Moments after doing a shoot recently at the Olympic Sculpture Park on Seattle's waterfront, I decided I just had to have photos of Fergie there as well, so I ran home and picked her up and ran back. I think it took me all of 15 minutes to get home, get back, and park. I love living on Queen Anne!

Since I don't often photograph my little doggie gal, I try and squeeze in special times for me to shoot her. She had been so good that week (I think it was 2 weeks ago??), and I wanted to get her out to have fun. She loves the OSP (and so do I), and as you can see it was a beautiful day, so that is where we went.

I love her soooo much sometimes it hurts. I revel in how cute she can be. I ask her "how did you get so cute? Were your parents like that? Did you learn this behavior?" How could anybody not love this face?
























At first I thought "the leash has got to go" because I am big on photos without distracting junk. But then I thought, you know, it looks kind of cool like that, in the upside down question mark. So I left it.
























another "how did you get so cute?" shot...


















love the ears and the paws. :-)
























this is a shot (below) where flash would have come in handy, to lighten up those deep pools of eyes. But I just can't bring myself to fire a flash in a dog's face, plus I can't stand the look of even fill flash.

I have seen a small number of very talented pet photographers use outdoor fill flash to their advantage, where you can't tell flash was used, but I have yet to invest any time into a) researching whether or not flash is safe for animals' eyes (my primary concern) and b) how to get bright outdoor fill-flash photos that look totally natural.

Flash or no flash, I still love this photo of the Fergster. I actually also love the light falloff on the edges from the filter. Probably not so much for client shoots, but for me, yeah, I like it.


























More photographs to come this week! I did a new favorite shoot this past Saturday at Discovery Park with an amazing family and their beautiful dog Abby. The colors in the park and Puget Sound were beyond incredible and I am excited to share the images.

And I also finished with Gus, Pez and Grace's decopaw art and will post that as well.

Have a terrific Tuesday! :-)



labels: fergie photos, cowbelly mascot, jamie pflughoeft's dog, olympic sculpture park, seattle dog photographer, belltown pet photograpaher, downtown pet photographer, fergie rhodesian ridgeback Stumble It!

I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend Andrea's new business, appropriately called That's The Spot massage therapy. I know Andrea because I used to be her dogwalker, and her dog Gypsy is the namesake of my business. Andrea and I have become friends over the years, and I am so excited about this new path she is on.

She quit her job at an insurance company and decided to follow her dream- providing massage therapy for animals. Andrea's company vision goes beyond therapy; she is skilled in the overall health and wellbeing of our furry friends, and is truly a healer and educator.

Andrea is one of these rare people who has a very stable, gentle, calming spirit. She helps ADD people like me feel more relaxed just by being in her presence.

Although she hasn't been in business even a year yet Andrea is already receiving rave reviews. Check out the yelp review of Andrea's company That's the Spot.

So if you need massage therapy for your pet (and we all do! see her site for all of the many benefits massage provides) please give Andrea a ring and be sure to tell her Jamie 'Cowbelly' sent you. Oh- and say hi to Gypsy for me. :-)

P.S. This post is the start of a regularly featured pet business on this blog. I know so many really terrific pet industry friends who own fabulous businesses, and want to be able to share them with you on a regular basis.

I will also be featuring a regular pet product, something really cool that is maybe a little bit obscure, that has enriched my life, and/or the lives of people around me.


labels: that's the spot animal massage therapy, seattle dog massage, dog massage in seattle, andrea murphy's business, that's the spot massage therapy Stumble It!

I have been wanting to share these images for a couple of weeks now, but have been swamped with shoots and art proofs, so I am making it a goal to try and catch up on blogging, and post some content-rich posts this next week, starting with these guys tonight.

This is Lulu and Oliver. Some of you may recognize them. They are the August models in my 2007 Decopaw art calendar. I had never actually met them in person, havingworked with a pre-existing image for their (2006) art piece, so this was the first time I had the pleasure of actually shooting them.

They were 2 of my attendees at my last Beautiful Beasties event at the Pike Place Market. I had a blast during our shoot and was thrilled to finally see them 'live and in person'.

