the dane's dish » dane + dane studios: pet photography + design

For those of you who live (and especially those who shoot) in the great Pacific Northwest, you know what a challenge the weather can be. It’s like a spinning wheel of fortune… some days you win the “million dollar” sunshine streaming through the trees morning and some times you hit “bankrupt” with wind and rain and less light then midnight during an Alaskan winter. It’s always a gamble. This is true all year long, but once we move past the end of October {which, surprisingly, is usually a very nice month in the Seattle area} it all goes downhill fast.

This was the case in the tale of the Bedlington 3.  We originally had planned our shoot for Monday, Nov. 1 – but as I constantly monitored the weather forcast all weekend, and woke at 6am day-of, I knew there was just no way we were going to enjoy an outdoor shoot with three fluffy-coated dogs and acquire anything other than a “rainy, rainy muddpuddle” theme. So, we conspired to plan for the single sun-break day of the week… Thursday.  Blessed be the day when the weatherman is right.

When I arrived at 2pm that Thursday, I was thrilled to realize that the changing seasons meant the light was already low and warm. It cast long shadows down the lane of fall-painted maples leading up to Bedlington manor. I was even more pleased to discover, a single fire-red maple tree in the backyard – surrounded by Cedars, Rhododendrons and other quintessential Northwest evergreens. A photographer’s delight.

Of course when I walked through the door into terrier territory, I was met with wagging little lamb tails and bouncy little Bedlington bodies- all abuzz with the presence of a visitor. It took me a moment to establish who was who… Sassy is a fine old girl, and mother to both Miracle (mister) and Rain (misses). Sassy is an old girl, but is in such good shape, the only way I could tell her and her daughter apart at first, was the little ball of fluff at the end of Sassy’s tail.

{ Sweet Sassy}

We spent a while playing in the sun room – Miracle and Rain going birzerk for their Koala {an ingenious toy that laughs like a human child} and their kitty {you can guess what sound that one makes} and momma and papa proudly egging them on.

I will leave you with an outtake from our shoot… Mr. Miracle givin’ me “the look” – hilarious!