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Monthly Archives: April 2009

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Well that’s just Urban Beastly!

April 28, 2009 – 11:53 am

We are excited to announce our upcoming show at Urban Beast, one of Seattle’s most vibrant and chic pet boutiques. Our work will be up all summer, but we will be kicking it off with an artist’s reception this week.

Come join us this Friday, May 1st from 6-9pm for some smiles, snacks, socializing, and of course, fun new art!!

Amy and I will both be there, and we expect you to be too. We will be sharing a small selection of some of our newer work, showing off those books you love so much and also, raffling off one “Fresco” sitting for free!

Bring your little (or big) urban beast (or beasts) and join us for a festive evening of wine and wags. Katie has promised some stellar Spring sales (so you can stock up on all those essentials you’ve been window shopping) and we will be giving out special promo postcards for those of you who have not yet booked your dane + dane sitting.

Urban Beast: 217 Yale Ave. North Seattle, WA 98109 // 206.324.4400 // Located next to REI

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Want to get invites to wag-a-riffic events like this one? Visit us at www.dane-dane.com and sign up for our mailing list. We send special invitations, promotions, coupons and announcements – but only about once or twice a month. Your email is safe with us, we don’t share it with third parties. What have you got to lose?

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Wallace

April 24, 2009 – 7:51 am

Wallace probably has already forgotten that he was even IN the studio this morning, except perhaps, for a faint memory of the delicious cheddar and sirloin bites he received as bribes for his attention. Let’s just say, this little Scottie is what you might call, aloof.

His 10 years shows a bit in his salt + pepper fur, but his attitude, we hear, is ageless. Even as a puppy little Wallace could sit in a room of chaos, completely unfazed by everything around him, content to just relax and ignore. Lucky for me, John came prepared with tasty little morsels, and Mr. Wallace obliged my repatative high-pitched questions: “What is this?? Want some Steeeeaaak?  Where’s the squirrel?  Wanna go for a walk?  Supper time?”  – yes, I am a fool for my job.

Wallace quickly learned that I was the one to watch and generally sway with his affections, so in no time at all, he lingered near me, laid at my feet, sat obediently before me and all in all make it clear that he knew who had the very special baggie.

With some motivational whiffs of steak and some very nice compliments, Wallace was convinced to join John for some portraits – eventually he even warmed up enough to provide some licks and grace us with his eye contact. Hah.

This guy was such a character. He very much reminded me of an old man, too young to need your assistance, and too old to feel compelled to pretend to care about small talk. What a guy. I adore him.

* * *

Ok so I should mention that this is the third installment of a series of shoots for a company called “Think Spot.” This new venture is a collaboration of John (the man you see here with the almost willing Scottie,) Cheryl (the lovely woman you saw with the “one-ear-up, one-ear-down” mutt Yoshi + the old horse, Arby) and Joey (CPDT, KPA CTP – all around dog trainer extraordinaire with the very wonderful black fluff-puff, Pirate.)

Think Spot (which you will eventually be able to find at www.thinkspotdogs.com) is a fabulous dog training + boarding business, based in Woodinville on several jaw-droppingly gorgeous acres. Joey provides the training (we hear there will mostly be group classes, rally, obedience, agility and so on) and Cheryl + John provide the place. The boarding will be quite limited, but the lucky few pups you get to crash at Think Spot are priveleaged indeed – they will enjoy running, romping and playing in a myriad of pastures, broken up by nap time in the training room – all under the watchful eye of Ms. Joey (and Pirate and Yoshi and Wallace of course.)

We are excited to hear more about his new business as it grows – and you can be sure, we’ll let you know when their web site goes live with all their beautiful portraits to tell their story.

If you’d like to know more about Think Spot or their services – email Joey or John.

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Denhaus in the house

April 22, 2009 – 9:34 pm

We were excited to have our friend Becky visit us today with the very new, very awesome “Bowhaus” – the newest in the Denhaus line of uber stylish dog crate/fine furniture pieces. We have been photographing these “hauses” since way back in 2007 when they were still “Hardwood Hideaways.”