It's always so remarkable to me to see a dog or cat in person after spending hours working up their static image into art. I have that static image firmly ingrained in my brain, and when I see them moving, and being animated, and 'live' it is always such a trip, and just awesome!

Here are my favorite shots of Lulu & Oliver:

Oliver, on Rachel the pig, with a really funny look on his face (yeah, he's saying "what is wrong with you human people", lol). I love the guy on the right. The people in these Pike Place shots always make them more dynamic.




















Lulu looking like a little vagabond alley dog. I love shots like this. Cute little dog in the big, tough city.
























Dancing Dogs. Normally I'd toss a shot like this, but I think it's cool.
























I personally love the kind of weird, abstract black and white images. The shots that usually only appeal to me, lol.
























Who ever knew such a little dog would have such a big, long tongue?
























I LOVE the following shot of Lulu. Believe me when I tell you I have had dreams about it. Why do I love is so much? Let me count the ways:

1. the color of the sky
2. the flowing shapes of the clouds
3. the pastely-cyan-grey colors of the buildings, sky and waterfront
4. the serene look on Lulu's face
5. the way the scene draws you in to her eyes (and nose. and cute little mouth.)
   

I was using a new filter for my camera that day, and it did really cool things to the colors. Speaking of filters, I never mentioned this, but I did a really stupid thing recently. During my shoot with Dozer at Gasworks park, I set my camera down on the grass (why? I don't know- because I'm an idiot I guess), and stepped backwards ONTO MY CAMERA. I cracked the filter, necessitating a quick trip to Glazers on a Saturday afternoon (a horrible time to go there), to pick up a new filter before my next shoot, which was just an hour later. Along with the basic glass filter I got my new fun one, and that is what I used here. I guess that after all was said and done, the filter cracking accident was worth it. :-)
















Hope you enjoyed Lulu & Oliver! :-)



labels: pike place market dogs, beautiful beasties events, cowbelly pet photography, seattle dog photographer's events, seattle pet photography events, seattle dog photographer, decopaw design august dogs Stumble It!

Now, I know I don't normally write posts that have nothing to do with pet photography, but in this case I just had to share my finds.

You see, late last year I went to a craft fair at the Seattle Center with a friend. It was my first foray into the world of handcrafted goods or 'the Etsy set' as I like to call them. Although I saw lots of cute things there, there really wasn't anything I felt that I couldn't leave without buying.

Except for one little letterpress calendar.

It was a beautiful calendar, with lovely simple graphics just like I like, and it was only $20, but I was feeling grumpy and tired and indecisive so left without purchasing it.

Of course, by the time I got home I was kicking myself, and spent the next year off-and-on searching for a copy of the much coveted, sold out desktop calendar.

This past weekend, I was blog-surfing, when I totally randomly stumbled upon the calendar I should have bought one year ago.

The calendar is made by a gal who owns a small local stationary company called ilee, and she sells her letterpress goods on Etsy.

Needless to say that when I stumbled on her calendar page I think it took me all of 10 seconds to put it in my shopping cart, pay for it, and input shipping info. I am thrilled it is on it's way and can't wait to receive it!

Click the graphic below to go buy the calendar. But don't hesitate like I did! This cute little letterpress calendar is featured on tons of blogs, including apartment therapy, so it will sell out fast!
























Now, if you have your heart set on a desktop calendar that speaks to your love of animals and art, check out the beautiful 2008 desktop calendar designed by my friend Leigh Jackson of Noisy Dog studios.

Leigh put together a beautiful grouping of dog paintings she did last year, and threw some incredible graphics in with the art, in the yummiest of colors, and is now selling them as the lovely Noisy Dog Studios 2008 desktop Calendar. Click on the graphics below to go buy.














































Lastly, if you'd like a really unusual and pretty way to display your new letterpress calendar, check out the desktop photo tree I recently purchased (also a long coveted item).



















My favorite stores Uncommon Goods, Chiasso and Umbra no longer sell them, but after an extensive web search I found them here: RevDesign

OR, if you'd like something with a bit smaller footprint, check out the Sputnik Photo Ball below (click on image to go to Well Dressed Home):





















Now, go get that new letterpress desk calendar, put it in a cute photo tree on your office desktop, and Enjoy!!



labels: ilee letterpress calendar, noisy dog studios desk calendar, fun art calendars, pretty letterpress calendars, 2008 letterpress calendar, desktop photo tree, desktop photo fall, sputnik photo ball, fotofalls, desktop fotofalls Stumble It!

