Apdesigner’s Weblog

Pet Photography of an Orange County veterinarian and his pets

apdesigner — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:59:57 +0000

Meet Dr. Matthew Wheaton, his wife Blythe and their three pets. It has been a pleasure photographing them and their family for the past 10+ years.

Dr. Wheaton is a second generation veterinarian who was born and raised in Laguna Beach, California. He is the Hospital Director and Head Veterinarian at Alicia Pet Care Center in Mission Viejo, Calif. His wife, Blythe is the Executive Director and Co-Founder with him at The Pet Rescue Center. In the past 4 years, the rescue center has saved over 400 dogs and cats from being euthanized at the pound!

Here are the Wheatons with their Australian Shepherd, Sally (who wanted to be in all the portraits!), Starsky, the lab (who is the sweetest old guy) and Grover, the orange tabby (with a super laid back personality). Thank you Matthew and Blythe for all you do for our pet community!

Veterinarian Dr. Wheaton and his dogs

Grover anxiously awaiting his dinner

Grover relaxing

Sally, the Aussie, looking into her dad’s eyes

Dog and Family Photographs at The Pet Rescue Center Reunion Event

apdesigner — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:58:05 +0000

Greyboy Pet Prints enjoyed being at The Pet Rescue Center’s Happy Tails Reunion Event last Sunday. We photographed 8 different families with the dogs they rescued. How heartwarming to hear the stories of these lucky dogs and see them happy with their families! Here is a video created from Sunday’s portraits – Click below, enjoy … … Continue reading →

Pet Photography, Love Between Dog and Owner

apdesigner — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:08:24 +0000

Great animal rescue stories from The Pet Rescue Center (photography by Greyboy Pet Prints)

apdesigner — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:45:31 +0000

My gosh! There are so many special animals at the Pet Rescue Center (TPRC) to share about this time around. I’m going to introduce them one at a time starting top left then moving down and ending with bottom right.

Simon, top left. Phillip, next one down can now see thanks to the many donations to TPRC for his cataract surgery! Annie is very shy and coming out of her shell. Matilda, the cat – so beautiful! Center stage is Ruby who was rescued from Merced with a few bullet wounds. Unfortunately, one of her front legs was not able to heal completely so they had to amputate. She is healthy and happy now and learning how to cope with 3 legs. Lucas is the handsome kitty on the top right. Miley is the silly dog below. Sammy, the gray dog, was rescued recently from being a bait dog and has quite a few scars. Otherwise, you’d never know – what a sweet dog! (He and Annie are best buds.) And, last but not least: the freeway dogs. These 3 dogs were rescued from a center divider of a busy Long Beach freeway! Wow! They are being rehabilitated and doing wonderfully! (Apollo, Hope and Phoenix) If you’d like to read the freeway dogs’ story and see the pictures of where they were living (as well as reading up on Sammy’s story) please go to TPRC blog and read their amazing stories! Way to go Pet Rescue Center! Keep up the good work!!!

Happy Spring! Greyboy Pet Prints photographs baby kittens at The Pet Rescue Center

apdesigner — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:53:41 +0000

Greyboy Pet Prints, a division of AP design and photo, couldn’t wait to meet these babies! They were 10 days old when photographed in the images below. Enjoy! Happy Spring!

FaceBook Timeline Designs – Custom or Themed

apdesigner — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:00:35 +0000

AP design and photo is happy to announce design services for custom and themed FaceBook timeline cover designs! There are two options available:

1. Custom design:

Step 1: Email AP design and photo 2-3 good quality photos, colors you like, and a short quote or title (if you’d like).

Step 2: Add your profile image (will show up in a little box under the cover design). (See example at bottom of post.)

2. Themed design:

Step 1: Choose a theme from our predesigned covers.

Step 2: Add your profile image (will show up in a little box under the cover design).

The new timeline pages are very easy to switch over to. These designs are fun, easy ways to express who you are and to get your new FB page looking colorful and interesting! Introductory pricing offered today ($6 – theme, $15 – custom) through Saturday, March 3, 2012. Regular pricing is ($10 – theme, $20 – custom). (Easy payment through paypal available.) Enjoy! Email mandi@APdesignandphoto.com with any questions!

Moe, the English Bulldog, finally gets adopted! (pet photography)

apdesigner — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:30:53 +0000

I thought you all might like to hear a happy story: Moe, the English Bulldog whom you have seen quite a few times this past year on my blog, website and FaceBook finally has a forever home! He had been up for adoption at The Pet Rescue Center in Mission Viejo, CA for a little over a year and now FINALLY has a permanent place to live! (cause to celebrate!!!) It was so easy to fall in love with this guy. Here is his happy story, shared by Casey, Director of Operations at The Pet Rescue Center.

