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.

All I can say, is there’s not better way to immortalize the acquisition of a new puppy family member than to see them on the cover of a magazine!

Somewhat impulsively Olivia, Charleston, Colin and I ended up in Mt.Vernon on a Sunday afternoon – between tulips – in the dirt – working for the perfect shot.

Here’s some shots that were cover contenders… {Dog bless string cheese – without which, these shots would not be possible.  Oh, and also Charlie’s FANTASTIC “Old School” collar by Mascot, which I adore.}

Ok so as a photographer, contrary to popular belief, I don’t carry around my camera at all times. I don’t photograph my dogs daily and I don’t think it’s interesting or engaging to post constant blogs about my own pets.

However, watching the evolution of the relationship between my 6 yr. old Great Dane and our brand new French Bulldog puppy has been fascinating. He (Charlie the baby) is gregarious and fearless and persistent – while also quite laid back and patient. She (Olivia the Dane) is needy, barky, somewhat aloof and really would be perfectly content to be up on the couch or bed, alone with mom for her entire life. Charleston took and immediate liking to Olivia – her fondness for him is more of an acquired taste.

I have discovered that when I put Charlie up on things (bed, couch, chair) he stays there. He doesn’t even attempt to jump off. So I’ve used this to my advantage when trying to complete household activities that are easier accomplished without a puppy underfoot. One of these such days I was putting away laundry and plopped the pup on the bed (Olivia followed – she can’t stand the idea of him getting a privilege she has not been granted.)

During the half an hour or so that followed I absolutely HAD to get my camera. The light was soft and lovely, the colors in the room suited their spots and pinky skin and they were both in a fine mood to be documented. Here are some of my favorites… I love the “barky” ones because it really seems as if they are having a lengthy conversation

Then Olivia got bored and disappeared so I took the opportunity to make my bed and plopped Charlie back up there for a nap…

And of course, because a self-indulgent blog post about your own dogs is ALWAYS better with video… we have for you a fun little moment in our typical evening at home: Olivia and Charleston havin’ it out. They love each other, we promise

So, upon waltzing into my living room to see that not only had Charleston somehow managed to get himself up onto Olivia’s couch (this is the sacred Great Dane drooling and napping spot) but she let him stay there – I had to act.

My camera was conveniently resting on the counter (right where I left it after my shoot on Monday) so, armed with my trusty 50 mm 1.4 lens, I rolled around on my embarrassingly messy carpet (think new puppy + shedding great dane…. Yeah) to capture some shots of my two unlikely compadres.

Don’t you just want to eat them up??

Well the day finally came – the day to bring our new little family member home.

I cannot express with words how in love I am with our little boy – I feel all over again the joy I felt when I first laid eyes on Olivia – pure and utter satisfaction that something so perfect exists and is a part of my life. It’s a thrill.

There was a long debate regarding which puppy we would actually end up with – our first choice was “Cream Pie Guy” – but we didn’t know if he would be available or if the breeder would keep and show  him or if he would be the #1 best fit with Olivia… several weeks, a home visit, lots of emails, phone calls and trips to see the litter later we got the news that we would in fact, be bringing home our original man: Cream Pie Guy.

His name now is Charleston. We have already adopted a slew of nicknames for him… “Chuck, Charlie, Charles” and a close-personal favorite… “Carlos” (this is our nod to the Hangover – “Yeah he looked like Carlos to me too dude.”) I can see more names like “Charles in Charge” and “Charleston Chew” in his future.

He’s perfect. He is so very perfect. All the puppy madness that will ensue in the coming weeks can be no match for how much we already love this pudgy little piglet. Well, almost all of us…. he so adores Olivia that he’s already following her everywhere, and though she acts aloof (and even a bit annoyed) I know it won’t take long for her to adopt him as her very own.

Here are some photos of Charlie’s first day with us… and a video of what happened when Olivia barked at him for the first time in his new home. I know these are all a little self-indulgent (especially the video – I think it’s like 9 minutes long and mostly of them barking – hah!) but I hope you enjoy them anyway…

xoxox

Goodnight from a very happy home.

