In general, I love being outdoors and I especially love being at the beach. I have an intense connection to the Pacific Northwest and am particularly fond of nearly all of Western Washington – but there are a few places specifically, that are very, very sacred to me. One of those places in Indianola.

A tiny community (and when I say tiny, I mean minute – there’s a post office a church and a general store that appears to be circa 1935) that is essentially centered around one very important geographic feature: a gorgeous, rocky quintessential Puget Sound beach.

Second only to the shore itself in nostalgic beauty and local affection is the dock – a spindly, tall structure that has been rebuilt and redesigned several times since its original creation as dock for one of the mosquito fleet ferries of the 1920’s.

I had the incredible luck of living in this tiny zip code, in a lovely, 3 bedroom modern craftsman-style home, a mere 4 minute walk from the beach for a matter of months in 2006. Complete with a pond in the backyard, a large open kitchen, a few stained glass windows, a Jacuzzi tub in the master bath and a home office with the most gorgeous light in the morning… this house was perfect.

When we lived in Indianola, Olivia and I would take twice-daily walks from our front porch to the beach, sans-leash.  We would sit on the pier and stare out at the changing weather over Bainbridge Island and Seattle and smell the salty air, soak in the noon sun, the morning rain or whatever else mother nature may have been in store for us. Those were the days.

The purpose of my vast detailing of this location is to set the tone for just how profound this place is to me – and how excited I was when one of my clients agreed to travel there for their long-desired “labs on the beach” shoot.

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The first time I photographed Ollie and Cocoa was at their lovely home in Seattle – we had hoped to make it to the Arboretum that same day, but as often happens in the Northwest – the weather had conspired against us. So, Joslyn and Jen opted to schedule a second shoot, for later in the summer when the weather was sure to be much improved. The Friday before Father’s Day we made our journey to Indianola – this time the weather was miraculous, but unforeseen circumstances almost dashed our hopes of the perfect beach shoot in the perfect place: teenagers.

Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a teen that long ago – and I’ve got nothing against them personally, but what I didn’t know when we slyly scheduled our morning shoot on this popular beach for a weekday (to avoid crowds), was that it was the last day of school in Kitsap County.
So, instead of a shoreline vacant save for shore birds, pebbles and a few neighbors out walking – we arrived to a beach FULL of fresh-faced teens in their finest beach apparel, BBQ’ing, throwing frisbee, and clogging the narrow pier. Did I mention BBQ’ing?  Does anyone else see the impending disaster of two young labs off leash at a beach BBQ? Yeah. We did too. Immediately.

We turned away from the party before the pups could get a sniff of the hot dogs or they’d for-sure find their way back.

After a not-so-short walk down the beach via a super-secret-squirrel path, we arrived at a mostly deserted section of the shore and got down to business, the business of throwing two balls at the perfect rhythm so as to achieve the desired “both dogs running towards the beach with a ball in their mouth” shot. Wow, was it hard to time!

After nearly two hours of attempts, humans and hounds were all tired and gleefully covered in sand, saltwater and the rosy-blush of almost-sunburn. Happy with the results of our mid-day adventure, we returned to cars, parted ways, and I turned back to my favorite beach for some quality quiet time.

Here are some “fetching” shots from Indianola with Ollie and Coca. {Photography note – this was the WORST time of day to take action shots of two dark dogs – bright mid-day sun – eesh! Sometimes, you just have to work with whatcha got.  In this case, I am very pleased with the results!!}

P.L.A.Y (Pet Lifestyle and You) is a new San Francisco-based company that is re-defining the pet bed experience.  They are in the market of dog beds that are stylish, planet-friendly, comfortable for your dog AND believe it or not, affordable. Earlier this year I met P.L.A.Y founder William when he hired me to photograph his pug puppy at his home in San Francisco (remember Momo?).  Shortly thereafter he commissioned me to consult with him in his branding/launch process – this lead to him hiring me to design the P.L.A.Y. logo (which I personally, love) – meanwhile he was hustling to get all the many pieces into place.

Summer came around and with it the prototypes of the first-ever P.L.A.Y. beds.