These boys were one of the art commissions I mentioned I was working on for a birthday gift for my client's boyfriend. I finished the art last week and it went off to be received by the birthday boy.

My client brought their dogs Deuce & Bylow to Seattle for a Decopaw sitting at Discovery Park in September, and we then designed the art to her specifications, keeping in mind what her beau would like best. She was going to be presenting him with the canvas in front of all of their friends at a big birthday party last week and I asked her to tell me how it went over.

Here is the art, and following it is her email to me the day after the party. This story is why I do this- I cried tears of joy when I received her email, and I think you will understand why when you read it.


Deuce & Bylow's mom's email to me, printed with her permission:

Of all of his gifts I had Jonte open the canvas last. As he was opening it he said "why is there a picture of a dog that looks like Bylow in here?" He then realized after opening the bubble wrap that it was Bylow! And Deucy! His first words were "wow". Then he got teary eyed and asked me "are you trying to make me cry?" He just stood there and stared at it for like 10 mins! Everyone loved it! Jonte made a comment that this picture will be with him forever and that he can always remember his "boyz" no matter what by just looking at it and remembering their sweet faces. As soon as we got home he hung it on the wall, right in the entry way of our home. I wanted it in the living room, but he said he wants it right when you walk in, I guess to let people know whose house it really is! Then he got the camera out and took a picture of it! Then we spent the next 30 mins taking photos of us posing by it and including it in our background. We stayed up till 1:30am and Jonte kept telling me he had a great birthday, he even randomly yelled bursts of "I had an awesome birthday!" He was so happy!

Thanks Again Jamie!


AH- this made me cry again.

I am so incredibly fortunate that I get to do something that brings people so much joy, and keeps them connected to those special spirits that they love the most.

It makes me think of the special little things I have collected over the years- the handcarved Oaxacan antelope my dad surprised me with as a graduation gift after he saw me fawning over it in a shop in San Diego, the handprint plate from when I was 7, the beautiful hand-wrought flatware my best friend gave me. These are all things I have moved around with me and have treasured through the years, things that mean more to me than my fancy towels or shiny new computer. I like to think that the Decopaw art that I design for my clients becomes one of these 'special treasured favorites'; little 'treats' that make life that much sweeter.



labels: dog art, modern dog art, decopaw design, seattle pet portrait artist, pitbull art, cute pitbull picture, canvas dog art Stumble It!

I wanted to share a couple of shots of Puccini from the weekend of 10/13.

His shoot was a sitting to get shots for the Decopaw art. Whenever I do these sittings I have to switch tracks in my brain from 'regular' dog photography to 'dog photos for art', which aren't necessarily the same.

I ended up with several shots of Puccini that would make pretty prints, but not work so well for the art process, so I wanted to share those here.

Puccini is 14 years old going on 14 months, and one of the most interesting looking little guys I had ever met.
























Puccini lives in the neatest little condo complex on the top of Queen Anne hill. It looks like something you would find in LA- a small grouping of early 20th century Spanish-style condos surrounding a pretty courtyard complete with fountain and palm trees. I fell in love with Puccini's home and only wish I had taken more pictures of the complex. But alas, I was there for the pooch so my focus was on him (pun intended, ha ha ha).
























Puccini was positively MAD for his frisbee. We had an absolute blast tossing it around for him. I've never seen a 14 year old dog move so fast.

























Puccini was a former street doggie, and in the shot below he looks like a vagabond that just hopped off a train somewhere and landed on the doorstep of this home. He is so cool....























I will try and remember to post Puccini's art proofs here when I am done.

Hope you enjoyed this little guy and are having a fabulous Monday! It's sunny in Seattle- whoopee! :-)




labels: puccini dog, queen anne pet photographer, queen anne dogs, seattle dog photographer, seattle pet portrait artist, dogs in courtyards Stumble It!

These sweet english bulldog boys are an art project I have been working on recently from a pre-existing photo.

