted to give a colorful Southern Cal feel to them. :-)

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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

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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! :-)

By Jamie 'Cowbelly' | Posted in Private client shoots, Travel shoots, Workshops | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (16)