Before & After | 52 Weeks | SNEAKY PEEK!

About A Dog Photography in St. Cloud, St. Paul & Minneapolis MN |  52 Weeks is a blog circle with a theme for every week (which means we all link to each other, links are found at the end of the post).


Before & after PLUS a bonus sneaky peek? Bonus!

Last weekend the weather trended balmy for January (high 30s), perfect for Xhosa (prounounced Ko-sa), Watson & Gunner’s session.


— Xhosa the rottweiler had been part of the Avaqyn Acres rebrand session this past spring and I was especially tickled (more like giddy) when her mom got a hold of me about a session!

(Isn’t she FREAKING CUTE?!?!? This is from the Avaqyn Acres very early in the morning session.)


Fast forward through a couple seasons, breeze beyond the holidays and land in January. Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge had the perfect coating of snow which dressed up the browns of the trees and dormant grasses.

The trio is quite the hoot! Old gentleman Gunner, the brittney spaniel with an affinity for butt scratches, was all about the smells and laying vs sitting. The baby of the trio, the dapper am staff Watson, bounced and pranced through the snow until his tootsies were too cold, while Xhosa tore through the snow like terrorizing banshee and transformed into a majestic lady with her stoic sits.

(Having them leashed is a MUST, especially with two or more dogs! Not just for their safety but to help wrangle them together in a similar area for epic images of all of your dogs together.)

We found the perfect spot on a slight hill, the last touches of fall evident in the trees still bearing rust colored leaves the sunlight twinkling through. With some magic the leashes Watson & Gunner sported disappeared, while Xhosa received a head swap for a touch extra crispness and slightly different expression (she’s pretty stoic so it was more of a head angle than expression!).

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And sometimes as the majestic old man, such as Gunner, you strike the perfect pose in the perfect spot after a jog through the snow that just happens to be right next to your mom who is wrangling your brother and sister. Cue the magic and an awesome before and after!

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Since these are quite fun with the slider (if you’re curious its a plugin for WordPress called Twenty20) here are a couple more before and afters from last year’s sessions.

Barb & Barry, an iconic duo of basset heights (give them a follow in Instagram @barbandbarry.) Their after included leash edits and some amplification of color of the fall tree. Probably the best tree in all of Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis!

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Dapper Spencer rocked his Minneapolis murals session and also rocked his mega awesome bowties (follow the antics of him, his sister River and their new brother Fairbanks on Instagram @spencthedoodle). The after edit includes window removal as well as “repainting” some of the bricks and sidewalk cleanup.

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The sassy tripod Pony strutted her stuff this fall downtown St. Cloud. In classic pittie fashion, she tucked her ears for the “bald old man look” on most of her images. When a passing car caught her attention we got an epic lip curl and ears! Mom happened to be just behind Pony. This after included the removal of mom! Pretty EPIC!

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If you’ve ever been worried about your dog being too bouncy or having to stay on leash, ease that worry! Here at About A Dog Photography we have epically awesome “magic” skills that will make your dog look like an off leash superstar!

Now onward to the next blog (it is a blog circle you know) to check out some more before and afters. Next up is Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati, the San Francisco Bay Area, and destinations nationwide.

10 thoughts on “Before & After | 52 Weeks | SNEAKY PEEK!”

  1. Are you a WordPress based site? I love the Twenty20 slider, but it looks like with the new update, it’s not supported in the editor anymore for me. It’s such a great tool for showing these comparisons.

  2. Loved your edits, Cahlean. And that slider, which I had to stop using on my site because it would crash. (Sigh) The last pup’s expression is adorable.

  3. I wish squarespace had a slider. I love them and I really love that graffiti wall! I love what you did with the background of the Gunner striking a pose photo too.

  4. This is great Cahlean! I was looking to add a slider so thanks for that info on Twenty20… installing in now 🙂

    My favourite is the one with the graffiti wall … gorgeous, and the dog look so chuffed in his bow tie.

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