We are at the point for the Ollie & Gunther's dad to decide which one he likes best, but before that, we are all waiting to hear back from his family and friends to get their vote. Then their dad will have a pow-wow with his wife to make the final decision. Who would have thought that dog art could be so complicated, lol?

Actually, this will be a fairly large (24x36) canvas, so the decision has to be a good one, because it's going to be a fairly prominent piece of art in their home, that will last a long, long time.

Below are the 2 best of the 4 proofs I designed, and if I had to guess I would say that they'll go with the sunset + grass proof.

Which one do YOU think they'll pick? And why?

I'll post the final here once the decision has been made.


























This one below is my favorite. I love the colors and the overall feel of the art, and for selfish reasons I would love to see what it would look like on a large canvas.


















original image- supplied by my client. Because of the perspective I had a hard time determining what the difference in size (if any) was between the dogs, so I'm hoping I got it right in the proofs. If not I can shrink or enlarge either pooch.




















Also, my apologies for not posting more Decopaw art here recently. I have been working on quite a few projects that are gifts for people, and am paranoid about giving away surprises. Now, I know the chances of the recipients stumbling on my blog are slim to none, but given my luck, it would happen. It happened once before and once was enough!

I have a friend of a client who is actually on her way to my office right now to pick up a canvas gift for my client's boyfriend's birthday, which is today, and they are holding a party for him tonight. I can't wait to hear his reaction and have promised to post the proof here after he receives it so stay tuned!

So hopefully in the coming weeks I can start posting proofs I did for clients, once those gifts have been received.





labels: dog art, modern dog art, seattle dog artist, gunther & ollie bulldogs, english bulldog art, modern dog portraits, decopaw, decopaw design Stumble It!

These pawsitively poochalicious dogs have appeared in a couple of my recent posts, and here are more shots to really whet your whistle.

They are owned by the fabulous Donna Angevine. Now, normally I don't mention my client's names in my posts, but I am here because I am urging you to go and check out Donna's amazing business, Primp Doggy http://www.primpdoggy.com/

Donna designs high-end fashions for canines. These are not your typical frilly low-quality frocks, these are super high-quality garments designed with every dog need in mind. They are made from the most stylish materials (my favorite is the Carnival Days) and use easy-on easy-off velcro instead of going over the head.

Donna is commissioning me to design a triptych canvas Decopaw art piece from her poochies' pics, not unlike this one of Max: http://www.decopaw.com/complextri.html

(btw: I spelled triptych wrong on my website- duh)

The finished piece will be hung at the Primp Doggy booth at Seattle's CRAVE show in November http://www.craveshow.com/index.html.

As if I am not excited enough about this project, Donna has asked Fergie to be a model at the Crave show. She is custom designing clothing for Fergie, including a faux leather coat! Normally I am not a big dog clothing lover, but Primp Doggy's designs are so beautiful, and cool, and high-quality that I'm totally sold. I can't wait till the show on the 3rd!

To make things even better, Donna has the most awesome dogs ever. You'd think that a gal who designs couture dog wear would have a bunch of little dogs- like papillons or chi-poms or maltipoos. But no- she has a great pyranees mix and a great dane mix and a Boston Terrier. Guess who is who. :-)

























Donna designs the cutest dog collars and bowties, and she had the boys wear the collars for a few of our shots.
























normally I'm not wild about shots taken looking down on the dog, but Gus kept looking at me with this look on his face and I just had to capture it.
























filming for the documentary. Gus was totally entranced with my stinky treats, and oblivious to the 'big' camera.
























shake shake shake, shake shake shake.....























there is nothing better on a beautiful day than rolling around in the grass. I felt so honored that Grace let me get this close to her and felt this comfortable with me. She was abused in her past life, so much so that she is very timid around newcomers, and usually won't even get near them. I think she figured out pretty quickly that I was in love with her, so let her guard down and had some fun.





















this is funny. Grace looks like she would take your hand off if you reached for her glove she is chewing on, but she is just the sweetest, shyest dog.
























chewing on gloves is hard work. must rest now...
















how cute is Gus? LOVE his ears.























and yep- you guessed it- this last shot will be used for our Decopaw triptych. That's Pez on the left, and Gus on the right, and grace in the middle with her glove in her mouth (we are using a different shot of her for the art). Too cute. Can't wait till we are done!


















