Blog Ring

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).

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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.

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— 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.)

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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.

About A Dog Photography in St. Cloud, St. Paul & Minneapolis MN |  The 52 Week Project 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).

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A new adventure in advertising had me headed down a winding driveway to the home of Bentley, Bugsy and Ellie for their cameo appearances. Ellie, the youngest, thought I was wonderful and terribly frightening and spent most of the time hiding from me. Bugsy, the ancient gal, was blind and mostly deaf though her nose was sharp as ever. She followed me around, or at least followed the smell of the treats.

The last of the trio was Bentley, a slightly skeptical pug mix with gremlin style ears. He warmed up with a few treats and wanted to be super close to me (within treat giving range). In an attempt to entice Ellie, I pulled a squeaker out of my bag. Didn’t work to get Ellie’s attention, but Bentley…

Decided that an animated gif would be an awesome touch. Tilt tilt tilt tilt!

I did get a little head tilt out of Ellie once we pulled her car basket out of the car and set it on the grass. Isn’t she freaking cute!?!? She’s a boston terrier and frenchie mix I believe.

The lovely old lady Bugsy even gave me a bit of a head tilt for treats. 

Next visit Nancy at Nancy Kieffer Photography. Serving Central New York, the Adirondacks and beyond to see her take on head tilt!

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Cahlean of About A Dog Photography in Central Minnesota |  The 52 Week Project 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).

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This week’s theme for the 52 Week Project was blue.

Blue could be configured from an emotion, the color blue or what a “blue” dog is (they are actually grey, not blue!). Last year had Bender and I visiting all of the blue buildings in the small town we live in, so this year I opted for a change of scenery.

To the lake!

Axle was happily in tow, as the lake is his favorite place to go. The breeze was brisk, giving the lake ruffles of white. The clouds cleared out of the sky, just past the midday mark to show a palish shade of blue. The first beach was a bit too occupied, the second beach quiet. Two jumps off the dock and Axle resigned to plowing into the water from shoreside in a launch of great gusto.

In classic me fashion, I took a wee too many images… when you’re rocking 12 fps and a solid trigger finger aimed at an active dog, its easy enough to do!

Can you tell it was a bit breezy out…?
Prepare for launch… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….

Seriously, this dog and water. He would swim swim swim all day if he could. Its cool to see how the water interacts with him as he disrupts its movement. 

I moved down the shoreline for running images in the shallows that would kick up more water in Axle’s wake.
Switched the direction (I moved towards the dock instead of Axle running from the dock) to get a little extra light on Axle. He managed to lose sight of the ball on a throw…

The ball was reacquired and play resumed.
Switched from 85mm to 20mm for a different perspective with the sky and water.

And then the drool happened… it was swept into the wind like a string of tinsel…
I really love wide angle images when Axle comes out of the lake – you can see how much water streams off of his belly and jowls…

Next visit Lynda Mowat from Heartstrings Photography, based in Hamilton New Zealand to see her interpretation of blue!

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(About A Dog Photography in Anoka MN | The 52 Week Project 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).

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Humor was the theme for this week’s 52 Week Project. One of the things I’ve always found humorous is running dogs. With luck I had coordinated with Tiffany of Avaqyn Acres for an upcoming business rebrand and we had two days of her awesome clients for models. One of the training skills we showcased were recalls. Tiffany would hold each dog and then when released the dog had to recall to their owner.

Weeeee! And some of those faces were EPIC! Its funny how some of the dogs ran, flew and had faces that went squishy!

 

Next visit the Hoof & Hound Photographer covering the Lancaster UK area to see what he finds humorous!

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Cahlean of About A Dog Photography in MN | The 52 Week Project 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).

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The theme for this week’s 52 Week Project was colorful. Recently I was on a short notice quest for a vintage modern low back chair with no particular color (I was really hoping it wasn’t going to be a 70s olive green, red or blue would have been awesome).

First stop to one of my go to thrift stores in St. Cloud, with high anticipation but a worry that the quest for THE chair on such short notice (needed it in 5 days). Past various assorted pieces of furniture, a chair with ok lines but awful fabric when this piece of perfect caught my eye:

Orange vinyl with a “elephant skin” leather texture and wobbly leg (just needed to be tighten with a couple twists). Very vintage, with a solid spattering of white mildew on the outsides of the arms and up the back but otherwise in very good shape. I scooped it up, thinking it would weigh a ton – nope – actually it was very light! One handed carrying was easy to do and I strolled the rest of the store in case there would be a second chair to go home with me. No other chairs were found that day.

A solid scrubbing cut down on most of the mildew and the rest didn’t show in images. The chair’s first photoshoot was under my strobes and it performed wonderfully. (A huge thank you to Gus @gusgusinthecity for coming out to help me test out my lighting!)

Back at home, I decided I wanted to try some outdoor images with the chair plus a very colorful vintage blanket to really have a strong pop of color for the colorful theme. The chair is a little smaller than I originally wanted (would be tricky to have a person and bigger dog sit together on it) but it worked well for Bender. He worked on his fashion model posing (don’t look at the camera, look stoic) both with and without the blanket, then as the sun warmed him he rocked a happy pant (a very uncommon thing to capture in portraits of him as he’s not an avid panter).

Modeling is just soooo stressful (insert a dramatic eye roll from me, all he has to do is sit and eat treats haha!). Pulled the blanket out of the frame so the chair could show off its color. I love the modernish lines, the bold color and the fact that the back is low profile so if its used against brick, a wall, any backdrop it can still be seen behind the chair. (Wingback chairs are a very solid love of mine, but their backs tend to be a bit too tall for the look I want.)

Back to the blanket (made by Tennessee Woolen Mills, not sure the rough vintage but its a soft, vibrant acrylic). The orange in the blanket perfectly matches the chair! 

Next visit Jessica Wasik with Bark & Gold Photography, celebrating the joy and love between Pittsburgh pets and their people to see her colorful images!

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