>> Here is Olivia on the way to the park, pre-puppy pick up. She is starting to get white hairs in her black spots – mama dog.

>> Here we are picking up Cream Pie Guy (AKA Charleston) We hope he is not too sad about leaving his siblings, his mom Squirrel and his uncle Hippo

>> First Stop: Microsoft. Here is Charlie exploring the parking lot

>> We chose the “compact” model

>> Here we are at home: Olivia is wondering how long she’ll have to put up with this new little puppy

>> Firsts: stairs (he’s now a stair master!) and our bully’s first bully (he only gets a few licks at a time but he LOVES it)

See what I mean about the perfection thing?  Here’s the video…

Here are more photos from our Experience.Frenchie.Project on Sunday  — just because you really can never have enough photos of Bullies

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!?

Well I have been terrible about updating this blog. Something about being on the road for a month that makes it hard for one to concentrate on things like editing photos for web and writing blogs – which is such a shame, because I really love this part of my job.

I suppose the fact that I actually enjoy it makes it feel like an indulgence, which then makes me push it to the bottom of the daily “to-do list” in my journal (along with pedicures, long walks around the lake, and happy hour with my buds.) *sigh*

So here you have it – a confession of neglect and with it a promise to be better!  To give you an idea of what I’ve been up to I will give you a list – partially to remind myself what the heck I’ve been so busy doing, and partly to give you an idea of the awesome back-blogs that are to come, and maybe point out a few awesome ones you might have missed

The madness started mid-June…

June 13: Day 1  filming + shooting (10hrs)  for “Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart”

June 14: Day 2 filming + shooting (8hrs) for “Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart” + drive to Portland (3hrs), stay at Hotel Lucia

June 15: Shoot at Hotel Lucia, drive from Portland to Calistoga, CA (11 hrs): Stay at Calistoga Ranch

June 16: Shoot at Calistoga Ranch, drive from Calistoga, CA to Hop Kiln Winery in Healdsburg, CA – meet pet-sitter to drop Olivia, shoot at Hop Kiln, drive to Santa Rosa, CA to pick-up Olivia, drive to stay at the Meritage in Napa, CA

June 17: Shoot at Meritage, drive to Kenwood Inn + Spa, meet BEST santa rosa, CA pet-sitter EVER to drop Olivia, shoot at Kenwood, meet consulting client who just happens to be live in Napa, drink wine + relax at Kenwood.

June 18: Meet pet-sitter to pick-up Olivia, drive to Hollywood, CA (7hrs) to meet Jamie – drive to Seal Beach, CA

June 19: Jamie and I work all day to the melody of leaf blowers and lawn mowers before finally indulging in a dinner of In-and-Out at 10pm and deciding to wait until the next day to head to San Diego

June 20: Jamie and I pack up and head to San Diego to check out the Coronado Bay Surf Dog competition, stay at the Sofia Hotel and meet up with fellow pet photog friends for yummy mexican dinner

June 21: Wake, eat, drop Jamie off at the San Diego airport and head to the Westin Gaslamp to meet up with buddy Janine + Beau of Luxurypaw.com – explore the Gaslamp district, listen in on  a Padres game, dine, shop, pass out. (Happy Father’s Day!)

June 22: Check out of the Westin, drop Janine off at Rancho Valencia and head back to Seal Beach to get down to business!

June 23: Dog walk on the beach with the pups + photo shoot with Roxie Heart in LA

June 24: Screen check in Long Beach, CA for our new Dog is Good tee (6 hrs) Very excited about this one!!