Hope you enjoyed these shots of Gus, Grace and Pez! And hope to see some of you at the Crave event on November 3rd!




lables: dog photos monroe, seattle dog photos, crave event seattle, crave show, primp doggy, seattle dog photographer, dog clothing photos, dog bowties Stumble It!

Before I share my new favorite shot of Fergie, I want to give a big shout out to Jennifer in LA!

Jennifer left me a message this morning with possibly the sweetest and most sincere compliments I have ever received for my work. She said she even stayed up all night pouring over my blog! Jennifer if you are reading this, welcome to my world, thank you so much for your touching words and I sincerely hope we get the chance to meet in person someday! The next time I am in LA I will be sure to drop you a line- we can go to Venice beach and play. This shot of Fergie is for you. :-)

This is my new favorite photograph of Fergie. It says everything about my girl who has my heart in her paws. I love her, so very much.

















this photo was taken on Friday 10/5 during documentary filming at the Golden Gardens off-leash dog park- an outtake from a shoot that almost didn't happen. thank god it did!

P.S. More pictures of Pez, Gus and Grace to come this week! I am behind on work as usual today but I promise to get to them!

lables: fergie, cowbelly mascot, fergie dog, fergie ridgeback, jamie pflughoeft's dog, cowbelly dog, seattle dog photos, golden gardens off-leash park Stumble It!

First, I have to say, this is my favorite time of year to photograph outdoors. I love the fall, and the colors on the leaves are just gorgeous.

I just came from a shoot on the top of Queen Anne, and when I was on my way there it was foggy and sunny, with a peekaboo blue sky; a beautiful contrast to the bright colors of the leaves and rich green grass.

Here is a sneak peek at the furry kids I photographed last Friday- the shoot that was filmed for the American Dreamer documentary. I promise to post more of these guys and the fabulous (!) business their mom owns, at a later date.

I'd post more today but I want to get some client work done in my office so I can get back outside and enjoy the weather! Hope you are having a stellar weekend!

From L-R: Pez, Grace and Gus. Gus may look familiar from the photo of him a few days ago being filmed.


















And Grace, chewing on her favorite garden glove, which wasn't much of a glove once she was done. :-)


























labels: seattle dog photography, monroe pet photography, washington state dog photography, seattle pet photography, pez, gus, grace Stumble It!

Exciting stuff part II!

Today you will find an article on me on the Seattle Times online titled "How'd you land that great job?", by Michelle Goodman.

























The article is online today and will be in the Seattle Times Sunday paper this weekend, 10/14, in the jobs section.

To read it today go here: http://blog.marketplace.nwsource.com/jobsdream/20071005.html
(FYI- the pixelated photo of Fergie and I is not my doing, nor the writers!)

And be sure to check out writer Michelle Goodman's book, the Anti 9-5 Guide, and website of the same name: http://www.anti9to5guide.com/

ALSO, pick up a copy of the current (Fall) issue of CityDog magazine. In it you will find a hilarious article on 'Yoga with your dog', also written by Michelle.

As if the documentary film and this newspaper article weren't enough, stay tuned for the MOST exciting 'exciting stuff part III' coming on December 1st! Whoopee! Stumble It!

Some of you already have an idea of what is going on, after the email I sent to my mailing list last week about the possibility of the Pike Place Market Beautiful Beasties event being filmed for a documentary.

So here is the story. The last week has been a bit unusual for me. You see, I have been in front of the lens, a position that I am admittedly uncomfortable with, and one that is fairly foreign to me. The picture I have seen in front of me has looked quite a bit like what you see there on the left. I'm not big on self-portraits or posing for cameras, so why did I agree to be in front of a camera, you ask?

For the past week I have had the incredibly good fortune to be featured in a documentary film titled 'American Dreamer'.

American Dreamer is a new documentary project by an award-winning Seattle director and producer. It is a series that profiles various entrepreneurs in various stages of their businesses, from the Howard Schultzs and Jeff Bezos to the Jamie Pflughoefts (that's me for those who are new) of the world. From multi-million dollar highly successful powerful corporate leaders down to the mom and pop shop and single business owner/operator.

