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Monthly Archives: February 2010

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LEGO mania

February 23, 2010 – 2:24 pm

I spend a lot of time photographing pets, design dog-themed tee shirts, hanging out at dog shows and generally submerging myself in the tides of animals and their people…

But on Saturday I had a different opportunity… to attend a Star Wars themed LEGO birthday for a kid named William who lives in Queen Anne. At this party, Dan Parker { who is one of 11 LEGO artists in the world who have the kind of know-how that makes them desirable as custom LEGO artists and birthday entertainers} kept half a dozen 8-10 year old boys {and a few parents too } engaged in the building of unique LEGO creations. It was somethin’ else!

If you’re interested in hiring Dan to entertain your batch of birthday youths or to build a custom LEGO creation { he regularly completes private and commercial commissions of LEGO art } give my new friend Dan a call:

Dan Parker, founder + principal artist

mobile. 253.632.9407 // email. dnvpark@juno.com

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Here is a slideshow of William’s LEGO birthday

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Mighty Momo the Mini

February 22, 2010 – 10:26 am

Still, two weeks after photographing this little puglit, I cannot get her out of my mind. I have spent COUNTLESS hours in front of my computer selecting and deselecting photos, trying to narrow down 671 images to 50. Yeah, right. This is what I cannot stand about decidedly photogenic dogs and their equally lovely people… it’s pure agony to pick which images make the “cut”. Oh what a delightful problem to have.

I met Momo and her family on an incredibly blustery day in San Francisco (February 4th to be exact). This also happened to be the same day I arrived in SF – so I landed, jumped on the BART, found my hotel, checked in, and had just enough time to change clothes, gather my camera gear and grab an umbrella before bolting out the door. I was thankful for the town car that the Hotel recommended because although I typically walk EVERYWHERE in San Fran – this weather was pure misery.

When I arrived my destination in SoMa, I was relieved to find a gloriously chic lobby waiting for me. As I walked in I thanked my lucky stars for the large windows, high ceilings and perfectly appointed decor, because there was no way we were going to be able to shoot outdoors as we’d hoped.

Deborah met me in the lobby, a squirming Momo in her arms, wriggling against her mom to greet me. Deborah set Momo down, she bounced over to me and I got my first fill of pugalove in ages. I got pug sniffs and snarfs and kisses and wiggles (and of course hair). It was the perfect way to start our time together.

We plodded into the elevator and headed upstairs to Momo’s apartment where apparently it became immediately necessary for Momo to run crazed circles around the floor, pausing at a few of her favorite toys before racing off again, tail tucked, screaming a battle cry that I took to mean:  “oh-my-gosh-mom-there’s-someone-here-and-she-has-treats-and-toys-and-she-smells-really-awesome-and-I-think-she’s-here-for-me!” She was right.

We spent the next two hours tugging, chasing, tossing, cuddling, and of course, shooting. Momo has the BEST little personality, and she was at the perfect age where she was still too small to jump off the couch on her own, so once I plopped her up there she hung out… being devastatingly photogenic until I let her down.

She also very clearly loves her humans and some of the images we captured are PURE GOLD!  I am so excited about this shoot I was actually a few days behind getting it out because I can’t stop obsessing over it.  I think you’ll have to agree with me that this is the real San Francisco treat!

P.S. After this shoot I had a meeting to attend – I ended up at a nearby “Philz Coffee” and had an AMAZING taste experience: If you want the details read my Yelp review. Otherwise – make sure you seek out a a Philz in Nor Cal and try the “Tesora Mocha”. Yum!

By admin | Posted in Pug, Uncategorized, dane + dane travel, family photography, san francisco | Tagged , | Comments (4)

Spring in Seattle

February 20, 2010 – 2:14 pm

I end up writing basically this same post each year… It always happens around the same time too – the sun peeks out in late February or early March, after a long winter of dreary, sloppy wet weather and my inner-sun goddess goes giddy with excitement and inspiration.

Well folks – it happened again. On a whim I decided to take my camera with me one day to the “Dane Meetup” on Sundays at Marymoor. In all honesty this is a practice I try to avoid (bringing the camera, not meeting up with the Danes) – primarily because once I am behind that lens I suddenly slip into “pet photographer” role and out of “doggy mommy” role. Olivia has a great time either way, but sometimes I can be a little conversationally absent when I have my camera with me – so I try not to bring it.