“Moe’s new parents are wonderful. I met the mommy when I was house hunting. While she was showing me an apartment she was sharing the story of her dog who had recently passed away…When I was leaving, I mentioned to her that when she was ready to adopt, I had a fantastic dog in mind for her named Moe…She seemed unready and unwilling to even think about another dog, so I didn’t think much of it. Sure enough 3 weeks later she sent her husband down to check him out. It was love at first sight! Moe was so good with him it seemed meant to be. Normally Moe can be cautious around new people, but he went straight for kisses and tail wags as if he knew it would soon be his daddy. Later that week the couple came in a second time to discuss adoption and it all fell into place. They have a huge home with tons of land. They are active and I know Moe will be getting more walks then he can even ask for. They have no other dogs at home so Moe will be the center of attention. They seemed very confident with handling his allergies and could not figure out why he had not been adopted after this long. They just adore him. Moe was and is very special to me. He is one of those boys that just looks into your soul with his big baby eyes. He was 85lbs of love and wanted nothing more than to cuddle in your lap and give kisses. I am so happy to not have to stay up late at night wondering what’s to become of Moe…he finally gets to be himself freely and loved for it!”

AP design and photo recommendations for photographers and retouching (restoration) service:

apdesigner — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:01:14 +0000

Hey everyone! I thought I’d recommend some wedding and family portrait photographers to you since I am no longer offering family portraits (instead specializing in pet photography with the Greyboy Pet Print division of AP design and photo). Here are a few highly skilled professionals that I trust and feel comfortable sending you to:

RESTORING, RETOUCHING old photos (or current ones!):
Nancy Roux Photography – http://www.nancyrouxphoto.com/
Below is an example of what she did for my family. Talk about white glove service! She literally handled our photo with white gloves! This is an image of my grandma who passed away a year ago. My mother found it and wanted it fixed so we could print 8x10s to give at Christmas to our family members. I was a little leary to just ship the only print we had to some unknown retouch service (they are usually out of the country) so I personally handed it off to Nancy and felt 100% assured that it would be handled with care. Highly recommend her! She also is a fine artist and offers event photography and studio shots.

PORTRAIT AND WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY:
Blissful Photography – http://blissfulphotography.net/

Katie Keller Photography – http://katiekellerphotography.com/

NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY:
By His Grace Photography – http://byhisgracephotography.blogspot.com/

I have many more photographers that I could list – so just ask if you need more recommendations!

Living the Life of Riley in Coto de Caza (pet photography)

apdesigner — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:48:30 +0000

This was one of the most amusing photo sessions. Riley, the almost 12 year old pug, truely lives “The Life of Riley.” While learning about him before our session, I heard that he likes to do alot of sitting: “Riley’s favorite things consists of sitting outside in the sun in his lounge chair, sitting inside on his fur blanket (perches)…and sitting upstairs on his fur bed on top of the desk…When we do yard work, he sits in the car seat and ‘supervises’ us.”

So, I made sure to photograph Riley sitting in all his favorite spots. The one that cracked me up the most was him sitting in his car seat outside, supervising us. He is definitely the king in this household! (Oh, the tie was the best too!) Enjoy!

Why did AP design and photo transition to only pet photography (and graphic design)?

apdesigner — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:46:03 +0000

Back in September of 2011, AP design and photo announced that it was only going to offer graphic design and pet portraits (no longer including family and children portraits). Since then I have had a few clients ask me why so I thought I would get to the heart of the matter. Uniqueness – that is the answer in one word. I have never liked doing what everyone else is doing. I like to be different in my own way. Right now the photography industry is inundated with photographers and I’d like to step out of the most popular area (family and children) and specialize in just pets (pets and their people). Even further specializing, I’d like to photograph people and their pets, especially showing the deep bond they share. It is somewhat easy for a person to go and buy a digital camera and get lucky with a great shot of their pet, yet more difficult to show a series of images that really show the pet’s personality and the bond pet and owner share without a professional to capture that for them. Our pets aren’t with us very long in the big picture and we don’t want to ever forget them as we consider them part of our families. I still miss my favorite pet I ever had (said goodbye to him a year ago) but I have some great images of him being himself, him with my son, etc. I designed an image box with his portraits on the outside and a bunch of great prints that go inside. I also keep his little collar and name tag in here. This would be one of the things I would grab if my house ever caught fire and I only had a minute to take some things with me. So, I hope this helps everyone understand. Thanks for following AP design and photo as we change and grow. And THANK YOU to my former clients who have all been such a joy to work with! Please stay in touch!