For the past week I have been filmed for the pilot, which will go in front of a board of influential Seattle business owners this week.

The pilot has featured me and only me (sooo cool), and we have gotten footage of me doing a shoot last Friday (see photo below), at the dog park playing with and photographing Fergie, doing a long interview answering a variety of questions, and working in my office making calls to clients, organizing images and replying to emails.

The director is currently working his magic to create a film that will hopefully inspire critical thinking on the question of the American Dream. I personally look at the series as being a kind of philosophical question, a dialogue of sorts between the participants and the viewers. It really reminds me of a film version of the NPR radio program 'This American Life' by Ira Glass, only focusing on entrepreneurs.

To say that I am excited about this would be an understatement, but not for the reasons you might think.

I had dinner on Sunday night with my mom and sister and told them all about the filming and they were looking at me funny at one point and stopped me.

My mom noted that it sounded as if I were talking about doing my laundry or picking up bread from the store. Like it was an everyday, 'no big deal' kind of thing.

You see, even though the pilot is all about me, which really is very cool in a kind of egotistical way, it's the bigger picture that excites me. I really want to see this project become successful, not just for the national exposure it will afford my business and me as an artist and photographer, but for what I truly believe will be a gripping, and fascinating, and educational, and moving program that features real people in real lives, taking unusual tracks and pursuing their own version of the American Dream on their own terms, out from under the thumb of 'The Man'.

I'm excited about this program in short because I WANT TO WATCH IT!

I apologize for not posting more detailed information on the film, including the director's name, but since the project is in the very early stages I don't want to give too much away, and want to protect the integrity of the project. There is a lot to be done yet this year before it can go from 'film' to series. I will do anything I can to see it happen, and if that includes being a little bit private on my blog then so be it.

I promise to post more about the film here in the future. Ok, since I am so busy, I probably won't post anything until it can actually be viewed. But you, my lovely blog audience, will be the first to know. :-)


Stumble It!

Here are some more shots of Sampson, taken last week at Parson's Garden Park, a very pretty Seattle park overlooking puget sound and downtown.

Sampson was a big time joy to shoot. I adore big lumbery labs and this is exactly what this guy was like. And like Dozer, Sampson loved to play, so as you can see from his shots, I took full advantage of that.

I laughed harder during Sam's shoot than I have in awhile, which should be pretty self-evident from the photos.

Enjoy!

Such a handsome boy....
























throughout the shoot Sampson was essentially using his mom as a prop to get closer to me and any fun thing (treat, toy) I might wish to give him.
























case in point in these next shots. Sampson decided to stand all of his 85 black-labness on his mom's lap while I was shooting them together, and was pretty much oblivious to the fact that she was dying underneath him. We were all laughing so hard I had a hard time photographing. Sampson rules. :-)












like any self-respecting lab he was all about having fun and playing, one of the reasons why I love labs so much, because I myself am all about having fun and playing. I like to think that comes through in my photos.


























weird angle on this next one, but I love the composition of his parents in the background, and him looking at me sideways as he runs.
























how cute (and HAPPY) is he? :-)
























wheeee......... I could take shots like this all day....
























but alas, I hold myself back so I can get some more 'regular' doggie photos, like this one of Sam in front of a beautiful patch of flowers. It was sprinkling during our shoot and that water is just what those flowers really needed to pop, not to mention keep growing! Yay for rain!

















I really love this shot of Sampson taken underneath a big old tree with a huge trunk and fabulous twisty branches. This was a very hard shot to get technically, as it was a black dog in the shade, taken at a low angle underneath branches alternating with white sky, without a flash. I think I snapped a good 8-10 frames before I got this one. It was worth it.
























and one of the last shots of the shoot, what I am now calling the 'Russian hat' shot. It reminds me of the photo of Kosmo below. Love the happy accidents!























Sam and Kosmo are both in the 'Russian hat' club, hee hee hee....


























labels: seattle dog photos, seattle dog photography, dog photography on queen anne, queen anne seattle dog photographers, parson's garden photography, goofy black lab photos Stumble It!