You may recognize the Bowhaus, the concept was previously owned by a company that had stopped production. I think it’s a fabulous fit for Denhaus and perfectly rounds out (no pun intended) their collection of designs. Here’s what they have to say about it:

“Today we launched our newest furniture piece, the BowHaus, a powder-coated steel round den with starburst designs and an orange spice bed.  The innovative design doesn’t end there, we are proud to be manufacturing the BowHaus in the US, lowering our transportation energy needs and minimizing impact on the environment.  The packaging is 100% recyclable too.  We believe modern design must incorporate consideration for impact to our Earth, so these steps are really important to our team.”

Bowhauses are now available for purchase at www.denhaus.com. Our new photos should be online shortly.

* * *

Denhaus is one of our awesome corporate pet clients. We have helped them craft their brand by providing them with the very best photography + design for their specific needs. Like many of our other clients, Denhaus gets consistently glowing feedback from trade and media contacts, commending them for their stellar product shots. Have a pet product or business of your own? Click to read more about dane + dane pet product photography or check out a brief Denhaus client profile.

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Weekend Getaway: Day 3

April 19, 2009 – 8:48 pm

We awoke this morning to a gorgeous sunny day – another sleepy sunrise, waking to no alarm. Ahhhh.

We were lucky enough to score a late checkout – so we took our time packing. As we hauled our gear out to the car, it became clear that we required one thing very eminently: Waffles. Yes, only waffles would do.

So we set the sights back to “Jimmy D’s” – Belfair’s best (and probably only) Waffle and Steak House.

On our way to feed, we had to stop at “Candy’s” – a curious spot we had been scoping every time we had passed by. The tee-pee, the giant Buffalo and the faded American flag had been calling to us.

We parked, we photographed and we braved our way through the front door. Inside, “Candy’s” screamed Pemco commercial: “Northwest Profile #74: Eclectic roadside stuff-collecting Native American artist lady, you’re one of us.”

Treasures from old mason jars and marbles, to tea cups, little Buddha statues, peacock feathers, jeweled carousal horses and lots of dolls, dream catchers and figurines haind-painted and embellished with leather and beads. Candy, the resident artist and owner, was very cordial, and informed us that the porch-guarding Buffalo’s name is Buffy. How clever :)

Of course on the way out, we had to hug “Buffy”  for luck :)   Cheeeeese!

Ok by that time we were STARVING so we boogied on in to Jimmy D’s and as usual, ordered matching meals: Belgian waffle, scrambled eggs + bacon.

I cannot remember that last time I had a waffle. Let alone with butter.  And syrup. Yummmmmmy. Once again, Jimmy did not disappoint and we left stuffed and smiling – off to the ferry…

Oh ok – just kidding, one more stop… Our only addiction had to be indulged before we waited in line at the boat: Grande Non-fat Yerba Mate Latte please – to go! I don’t know what I am going to do for my long weeks in California without my Tulleys. *sigh*  Shhhh don’t tell my Starbucks buddies.

We caught a boat back to West Seattle and suddenly we were back in reality. Back to kitties and dogs and our boys and our chores and such. It was a lovely working escape but Monday is calling…

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Weekend Getaway: Day 2

April 18, 2009 – 7:22 pm

We indulged in the ultimate treat this morning (Saturday) – we woke up without an alarm. In fact, we unplugged the clock all together!  Bonus.

The morning was thick with fog, but gradually the peaks of the Olympics were cutting through the horizon. We leisurely showered, dressed and packed up for the day: first stop, breakfast!

We headed toward Belfair in hopes of discovering a hometown diner of some sort. According to our handy-dandy friend Yelp, we were in for pizza, pizza, Chinese buffet or Subway. However, just before we had reached the McDonalds marking the edge of this one-road town, we saw it: Jimmy D’s. This place looked like JUST the spot we’d hoped for, and after breezing through the entrance, past the rotating pie case, floral print wallpaper and “claw” vending machine, we were pretty sure we’d struck diner-gold.

We were seated at a booth near the back, where three tall carnations, mis-matched mugs and full-size color menus (complete with 100% unappetizing xerox photo of a steak dish) awaited. “Jimmy D’s Steak and Waffle House” “Oh look,” Amy said with childish delight “there’s another Jimmy D’s in Gorst!”

[For all of you who are not so up-to-speed on the geography of Kitsap and Mason counties, Gorst is a tiny little elbow of a town where Highway 16 and Highway 3 meet, at the tail end of Bremerton. Very exciting business.]

As is customary with Amy and I, we were both in the mood for the same thing:  Hot cocoa with whip, bacon and eggs (scrambled), hash browns and toast.  This is my traditional “out for breakfast” selection and at Jimmy D’s – it’s a winning choice.

