Ender, Princess & Magoo

The Smith family is a family of animal lovers. They are very active in the Iredell county rescue circles and have three adorable pups of their own...Ender, Princess and Magoo. Ender is a sweet 8-year-old Doberman that loves her frisbee and a good game of fetch. She loves to run in her large backyard as well as look for bunnies and other tiny intruders. She also has the hobby of being super irresistible as seen here...Princess is actually the little "queen" of the clan. She's a 9-year-old Chi with a few tricks up her sleeve...Last but not least, there is Magoo. Although a little timid of strangers, Magoo warmed up quickly to my treats and tennis ball. :) This scruffy pup is well known for his bouncy run and it was on the "must-have" shot list! Our session took place on an absolutely spectacular evening with the lovely sun sparkling through the pine trees. I'm so lucky Ender invited me into his backyard to capture the gorgeousness!Of course we had to get him playing with his favorite toys!Usually the dogs my clients worry most about end up being the best models. Magoo was the classic example and ended up being the biggest camera ham! Tiny Princess tried to keep up with her brothers and did a little running after the ball. It didn't take long before she tired of the grass and was ready to get to solid land.Her eyes!!!! Gorg!

So you wanna know the real reason for this session?!? Well, this furry family is expecting their first baby of the 2-legged variety!!! Woohoo! The pups joined in for some cute pictures for the baby announcement. Everyone join in and leave them a big congrats!!! :)

Cosmo - Studio Session

Welcome to Part II of Cosmo's session! A few weeks ago, Cosmo did her thing for me during her on-location session. Her next step in the spotlight? Well, a studio session of course!

In front of the flashes, she blew me away again! All it took was a little bribing with treats and she began to give me her signature looks. The big lights didn't even phase her. Yeah, she's ready for stardom...

One of my favorites on the left...Oh and this one too. She just so cute and innocent looking!I need to get Cosmo's paw-tograph before she leaves us to start her career in New York or LA. ;) It won't be long now...

Cosmo

Cosmo's session was scheduled for a "warmer" day - about 43 degrees - which, at that time, was warm for the weather pattern we were having. Yeah. Well, turned out Mother Nature wanted to bring along a crazy wind chill with that so it wasn't so "warm". I'm talking, bundled up and still freezing kinda winds. Obviously, little Cosmo is a Chihuahua and they are very sensitive to the cold. We would go out a shoot a picture and then come right back in to get her warm. It was pretty obvious that it was going to be stressful on her so we scrapped the session for the afternoon and decided to try again the next day. It was probably the best decision because we lucked out with a very pretty evening and Cosmo was much more comfortable. She certainly got to show off her sweet little personality! :) This is Cosmo to a T! She is a little superstar!!!She loved my liver treats and wanted to let me know! Cosmo likes to be transported in her fashionable animal print bag. It doubles as a body warmer and it looks so chic (as does her mom)!Cosmo's different faces crack me up! I don't think I've ever seen this many different expressions from a Chihuahua!This one is the killer for me. It looks like someone drew a smily face right on her mouth. I just wanna grab her and give her a big kiss!Thanks to Cosmo for being such a patient model and hanging in there for our second day. I look forward to seeing your supermodel poses in the studio! :)

Lola, ChiChi and Ramesses

It sure has been sweater weather lately and repeat clients, Lola, ChiChi and Ramesses, were ready to take on the Fall! We met at a gorgeous barn named Joli Cheval in Mint Hill. The leaves were changing, there was a chill in the air, and the models were magical! Lola and ChiChi, a couple pint-sized Chihuahuas, must have remembered me from our session last year. They went right into model zone and even pulled off this gem of an image... (and any of my clients with multiple dogs can attest to how hard it is to get them in a shot together!)

Last year, we missed out on some of the gorgeous golden light. I'm so glad we got to capture that this season!Lola is such a love bug! She rode in the car with me to the second location and she sat on my lap the whole time!!! Now I want a lap dog!!! Oh, wait. I do have a lap dog. She's just 63 pounds.ChiChi, who has a reputation as a diva, even took to me quickly. I think she only barked at me a couple times - if that. Her eyes and ears stayed perky and I love her images!!The pups weren't the only ones in the session! No! Ramesses II was included as well. To be honest, I don't know much about horses but he is one of the most striking animals I've ever seen!And those Fall colors only accent his gorgeousness (and his parents!!)!

Is is cold where you are today? Do you want to borrow Lola and ChiChi's sweaters?

Lola and Charo

As most of you may know, Chihuahuas can be a little shy and tend to get nervous around new people and new big, black objects looking at them (aka, the camera). When I first met Lola and Charo, I took the safe approach and greeted them with treats and stayed down on their level. Charo, the long-haired fuzzy one of the pair, instantly was a fan! Anyone that gave her attention was a-ok in her book. Lola was a little more timid but I could tell she would eventually come out of her shell. As a matter of fact, I was 99% sure that she would be a camera ham by the end. (Spoiler alert! I was right!) I introduce Charo......and Lola...Charo instantly fell into her top model ways. I'm pretty sure she's done this before. ;) She was completely ready to show off her "frizzy cotton ball" look!Lola hung back for a while but really started to come out of her shell once we reached the beach at Lake Norman.She was pretty interested in the water and even got her toes a little wet at one point!The sisters had a blast running around on the sand!Such cuties!!!!Right about this time, Lola really started to steal the show. She totally "got it" and was ready to work it!Lola's like, "yeah, I got this!"When we walked out to the peninsula, we were greeted with the most amazing sunset! Most of the session was shot with cloudy skies - something I normally avoid. However, they worked in our favor since we wanted to capture the background of the lake. As the clouds parted, the sky turned the most gorgeous shades of orange, pink, and purple!And the family enjoying the lovely views...

I heart this sweet family and I hope you enjoyed their sneak peek!

Chi Chi, Lola, and Ramesses II

I know that Forrest Gump said that life was like a box of chocolates...you never know what your gonna get. But for this session, I wonder if he should have said that dogs are like a box of chocolates? Upon booking her session, my client warned me that one of my subjects, Chi Chi, was known to be feisty and has a bite history. Knowing this, I certainly took my time allowing her to get familiar with me and the camera. Of course she barked at me at first. However, when I pulled out the treats and she got a little taste, it was only a matter of minutes before she was licking my hand. She didn't even respond to the camera so I knew we were golden!

I never like going into a session with a preconceived notion about a dog. Of course I want to know about their behaviors, personalities, habits, bite history, etc. But like Forrest said, you never know what your gonna get!

Here is Chi Chi workin' it for the camera just minutes after we met... Lola, on the other hand, is also a barker but warms up to strangers easily. She loves treats and showed off her best beg.I love the way Chi Chi sits. Haha! It cracks me up (so does Lola's look in her sweater)! This picture pretty much is the visualization of my tagline, "Modern images for posh pets." Those are definitely some posh shawls!Surprise! Not only did I photograph Chi-Chi and Lola. I also had the honor of spending some time with Ramesses II! And, wow! He is a looker!

This gorgeous boy was previously a race horse but has been off the track for 3 years. He was adopted by my client just a couple months ago and he has made their family complete.Ramesses' mom has been riding for 17 years and is so ecstatic to finally have a horse to call her own. I love the way they look at him...These two are just too gorgeous!

I want to give a special thanks to Perky Ears, LLC  - you gals know who you are! Hahahaha! I hope this gorgeous family enjoys their sneak peek! :)