The next Pike Place Market event is coming up next weekend, Sunday 10/14 to be exact, and I still have a couple of spaces left. We are going to have a blast at this event just as we did at the last one. I even have a couple of clients making the drive up from Portland to have their dogs photographed. Can't wait!

I also have another event planned for Pioneer Square the following Sunday, 10/21. That event still has 4 spaces open. When I posted the info on my website I totally forgot about Waterfall Garden in Pioneer Square, which will be a definite stop on our itinerary.

If you are interested in participating with your dog or know someone who is, please check out my Beautiful Beasties website for more details, then contact me to sign up.

I look forward to a howling good time!




labels: seattle dog photographer's events, seattle dog photography events, dog photos in pike place market, dog photos in pioneer square, cowbelly pet photography events Stumble It!

I finally carved out a little chunk of time today to post some more shots of darling Dozer. I have been super busy this week with both client work and a special film project I am part of, which I will post more about later today.

For now I need to get some prints off to clients, and reply to the emails overflowing my inbox!

Hope you enjoy Dozer. His shoot was last Saturday at Gasworks Park, where we had a fabulous time. My favorite part was when he realized I wasn't just there to shoot him, but that I actually wanted to play with him as well! And playing while shooting is the very best kind of dog photography, IMO.

P.S. Normally I take the time to clone out leashes from my blog images but today my client work takes priority!

Dozer was super active, as most 5 month old puppies are. He was all over the place, and reminded me so much of Fergie at 6 months old it was uncanny. I loved his unbridled spirit.

























Shortly after we arrived he decided it was grass munching time. His mom told me he had had an upset stomach, so I decided to help him by hand-feeding him (hey- what's a pet photographer for, lol).
























Five minutes later and he wasn't feeling so hot (love the bitter beer face)

ooooohhhhhh....

five minutes after this shot he barfed up his grass. but 10 seconds after THAT he felt great and promptly ran down the hill to play with another puppy.
























This is possibly one of the oddest angles I have ever gotten on a dog shot. That's me there on the right, jeans and black sneaks. That's Lake Union water you see at the bottom of the frame. I love the shot for how Dozer is looking at me. Man he's cute....
























One of my main goals in shooting Dozer was to capture those bits of him that make him who he is as an individual- his 'unbridled spirit' as I referred to above, and also his ears. His mom had told me ahead of time about Dozer's ears, and how they both seem to do their own thing, and she really wanted that captured in our shoot because it really speaks to his personality. I was happy to oblige.

























Speaking of his unbridled spirit. I absolutely love playing with dogs while I shoot them, and I hope it shows. :-)
























go ahead and jump on me- I love you too...

























comin back down...
























owww, puppy teeth
























Dozer fiercely guarded the shore from any suspicious kayakers...
























one tossed an apple core ashore to appease the savage beast. Dozer wasn't taking the bait
























one of my favorites of him- watching the kites fly over the park. How cute is he? :-)

























and lastly, one from the outtakes. I didn't put these shots in my client's gallery, for a variety of reasons. But I love the shots so much because this was the first point in the shoot that Dozer trusted me and got close to me. I love how he is standing right next to me in the last shot looking out at the water. It fills me with joy.













hope you enjoyed darling Dozer!






labels: seattle dog photos, seattle dog photography, seattle dog photographer, dog photographer, gasworks park, dogs in parks, dozer dog, dozer puppy Stumble It!

I frequently get the same questions from Decopaw art clients who live out of state or out of town and need to use their own images for the art process:

"what are your (pre-existing) image requirements?"

"what kinds of shots are good to use for the art?"

"what should I be looking for when I go through the images of my beloved pet who has passed?"

"I am going to take some pictures of my dog/cat to send to you. Can you give me some direction?"

Instead of typing out the answer every time in my emails I have decided to post that information here so I can refer back to it as a link. Gotta love blogging!

The things I look for in good images to use for the art process are, in order of importance:

1. shots taken in outdoor light.

If it's bright and sunny out a semi-shady area is best (the side of the house, etc) so as to avoid bright highlights and dark shadows. Note- don't go too shady because then the shots will be too dark. If you are in a place that has them, overcast days are the best for getting great shots.

2. no flash used (no glowing eyes).