We started our intense business planning efforts at the restaurant – but were quickly ready to walk around and burn off our carb-load meal- so we piled back into the Element, and headed back towards Alderbrook, to the Tawnoh State Park.

This park reminds me a bit of my beloved Lincoln Park in West Seattle – it’s rugged edges hug the shore of Hood Canal. This time of year, the grass is tall and littered with daisies and dandelions – making for a splattering of white and gold dots on a scratchy canvas of crayola green. The sun was shining strong, but the breeze breathing off the canal was enough to keep us quite comfortable for hours at our picnic table near the water.

This is where we got down to business. We had a LOT on the agenda, which included: finalizing our Mission + Vision, choosing strategic initiatives and goals, setting our budgets, re-crafting our pet portrait prices and wedding collections, settling on new products AND also trying to talk about some upcoming assignments- we had our work cut out for us.

However, I am happy to report that we accomplished nearly all of our goals in our hours by the beach – and then finalized our last few list items back at Alderbrook over a split-lunch of Dungeness mac + cheese and fish + chips (and two more hefeweizens of course.) We consumed our lunch/dinner with a quickness and headed back to our room to indulge in a change of clothes, a few moments of editing and for me, some serious attention to my newly acquired sunburn.

We did have to check what time the sun would be setting [luckily, there's an app for that! Thanks Iphone :) ] On our way to Alderbrook we had spotted that the “Rodeo Drive-In” was featuring Monsters vs. Aliens, which of couse meant, that we’d have to make time for a movie.  Appropriately, the double-feature was “Hotel for Dogs,” but even despite our canine-friendly businesses and our “all-dogs, all-the time” filter, we were pretty sure we’d have to skip out on the second flick.

We determined we needed to head out around 8ish so we secured our uber-comfy clothes, our wine (which luckily was a screw-top because we very conveniently forgot the corkscrew – oops!) and piled into Luna (the element, AKA moon unit) and hit the road!

We arrived at the drive-in just in time to get a great spot, head over to the snack shack for some candy (red vines and sour patch kids and some very strange conversation with some very odd people) and get back in the car as Monsters vs. Aliens began. Yay!!  Here’s us before the movie started:

We enjoyed MvA and didn’t bother with Hotel for Dogs. This is us, back at Alderbrook (you can see the entrance behind our mis-matched glasses) with our wine and happy, somewhat sun-crispy faces (notice my super loud, overly comfy socks- yess!)

Nighty night- tomorrow’s our last day!

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Weekend Getaway: Day 1

April 17, 2009 – 10:35 pm

Because Saturdays are typically our busiest days around here – Fridays usually don’t mean much, but today was different. Today Amy and I departed for our bi-annual “weekend planning retreat,” which this time, was to take place at Alderbrook Resort + Spa.

I have visited Alderbrook several times for both business and pleasure and it’s one of my favorite little escapes. The drive along Hwy. 106 is just breathtaking: flanked by the pristine Hood Canal on the West and forests, beautiful and quirky homes, and the occasional country store or gas station on the East.  Alderbrook itself is relaxing, scenic and delicious.

We planned to meet at 3ish at the studio – and with lots of loose ends to tie up before our departure, I was glad of the late afternoon departure. This allowed me to make several stops:

First, I was able to ship off a gift to a dear friend of mine in California who just adopted his first puppy (an absolutely incredible little Catahoula Leopard Dog.) For his birthday, I had to send him the 5 sanity-saving puppy essentials: a Kong to keep her busy; a Kong brush (best I’ve found for short-haired dogs) to keep all that hair off his couch; squeaky tennis balls (fetch to wear her out); bully sticks for teething (never met a dog that won’t keep quiet for 15-20 mins. with one) and of course, my favorite ZiwiPeak treats for training. Although this gift was nothing too exciting for HIM to play with, I think he will find a great new chunk of quiet time with these new tools. I love it when my long-time dog-less friends get puppies and start to have an inkling of what I’ve been all about for the last 5 years. Comedy.

Second, I had to run off to Target to get new sunglasses (essential for any road trip.) They say that we buy more sunglasses here in the Pacific Northwest than anywhere else in the country, which I am starting to believe because I can’t seem to hold on to a pair longer than 3-6 months.  This pair serves as a cheap replacement for an AWESOME pair of Dolce + Gabbana specs that have gone the way of the odd dryer sock and my favorite pens: some alternate plain of “lost things with no explanation or hope of discovery.”

