Molly’s parents contacted me in the middle of winter wanting to set up a commercial photography session because they needed some great photos for a promotional advertisement of their beloved dog in preparation for an upcoming dog show that Molly was going to compete in, you may have heard of it – it’s called Westminster.  Oh yes, I am talking about the dog show of all dog shows – that one!  Molly’s parents needed mainly conformation shots, sporting shots, portraits as well as action shots, and I was definitely up for the challenge.

Before our session, Molly’s mom told me that she was quite the wild child!  I didn’t know this before but she said that generally show dogs are actually encouraged to jump up and they aren’t taught basic commands (like sit and down) because in the show ring the handlers want them to appear as energetic and lively as possible.  If you train a show dog to sit still and not to jump up then you might not get the lively response in the ring that you want.  Pretty interesting stuff.  And Molly didn’t disappoint, she is a seriously hardcore girl and had all kinds of crazy energizer bunny energy, I seriously loved every minute of it!  It was amazing to watch her go, go, go!

We met on a freezing February day, there were still patches of snow on the ground (I ended up editing out the small bits of snow because it was distracting) and we were layered in all of our winter gear to keep warm.   I had just started photographing Molly and was kind of bewildered when she showed zero interest in my treats, that literally had never happened to me before!  It turned out that Molly’s parents went to a steakhouse the night before and saved a large portion of their steak to give her as treats – they had cut the steak up into bite sized pieces and were giving them to her.  No wonder she wasn’t interested in my treats -  steak always trumps dog treats!  It was pretty funny, she was ravenous about that steak!

I adored Molly and her sweet parents!  She is currently the #1 ranking Brittany Spaniel in the US (WOW!!!), it’s not hard to see why though – she is an amazing, gorgeous, intelligent and determined girl who is deeply loved and cherished by her parents!  I wish her all the success in the world, it was such an honor to capture her lively, bold and beautiful spirit!

I was asked to photograph Stud and Girlfriend this past spring as a surprise anniversary gift for their mom.  Stud and Girlfriend are two sweet lab mixes who were brimming with energy, big smiles and lots of kisses!  These two cuties didn’t know any commands but with a little love, patience, practice and lots of treats we were able to get some beautiful photographs of them sitting and laying in front of their fountain – just like their dad had wanted.  Stud and Girlfriend loved all of the attention they got from modeling and having their photos taken, what a fun afternoon it was!

I met up with two gorgeous and incredibly sweet Swiss Mountain Dogs, Jethro and Alba on a gorgeous spring day at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC and they rocked it out!  I was so excited when their mom suggested shooting at the Cherry Blossom Festival because I had always wanted to photograph a pet photography session there.  It was the first really warm spring day above 80 degrees and all of Washington DC apparently decided to play hooky for the day and go down to the Cherry Blossom Festival instead.  It was a challenge with the Tidal Basin being so crowded but we were able to find a few really great areas tucked away from the crowds!  Thank you Jethro and Alba for being so awesome, I had a really wonderful time with you!