Thursday, June 10, 2010

Photoshoot: Monique & Zora, Paddy, Magick, Lucy

Back in May I did a photo shoot for Monique and her gorgeous pack of girls.  Monique is a talented trainer & handler who offers classes locally.  You can learn more about Monique by visiting her blog 


First up was Zora an adorable little 6 lb Papillion


Dear Lord, please help me...I want a Papillion. I thought about stuffing her into my purse.  She would fit.


The powers of the universe sent me urgent orders to pick her up and snuffle my face into her gorgeous white fur.  Oh.My.doG.  When I picked her up I was scared I would break her.  She is such a tiny little monkey!  

She invoked all those dormant 'Mommy' feelings in me... you know the tender-hearted protective feelings like "Must protect this tiny little creature from harm" All those momma bear feelings transition into motives for assault when your sweet lovable babies grow into manipulative malevolent teenagers.  

I am sorry...what was I saying?   

Oh yeah....Zora.  What a tiny little bundle of love.  


Don't be fooled.  Zora is one of the top 8 inch agility dogs in the nation.  She is a little firecracker!

I wonder if she could take on a 16 y/o with a smart mouth? 


Zora loves Monique.


We switched things up from tiny to big.  Next up was Paddy.  

Paddy is a wise,older senior girl with an infectious smile.


I want to shoot Paddy again soon.  I was not happy with these pictures.  The light was very harsh and I over exposed them.  *sigh*   Oh well...live and learn.

I did get one unique angle that showed off Paddy's beautiful white eye lashes and lovely coloring.  


Paddy Cake Paddy Cake...Bakers man...send me a photographer that really can....well...you know, not over expose the crap out of a picture. 


Paddy and Monique are bonded by love


Love so palpable it is reflected in the lens


Paddy is Monique's heart dog.


What do you think?

These two shots screamed B&W.  

Well, they didn't really scream at me.  I screamed at me when I saw them.  Then I sobbed, great big hacking, ugly, messy sobs that made the dogs run in to room and bark at me.   

The only real solution was the make them B&W and hopefully lessen the impact of that overexposed fur.  Overexposed due to my questionable ability to read the obvious BLINKY thing on my camera that said OVER EXPOSED.  

Apparently I need the accessory that slaps you upside the head and says 

"STOP SHOOTING TILL YOU ADJUST YOUR APERTURE...MORON".
Where can I buy one of those things? 


I loved this shot but Paddy was out of focus - so I did some post processing.  The end result is retro and fun.  I think Monique's hair blowing over their faces makes the shot, giving it a kinda bohemian feel. 


Paddy makes me smile.  I just wish I hadn't over exposed her.
Okay, okay...I know, enough of the self pity rubbish. 


Monique's Australian Shepherd Magick made my camera smile.


Please pardon me while I oooooh and ahhhhhh over this dog.  

The log Magick is standing on is about 5 feet off the ground.  Can we say "agility dog"? 


Look at dem' eye ball peepers! 


She is so dignified & collected


Serene & lovely


Whoops....maybe not 


Oh yeah, that's right...she's an AUSSIE!


Energetic and agile!


Got it!


Magick loves her flying squirrel


She loves the water and sticks


And she loves her new sister Lucy.


Lucy is a beautiful red and white border collie.  Monique got Lucy from Diane Pagel


Monique runs Lucy in open.   Monique has been her handler for quite some time.  Diane watched the  attachment between Monique and Lucy evolve and recently decided to let Lucy spend the rest of her life with Monique.  Monique was over joyed.  You can read about Monique and Lucy's journey to each other here
A Birthday Wish...That Came True


Lucy is happy with her new family.


I love Lucy


Lucy is such a sweet soul.  I look in her eyes and see wisdom...and happiness. 


I would be happy too


Happy is as happy does


Except when Ranger is behind you.  He provokes this type of reaction from most girls. 

See Below:  Lucy's Look of Death. 


That is okay Lucy.  I feel the same way lately when I see my husband. 


I know, I know.  Boys are a drag.  All women feel your pain.

If you would like to see a slide show of the processed images from this shoot, grap a cup of coffee, put your feet up and click on this link


I forgot to include a link to the slideshow for Kelly & Symon - click below if you want to watch them too.

9 comments:

Ruth said...

What a great potoshoot! You've processed those pics really effectively.

Thanks for the comment about the blur!

julie said...

Lucy is such a beauty!

And your photographs, overexposed or not ;), are great as usual. Too bad I live just a *tad* too far away from you for a fotoshoot of my dogs. :(

Paws on the Run said...

Great Pictures!

Bandit's Pack said...

Monique must be so happy!! What a special bunch of photos you took of her bunch!

Anonymous said...

Kind of a weird thing to say, but I think Monique and Lucy look alike! It's the coloring! (Love Monique's peaches and cream skin.)

All the photos look great to me. I guess when you make mistakes, you sure know how to fix 'em! :)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous photos Carolynn! The next time you are in my area, we need to set up a photoshoot.

Monique said...

You made me cry. 'nuff said.

An English Shepherd said...

Great pictures :-)

We have a Papillion called Budy who trains at flyball at our club :-)

Wizz

Muttsandaklutz said...

Wow, these are gorgeous!! You captured the connection between her and her dogs just beautifully. Wonderful job.