Third stop, Barnes + Noble for a Moleskine journal for Amy. I am addicted to these ruled notebooks and have been using them for nearly 10 years to record my daily lists, business planning, new ideas, journaling etc. – I am buying one for Amers to use during our two grueling days of business development planning and brainstorming.

At this point I head back to the studio. Our next stop was to be a “get in the spirit of the weekend” surprise for Amy.  She warned me (and I am well aware) that she does not get outwardly very excited when she is surprised, even if she is delighted, but I am positive she will not be able to contain herself with this one.  Why?  Because we were scheduled to stop by the beautiful West Seattle home of Dale and Rick, (otherwise known as Tahoma French Bulldogs ) for a much-needed dose of puppy love. Their current litter, 5 bouncing baby French bulldogs, is about 10 weeks old – and while there are few things in the world that are more bliss-inspiring than a puppy, for Amy and I – Frenchies are at the top of the list of “cute overload,” so a whole batch of Frenchie puppies, might just be enough to send us into orbit.  I couldn’t wait!

We finally arrived at puppy heaven just after 3:45 – I am not going to go into too much detail here, thus delaying your frenchie photo satisfaction, but let’s just say… Oh. My. Dear. Lord – in my life I don’t think I have experienced joy more pure than this… And yeah, Amy was more than a little excited as well :)

Meet (From back left to front right): Button it up “Buttons”, Lace it Up “Lacey” (brindle), Tie it Up “Ti” (brindle), Cut it Up “Cutter”, and my Zip it Up “Zipper”- pretty much the cutest five faces I have seen in my entire life.

Lacey + Zipper break from devouring their new toy to strike a pose (little white Zipper sort of immediately became my favorite- maybe it’s the nose?)

Who me?

Buttons might be tiny, but she’s swift and tough!

Favorite hill-spot for four of five, apparently Zipper can’t be bothered. And Lacy still has evidence of the toy formerly known as tennis ball on her face. Look how much bigger Mr.Cutter is than everyone else. Sheesh!

Maybe it’s because of his intense interest in food bites… (He reminds me most of his handsome daddy, Maxx)

4:00 puppy snacks!!! (puppy pinwheel)

Like the the most cuddly, precious piglets of all time!

Ok, puppy naps times – all aboard!

Now it’s the big kids turn to play!!!

You might recognize Mr. Maxx from such fame as www.denhaus.com {he is a fine model for commercial pet photography work} he also joined us for the CityDog Magazine cover shoot with Frenchie pups “Wheeler + Dealer” way back in Summer of ‘07. This is the photo that resides in our gallery now of Wheeler, Dealer + Maxx…

At home, Maxx isn’t any less of a poser – he romped around tugging with his Aunt Gertie, and frolicking with his old pals Woody + Phoenix. Check ‘em out vouging for Amy…

I love this Frenchie train: Gertie in front, Maxx behind. This may have to be a Gallery wrap in the studio…

Maxx (on the left) and Gertie (on the right) classic movie stars…

Sweet, sweet Phoenix

Woody the jolly ol’ elf

* * *

Eventually we had to tear ourselves away from our foraging little Frenchie friends to go catch a ferry. We spent about twice as much time as I had intended, but the weekend was off to a sufficiently glorious start.

Once we arrived down at the Fauntleroy ferry – we had to wait a bit. Conveniently, we were parked behind a truck full of sheep (which made for some great entertainment) and of course, we had an incredible view of the Puget Sound, Lincoln Park, and the people making out in the car next to us.  Good times.

On the ferry we had a minor “Vashon vs. Southworth confusion and found ourselves driving off and right back on (just to make things interesting) – which was actually quite comical because it didn’t actually cost us any time at all. The fact that we were listening to Jim Gaffigan rattle off about bacon probably didn’t hurt either.

Once we arrived at our gorgeous destination we dropped off our gear and bee-lined for the restaurant – two awesome delicious burgers (with bacon,) two perfectly dressed baby leaf salads and two hefeweizens with lemon= two happy girls.

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Pirate the Performer

April 17, 2009 – 7:20 am

Pirate joined us in the studio a couple days earlier than planned due to a surprise surgery he underwent  today. Everyone take a moment to send good thoughts for a speedy recovery for this salty dog!!

