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!
Hello friends!
Yesterday as I slogged through rush-hour traffic towards my shoot in Issaquah, I thought back on my early childhood memories there… swimming at the Issaquah pool and Lake Sammamish, sticky-fingered Salmon Days wanderings, auditioning and performing at the old old “Village Theatre”, visits to Andy Wangs, La Costa, Boehms and of course Gullivers (the burger joint where I happened to find myself face to face with Ken Griffey Jr, Jay Buhner, Jeff Nelson and their families.) All these visions came whirling back as I exited onto Front street, and rounded Sunset… streets I haven’t seen in nearly 15 years. As you can imagine things have changed a bit, but even more surprising, is what hasn’t.
Bella is alllll smiles. So much so, that during the whole 2.5 hour shoot, I got nearly the exact same expression: wide-mouth, panting glee. That’s ok with me, it’s a good look for you Bella.
I first met Bella and her family at the Yappy Howlidays party last December at the W Hotel. I took a portrait of the three of them and apparently it was well loved, because Julia booked her session this summer with a bit of urgency: Turns out Bella’s health is failing… she’s a bit limpy and will soon need surgery on one of her knees to save the other. Julia wanted to spend a day with Bella, photographing her in the sun, her favorite place to be.
Ultimately, we headed over to the Pickering barn for a few last shots among the flora – nothin’ better than a big red barn for a summer portrait sitting! Oh, and did I mention the willow tree? Yeah, there’s a willow *dreamy*
We had high-hopes of potentially photographing miss Bailey at Lincoln park, but as is typical, the Seattle weather didn’t accommodate our request. Perhaps we should have submitted it in writing.
Bailey is a 7 year old Saint Bernard that Ashley adopted from a Vet teaching hospital where Bailey had been dropped off. She had been run over by a car and her owners could not afford the cost to repair her – Bailey was only 4 months old and she’s been Ashley’s human-size pillow ever since.
I have to say, I do love it when people name their pets human names. Amy and I decided a while back that Mark is a great name for a cat, or maybe Derrick. I have since added, that Emily is a fabulous name for a pug!
