Remember the weekend recently when it was 80 degrees and sunny on Saturday and 45 degrees, windy and pouring rain on Sunday? Yeah? So do I. I did the following shoot for Scout and Ziggy on Saturday and then did the shots of Fergie that follow on Sunday. Note the contrast between the groups of images.

Hot Scout at the Arboretum.



A dog uses it's tongue to try and cool off. Not sure if it was helping poor Ziggy here.

This helped a little.

It's not that it was super bloody hot, but in comparison to the previous weeks it felt like 100 degrees.



Ok, this is pretty much what we all felt like at that shoot.

Ahh shade, under a pretty pink tree.


My favorite shot from the shoot. Curly tongue! BTW: did you know that when a dog's tongue curls up like this it means he/she is really, really hot? Yep! Kind of like a leaf in the sun.


Now, that was Saturday.

Ready for Sunday? Here ya go.

Fergie, Discovery Park. The intention was to get shots of her catching the disk, which was a gift from Fergie's grandpa. He had been wanting to go to DP with us for months to document her skills. We planned for that Sunday and the weather couldn't have been worse. It doesn't look too awful in the photos, but after 20 minutes of shooting my hands were so cold I couldn't feel them and I said "Ok, let's go!". And we left.


This is funny. It was raining so hard I had to put a plastic bag around my camera. it was a good thing that I did. By the time we got back to the car we were soaked.


This shoot was really hard for me. The weather made it tough (notice my bad color and focus issues), but what made it really hard is that I have never watched Fergie catch a disc with anyone else. I was so amazed at her anti-gravity skills I kept forgetting to push the shutter button on my camera. I kept going "wow Fergie, wow!", then would snap the shot after she hit the ground, kind of as an afterthought. This next one I like, and I think speaks volumes about the athletic side of the Fergermeister's personality.



Now, I have been wishing hard for Mother Nature to get back on my (Seattle's) side. Today she was in cooperation which was great for my shoot for D'ogi the puppy, but tomorrow I'd like sun too because we will be going back to Discovery Park for more disc throwing.

If anyone reading this has any effective weather dances or can pull some strings with MN, please help us here in the Northwest!

Thank you.

Labels: arboretum, discovery park, fergie, freezing cold, hot, saturday sunday, scout, sunny, weather in seattle, ziggy

Stumble It!

It pains me deeply to leave this post.

You see, the big beautiful brindle boy in these photos is Ziggy. Although you really couldn't tell save a slight limp, Ziggy was sick when we did the shoot (something that everyone was aware of) and he died just 48 short hours after our session.

Although not a surprise, given the fact that he had bone cancer, and knowing from personal experience that this type of cancer takes big dogs very very quickly (we're talking days or weeks instead of months), his mom's email notifying me of his passing 2 days later still broke my heart into pieces.

Even though we had just a short couple of hours together, his sweet spirit touched me in a way I will never forget. He reminded me so much of Fergie it was uncanny; the way he gently but insistently nudged my hand telling me not to stop petting him, the way he moved his body, the way he cocked his head when talked to, the look in his eyes.

Still looking at his photos now I feel like I know him; like I already knew him. It's hard to explain and probably sounds somewhat woo-woo, but it's there, and this boy will never be forgotten by me, and certainly not by those who knew and loved him. I feel, at least I hope, that I will see him again someday.

This first shot was a happy accident. My Canon was going wacko on me at the beginning of the shoot (ok it was probably user error) but I decided to keep a couple of funky shots of Ziggy.



This is Ziggy's little sister Tina. The camera loved her. She was a little bit shy but every time I turned around she was near me smiling. Love Tina.



Ziggy had a great time at our shoot as he was allowed to run free on their property in Maple Valley, something he was unaccustomed to as the yard isn't fenced. He was sooo happy, as you can tell from this shot.













You see that look in Ziggy's eyes in the shot below? That is totally him, and one of the reasons why I so quickly fell in love with his gentle soul.




Tina has propeller ears. Or flying nun ears. Whichever you prefer.




I love how Ziggy is color-coordinated with his favorite chair.






Tina gives good smile, even when that is the only part of her that is in focus.







RIP sweet Ziggy.

Labels: brindle dog, flying nun ears, maple valley dog photography, propeller ears, seattle dog photography, tina, ziggy

Stumble It!