Last week Will, his lovely girlfriend Deb (who has long wanted to visit Seattle) and of course, Momo the pug, came up to Seattle for an intensive 3-day photo shoot which spanned several zip codes, included 10 dogs, dozens of products and ultimately, hundreds of great lifestyle shots of P.L.A.Y. beds in-use.

I can’t share too much with you as the P.L.A.Y. story is still unfolding and their big launch is expected this Fall… but here are some of our favorite shots:

The most difficult part of a shoot like this is typically rounding-up the models and scouting locations. Here’s a huge thank-you to our co-operative dog models and of course their humans, who shared with us their time, patience and in several cases, their lovely homes. Thank you Dave, Mieshka and Rosie, Ann, Henry and Max, Hillary, Alice, Mark and Waldo, Jos, Jen, Ollie and Cocoa and last but definitely not least, Ruth, Matthew and the majestic Henri.

{Oh and I can’t forget Momo and Charlie who were dragged along and had a great time dirtying the product and escaping when no one was watching – I think a love story has officially begun!}

You’ll definitely be hearing and seeing more from me about P.L.A.Y. and its FANTASTIC new line of products.

One of the most spectacular sights Washington has to offer is the view of our majestic Mt. Rainier – but can you believe I have lived here all my life and never been anywhere near this Northwest icon? Shame on me, I know.

On April 16th I traveled about 90 miles to Crystal Mountain. Ladies and gentlemen – it was worth the wait.  I tell ya what, there’s no better view of Mt.Rainier than from that summit. It literally left me breathless – and speechless ( and if you know me, then you know just how rare it is for me to be sans commentary!}

More importantly, I was invited to mountain by Andrew and the Avalanche Rescue Dogs of Crystal.  Way back in November, Andrew saw me featured on the  “Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart” TV special and he tells me he thought to himself… “Now that’s the kind of person we need up here at to photograph what our dogs do” – I couldn’t agree more!

When I arrived in the Ski Patrol room – I was greeted with half a dozen sniffers and wags… I have had so much anticipation building to meet these dogs I was just as excited as they were!

I had to quickly surmount my epic fear of heights and hop onto two consecutive chair lifts to get to the top – here’s the view from behind me… happy dogs!

***I have to admit – many of these shots didn’t turn out because I was shaking so terribly. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a lift with no board/skis, a pack full of gear and have turned around to photograph behind you (downhill) but for me it was terrifying. Luckily – I was surrounded by the mountains finest rescue crew, that made me feel a little better

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{Cirrus + Andrew}

{ Dee + Jen }

{ Skye }

{ Ari }

{ Kala }

{Newman}

{ Sierra + Ben}

** You can see how the clouds started rolling in – look at the difference between Dee + Jen and Sierra and Ben – bye bye mountain!***

There are a ton more of these photos I want to share with you – but I absolutely cannot wait any longer to post this blog!!

P.S. I should mention that we accomplished this entire shoot without treats, toys or other methods of bribery. These dogs are conditioned to respond to praise as their reward for the work they do – a new and challenging experience for sure (for me). But all these dogs are so obedient and fantastic and their handlers were so helpful, that it truly was a pleasure to photograph them all!

Dreary Saturdays are some of the best days to get great images. Not the sparkly, sunny, dazzling blue sky shots { but let’s be real here, we live in Seattle – dreary days are far more common.}

One great thing about an overcast sky is the glorious soft white light it radiates.  This comes in very handy when shooting not one but two 1 yr. old chocolate labs… You need all the light you can get for these busy bodies!

Brother and sister, Ollie and Cocoa met me right at their picturesque door – “well hello there stranger – what did you bring me?”

I brought treats of course

and they had a few of their own already…

This kitty has great taste in hair care products… who doesn’t love Bumble & Bumble!?

Cocoa has great taste as well- her namesake maybe?

We spent some time chillin’ in bed – what is a better way to spend a Saturday?  Someone’s sleepy…

true love <3

One of my favorite things about these gregarious guys is that they are two of a kind – practically attached at the hip.

I especially love this shot where we can see kitty, hiding safely in the bathroom behind the choco-twins.

I am even MORE excited because we will all be heading together to one of my FAVORITE places on earth – Indianola.

Ollie and Cocoa’s mom’s have booked a second shoot this summer so we can capture happy go-lucky labs running off-leash on the beach. Yippeee!

I can hardly wait 

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