Flash has the biggest negative impact on the quality of the finished piece. If at all possible, don't pick images where flash was used.

3. good detail and lighting in the eyes and face. Both eyes visible.

The eyes are the most important part of the Decopaw art, so the clearer they are the better. If you can discern the eye color easily and see the details in the eye- great! That's what I am looking for.

4. clear and in-focus. I can fix minor focus issues but truly blurry photos will produce blurry art.

5. the pet filling the frame as opposed to a small part of the picture.

Bust shots are good. Be wary of strange angles like shots taken standing above the animal looking down on them. This affects what I can do with the art. Shots taken on the pet's level are the very best. A shot like this would make a great art piece.

6. Lastly- a good expression of the animal's personality.

Does it look like them? Does it make you giggle or tug at your heartstrings? In 20 years will it really remind you of the soul of your animal?

Digital-specific:

file sizes at or above 1MB, unmodified and uncropped.

Don't crop or change the size or dpi of the image. Ideally I want it straight out of the camera (or off the memory card), which is always a dpi of 72, unless the images were modified during the upload (be careful of that!).

The best way is to insert your memory card into the reader, or plug in your cable, and open the folder holding the images and manually drag and drop instead of using software for the transfer. If it does it automatically you'll need to read the help to figure out how to shut it off. I have had lots of image issues that were created by automatic adjustments done by the camera software on the computer upon downloading the images from the card.

Image resolution needs to be a MINIMUM 1680x2240 or larger (1MB or larger file size at 72 dpi). Files that are less than 1MB in size (i.e. 500k or 750 k or something) usually won't work for the art process.

IDEAL resolution is 2048x1536 or higher.

A 6 megapixel camera set on it's highest setting (L, Fine), will produce shots that will be great to use.

Essentially the larger the file size the better the art will be and the happier you will be with the results.

If you are taking photos yourself:

You will want to set the resolution on your camera to its highest setting (Large or L on most cameras), and highest (fine) quality. If you are unsure of how to find this in your menu I can walk you through it if I know what kind of camera you have.

Take as many pictures that you can, because you can always delete the bad ones. Meaning, take 20-30 shots, not 5.

Take the shots on your pet's level. Use treats or make noises to get them to look at the camera. Don't call their name as they'll come to you. Don't push them into a sit position as they'll just look sad in the shots. Spend about 10 minutes relaxing and taking pictures of them. You'll get at least one shot that will be great for the art process.

Don't have a digital camera or don't feel like dealing with the hassle?

These days it's not hard to find a friend or relative or colleague who has a fancy new digital camera, and most people love to try out their new toy. Offer to bake brownies or give them a margarita and I'm sure they'd be happy to come over and shoot your pooch or kitty.

Just send an email out to your friends and I'll bet you get some takers.

Film prints:

I absolutely do use film prints and have a fantastic Canon scanner that I use to scan them in.

There are two options with film prints.

You can either mail them to me at the mailing address on my website: http://www.decopaw.com/contact.html

Note: although it is best to always send duplicates, I do return film prints with the final art piece, and house them in a fire-proof safe during the process, so those babies are safe and sound with me!

Scanning film prints:

Or if you have a high-quality scanner you can scan them in yourself and send them to me as a digital file.

If scanning- set your PPI (or DPI) at at least 300, preferrably 600, and scan at the original size, whatever that may be. Don't increase the size (i.e. scan a 4x6 as an 8x10 document). The most important part for me is the DPI.

If your image has dust and other issues, and your scanner has the ability to fix those issues (backlight correction, dust removal, sharpening), go ahead and use them to produce a better looking result, but don't make the final image unrecognizable from the original!

emailing images to me:

You can email digital images to me (at info at cowbelly dot com) up to 10 megabytes in total combined file sizes. Ideally I like to see 6-8 different images and then we can pick the best two.

If you have any questions about any of the above, feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to walk you through it! :-) Stumble It!

These are two different boys- both shot last Saturday at two different locations- Dozer at Gasworks Park, Sampson at Parson's Gardens.

More to come on them later. I am creating their galleries today.

This is a sneak peek of these super cute and super fun boys. Enjoy and happy Tuesday! :-)

Dozer
























Sampson

Stumble It!