Bear was an awesome shiba inu I had the chance to photograph in Florida in February of 2014 while I was attending the Hair of the Dog Workshop. He was a rescue and was a little nervous around my fellow photographers and our cameras. Some solid one on one time and Hewbrew National hotdogs (they are a gold mine in regards to smelly treats, but man are those buggers greasy!) and Bear was working the camera like a pro!

In the grips of the cold of February 2014, I flew down to Florida to meet with 4 other aspiring dog photographers from around the country for the 1st annual Hair of the Dog Workshop hosted by Nicole Begley of Nicole Begley Photography. 

My comrades included:
• The fellow Minnesotan with a romantic touch, Eva of Eva Noth Photography.
• The native Floridian with tons of spunk, Paola of Hot Dography Pet Photography
• The Massachusetts based car and pet photographer, Deb of Chill Photography
• And the upstate New York budding rockstar photographer, Diane of Muddy Pup Photography.

We enjoyed the balmy 70-80 temperatures, discussed business ins and outs, and got the chance to photograph a collection of pups – Hershey, Bear, Honey, Harley and I got to photograph Paola’s pups Mini Cooper & Pixie! It was a grand time with tons of valuable information shared.

First up was Hershey. She was a patient model as Nicole led us through how she approaches a shoot. We were able to shadow Nicole and snag images in a similar manner. Tons of hands on learning experience!

On a brisk October day in 2013, Belle the lab mix met up with me at Quarry Park in St. Cloud. She was such a ham for her session – pretty much making every face in the book for some tasty treats!