This particular Sunday, however, the light was incredible and I was thanking my lucky stars that I had a way (other than my cell phone) to document it.

Yay for Spring!

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Rachel the Radiant

February 18, 2010 – 5:30 pm

For days I hoped and waited and hoped for the weather forecast to say “sunny” for February 15th. Please, please, please, let it be sunny on this one day.

As luck would have it – it was gloriously foggy in the morning and sunny all day on President’s Day 2010. I guess I wasn’t the only one wishin’

I started my voyage down to Black Diamond to meet little Rachel and her mom WAY too early in the morning in order to capture the best light and boy am I glad I did! 405 South was so fogged-up I could not see the metropolis around me – only feet off the edge of the highway, and barely the cars in front of me. It was glorious (although I happen to be a serious fan of fog.)

Once I arrived I was greeted by a VERY polite Rachel and her smiling mom. We spent time in the living room and the back yard – trying hard to capture the early morning sunlight through the tall trees surrounding their property. It’s not too often that I am presented with a backyard this stunning: a stone waterfall surrounded by ferns and shrubs – all dripping with morning dew were only bested by sweet little Rachel bouncing, sniffing and nibbling her way around it all.

After our outside paces, Rachel was keen to come back inside and curl up with her mum – which she did, in true Golden fashion, with a statuesque beauty.  This shoot just reinforces for me what I already know (and tell people often) Golden Retrievers may just be my #1 favorite dogs to photograph – sweet, gentle, gorgeous and happy.

By admin | Posted in Golden Retrievers, Puppies!, Seattle Pet Photographer, family photography, seattle dog photography, seattle pet photography | Comments (1)

More Bully love…

February 17, 2010 – 9:03 am

Here are more photos from our Experience.Frenchie.Project on Sunday  — just because you really can never have enough photos of Bullies :)   Here is mama Squirrel and our little Cream Pie Guy…

Here is “uncle hippo” the litter’s jolly Bulldog chaperon { and Angela his proud mamma }

And here is our sweet little “Cream Pie Guy” again — our #1 pick.

Could he be any more adorable!?

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Murphy the Mop-Top

February 16, 2010 – 9:02 pm

Can you guess what kind of dog Murphy is?  No?  He’s a Wheaten Terrier….. Yes, seriously.

Murphy was last year’s winner of the 4th Annual CityDog Magazine CoverDog Model Search, which means several things:

#1  Murphy was one of hundreds of dogs that helped raise over four thousand dollars for local organizations like the Pasado’s Safe Haven + Reading with Rover

#2  Murphy was one of five semi-finalists that CityDog Magazine readers voted on last Fall – and he won by a landslide!

#3  I was the one who originally photographed Murphy at the West Seattle Thriftway event – here is his “winning” photo from last summer:

I just ADORE his fluffy bear!  He is the most rasta Wheaten I have ever seen and I just could not get enough of him when we met again in January for the CityDog Magazine cover shoot.

We shot at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle in their swank Presidential Suite. I was a bit early (I came directly from my shoot with Enry) so I had lunch at the “Art Lounge” – what a great way to spend 30 minutes!  I wish I had had more time to soak in the incredible waterfront view and conversation with the friendly bar tender. They have a great “tray” option which included a tiny little sandwich, small caesar salad, AMAZING seafood chowder and a sweet little pastry with fresh fruit { see delicious photo below } – it was the perfect lunch for in-between shoots and I cannot wait to go back to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine there!

Ok so back to the murph-meister.

Here’s some glimpses at Murphy posin’ it up for me at the Four Seasons. I think he takes nicely to the lap of luxury, what do you think?

And finally… is a sneak peek at the brand-spankin’ new CityDog Magazine  2010 WINTER issue – hot off the presses, on newsstands next week.

Here’s some press Murphy’s received:   West Seattle Blog // West Seattle Thriftway // Komo West Seattle Blog

Here’s a look back at the last three CityDog Magazine CoverDog Model Search winners – I really enjoyed meeting and photographing all of these kids – congrats to Murphy for joining such an awesome group of elite Seattle pooches!!

By admin | Posted in CityDog Magazine, Pet Photography, Uncategorized, seattle dog photography, seattle pet photography | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Heaven on Earth. No, really.

February 14, 2010 – 10:52 pm

So this is just a quick post to share with you a few sneak-peeks from our visit with the 9 week old litter of Frenchie puppies today.