Alongside his trusty human companion (and dog trainer extraordinaire) Joey, Pirate was all wiggly tail wags and happy, happy bearded open-mouth smiles. He is a curly, jovial guy with a whole arsenal of fun tricks up his hairy sleeve.

This shoot is a a continuation of our sitting two or so weeks ago in Woodinville with Cheryl + Yoshi – one more shoot left this coming Friday and then we’ll give you the full scoop on what these guys are up to.

In the meantime, enjoy some of our favorite Pirate and Joey/Pirate combo moments. I am especially fond of Pirate’s ability to skateboard, his upside down, curly fluff belly rubs and Joey’s expert “chin” command (which, incidentally, I need to teach ALL my dog models) where Pirate immediately sets his chin down on the floor, his paws, or anything else that happens to be below his head. Ace!

Everyone here at dane + dane wishes you a speedy recovery Pi!

[ this one is my favorite, and for the record, this pose was Joey's idea! ]

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Trupanion: Truly Terrific!

April 16, 2009 – 4:10 pm

We are very pleased to announce a new and exciting partnership. Trupanion, a Seattle-based pet insurance company has chosen dane + dane to supply them with fabulous “pet and owner” photography for their new web site.  We have agreed to supply them with new photography all year long, so there will be a constant stream of fun, colorful and compelling portraits appearing until at least 2010 and maybe longer!

Currently recycling on their home page you can find several of their newly acquired dane + dane originals – it’s very fun to see them put to good use. Check them out below or visit www.trupanionpetinsurance.com and hit “refresh” a few times.

trupanion pet insurance

trupanion pet insurance

trupanion pet insurance

trupanion pet insurance

********* If you don’t have pet insurance for your pooch (or you kitty for that matter) I highly recommend Trupanion. I previously had Olivia insured with VPI and was disappointed with the level of coverage and the increasing premiums as she aged.  Trupanion takes a totally different approach to providing great insurance to pet owners, the rates are reasonable and fixed.  Check them out and tell them dane + dane sent you!!

And stay tuned for continued refreshing of their fabulous new photography :)

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First look at Bo + his happy new family

April 16, 2009 – 1:10 pm

I am very glad to see that the Obama’s are going with positive reinforcement training. Yess! He does seem to have a fabulous temperament – luckily he’s not a barker – all those news crews, cameras and attention would be enough to get ANY dog overwhelmed, but he seems to take to it like… water!

It’s neat to see the girls with Bo – and all of them together, like any-family-USA. It will be exciting to watch Sasha and Malia and Bo grow up together: after all, that’s what having a family dog is all about. Even if you’re the arguably most famous dog, or the most powerful family in the world.

* * *

By the way, no, Bo will not be sleeping in the President’s bed.
And apparently someone’s going to have to teach him + his webbed feet how to swim.

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Bo knows the White House

April 13, 2009 – 7:08 am
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="208" caption="PETE SOUZA – WHITE HOUSE PHOTOS VIA WASHINGTON POST"]PETE SOUZA – WHITE HOUSE PHOTOS VIA WASHINGTON POST[/caption]

Congrats to the Obama family and their newly acquired 6 mo. old Portuguese Water Dog pup, whom Sasha and Malia have named “Bo.”  A gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ( a long-time PWD owner,) it turns out that the Obamas will be Bo’s second family. This is great because they get to have a purebred, hypoallergenic dog, AND rescue as well.

This is quite the Cinderella story for Bo – he’s gone from family reject to the most famous, highly anticipated dog in the world.

I guess in a way I was hoping that they would just take a trip to the local shelter and pick out a dog on death row, but I guess the President’s dog has to have SOME decorum (wouldn’t want a filthy spy to infiltrate the most inner sanctum of National Security now would we.)  Regardless, although the White House has attempted to keep this whole process tightly under wraps, it’s out now, and it’s about time!

A few weeks back when he appeared on Leno, Obama joked that the dog “was just a campaign promise” and then quickly added that he was kidding and the canine’s arrival was impending.

Apparently the name “Bo” is inspired by the cat of a cousin, and Michelle’s father whose nickname is “Diddley” (as in Bo Diddley) – although has anyone else noticed that B.O. is also the President’s initials… Hmmmm.

Now to figure out how to get to the White House to photograph this popular puppy!

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