June 25: Hop a plane back to Seattle for the weekend to work – stop in at Urban Beast for their Yappy Hour

June 26: Treck down to Tacoma (braving rush-hour traffic) with Amy to the Hotel Murano – eat at “bite” – fall in love with Fried Green Tomatoes and Fries + Gravy

June 27: Shoot the Hotel Murano, spend FOREVER trying to find an open Tully’s (seriously testing our sanity) – score our Yerbas and some snacks  + water to sustain us for the day – head to find our bride at her hotel and then off to the Tacoma Museum of Glass for a gorgeous wedding (Congrats Crystal + James.) Dinner with the boyfriend at Benihana and then collapse.

June 28: Venture to Lake Union to meet up with bride + groom at the Skansonia Ferry. All day wedding (with Opus, the most AWESOME ring-bearer EVER) and then home again to upload and collapse.

June 29: Meeting with potential commercial client, errands then product shoot + pizza at the studio with two Great Danes and a black lab mix. Weeeee

June 30: Fly back to Seal Beach, CA

July 1-9: Work like mad on Dog is Good: Greeting Card designs, new hat designs, tee screen-check, booth configuration, choosing a commercial space etc. etc. + LOTS of beach walks with dogs

July 10: Pick boyfriend up at Long Beach airport, shop for road trip snacks,  test out local sushi joint

July 11: Wake early, one last beach walk with pooches, pack, shower hit the road- drive to Carmel, CA (9 hrs) – check in at the Cypress Inn and hit the beach for sunset.

July 12: Breakfast at Cypress, hit the highway, following the coast up to San Francisco (2 hrs)- Lunch at awesome an Burmese restaurant in the city, kite flying in the Presidio, photo shoot with the lovely Pam Biasotti + Karma at Baker Beach then off to Santa Rosa, CA to drop off Olivia with Mandy (super awesome-amazing pet-sitter) and on to Kenwood Inn + Spa again.

July 13: Amazing breakfast at Kenwood, pack + acquire the the pup and head up to the coast, through the Redwood National Forest, stopping at beaches here and there– all the way to Portland (12 hrs) to the Hotel deLuxe.

July 14: Shoot at the Hotel deLuxe, breakfast and back on the road to Seattle. Unpack, laundry, collapse.

July 15: Breakfast at Luna with the roomies + catch flight to Tucson, AZ for Family Reunion

July 16: Drive to family cabin near Sho Low, AZ  (6 hrs)  lose, cell reception + internet

July 17-19: Family reunion goodness – visiting and exploring and getting dirty in the sand car

July 20: Drive back from family cabin to home in Tucson, AZ (6 hrs) see the new Ice Age + eat pie with the fam

July 21: Fly back to Seattle

July 22-31: Catch up on many, many, many projects… (including this blog!) *whew*

Well this Roxie may not have Renee Zellweger’s long, long legs and she may not have ever been to Chicago [ the town OR the musical]  but she’s sure got spunk with a capitol FRENCHIE!

By now, most of you know what a Frenchie fanatic I am – but there really is nothing better than having an on-location shoot in sunny Los Angeles with a beautiful family and their BEAUTIFUL baby [ dog baby that is, the human baby won't be born until September. Move over Roxie you've got competition coming!]

From the moment I laid eyes on this spotted bundle of Frenchie-love I could barely keep my hands off her long enough to photograph her!  She was all kisses and tugs and grumbles and barks. She showed how good she is at “bang, bang dead dog” and how well she can drink out of my water glass *note to self I should probably hydrate, I gave all my agua to the perro*

Roxie lives in a beautiful spot in LA with her mom and dad – but soon she will be a Lone Star pup – they are off to Houston, Texas in just a matter of weeks. I, of course, am very sad about this turn of events – I have only just met Roxie and I will be losing her just as quickly.  I mean, I can barely imagine anything more photogenic than this family of three -  but a baby makes four and what’s more awwwww-worthy than babies and puppies?  Seriously.

So, for now, we will just have to swoon over these shots of our LA Roxie girl. Ooh la la she’s got star power!

P.S. Roxie’s parents informed me of the most AWESOME pet boutique in Beverly Hills: Doggie Styles. They have a Frenchie Soiree on Bastille day – how cool is that?? We give them two Dane paws up!

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.