It seems appropriate to me that our first meeting coincided with Valentine’s Day, because predictably,  the second I saw these little piglets I fell in love.

There are two little boy French fries that we are very interested in – “Cream Pie Guy” and “White Boy” – love the names don’tcha :)

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I will be sharing more information with you soon about how these little puppies wiggled their way into my awareness PLUS some more great photos in the next couple days, but for now it’s late and I have an early morning shoot (with a Golden puppy – aren’t you excited to see THOSE sneak peeks?) but most importantly, my boyfriend is giving me the evil eye because I am ignoring him on Valentine’s Day.

So here you have it folks… a first look at the possible new addition to the dane + dane studios // dog is good family! :D

* * Want to see the video!?  Check it out on the dane + dane studios Facebook page! * *

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Back to the land of the living. Finally.

February 13, 2010 – 5:05 pm

Well I did it again – I totally neglected my blog for nearly three WHOLE months. Wow. I always think I am prepared for the sheer volume of shutter-clicks, late nights, design deadlines, plane rides, print orders, post office runs and various social, family and business events that come with the months of November + December, but yet again I was totally bowled over by the holiday season.I needed nearly the entire month of January to recover!

But here we are, February!  I love this month… I just celebrated my birthday this week. It’s amazing how every year they seem less and less important. I was in San Francisco this time with two of my dearest friends, working the Dog is Good booth at the San Francisco Gift Show. If it weren’t for the celebratory cupcakes and super sweet gifts from my compadres (I totally scored – Nordies gift certificate, awesome photo frame and LUSH bath products *yay*) I might have forgotten it altogether.

Well, I take that back… with facebook, no one can forget it’s their birthday! Although, it is nice to see dozens of special greetings pop up all day online, some from people you haven’t even talked to in years. I should also note – Olivia and I share a birthday – pretty cool eh?  We’re both Aquarius’  – I was sad to have been out of town for her sixth birthday (yes, she’s now 42 – nearly middle-aged! )  She’s gotten a bit lazier in her years, but is still regularly mistaken for a puppy. Love ya’ girl.

Ok so on to the FUN stuff!

Since I last wrote so much has happened that I am not even going to TRY to re-cap. Lots of trips to California, lots of photography, a move, lots of design – several exciting press debuts etc. etc. I am, however, going to post a few of my most recent puppy shoots this weekend. I have another puppy shoot scheduled on Monday (t’s definitely puppy season) and let’s face it – who isn’t excited about the prospect of squishy adorable puppy faces!?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.

We also have a flurry of exciting announcements to share in the next month or so – so definitely get back in the habit of checking this blog again!

So… to quell your fears – no, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth and yes, I am still shooting like crazy.

In conclusion: photos… because every blog post should have them.  These are some fun, random cell-phone moments from the past few months – please forgive the quality, my iphone is in failing health.

{ P.S. the photo at the top represents two of my favorite things in the whole world: sushi + Olivia – I indulged in a lot of both over the holidays :) }

Cheers!

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This is Njala { Njala means “hunger” in Chichewa – this little guy was a gift from my dear Amy – he accompanied us to Malawai, Africa last fall }

This is SeaTac airport – feels like my second home. I often sit here and eat a bagel sandwich, sip a yerba mate latte, and make use of the free wifi!

My mac baby got sick during my busiest season ever – ahh!  Now she’s all fixed up with a new logic board, new operating system +  a CS4 upgrage – whew!

These are the  inks we were testing as we screen-checked a new Dog is Good design.  After hours of work we decided we didn’t like it + scrapped the whole project.

One of my favorite part of regular visits to LA — In N’ Out with my little Abby.  It’s actually pretty amazing how fresh their fries are… and sooooo tasty!

The view from the ferry window on my way home to Whidbey Island for Christmas – glorious isn’t it?  And this is a crappy camera phone photo. *swoon*

I am positive this is how I managed to avoid getting the great sickness of 2009  { swine flu, the plague, whatever – everyone was sick } Not me, thanks to Pho!

And finally – Palm Springs. Ahhhh. Every sunrise + sunset was more glorious than the last. Can you guess which is which?

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More soon my patient and loyal friends… xoxo

By admin | Posted in Dog is Good, Pet Photography, Uncategorized, dane + dane travel | Comments (0)