Alyce was given a Petography Gift Certificate for her birthday from her older sister.  We headed down to the lovely Fremantle to get a mix of beach shots as well as a funky mini doggie fashion shoot with some graffiti!  You’d never imagine this shoot was in the middle of winter!

You know you have the BEST clients ever when you tell them they should try & get the Smacko too . . and they do :)

Lux & Leecey you were both TOO MUCH FUN xxx

I first met Corinne in 1995 when we were in primary School together.  Our friendship through the teenage years was a blur of fun, food & more laughter than you can ever imagine.  Corinne is one of THOSE people.  Those people who ALWAYS seem to be having the BEST time, no matter what they’re doing!  The truth is she’s not faking it.  She truely is more than a pleasure to be around – she has an enviable laugh that you know is coming from the most genuine of souls, and her new husband has secured himself a lifetime of pure joy & happinness with this amazing woman that manages to make everyone’s life that little bit richer, just by knowing her.

After photographing her gorgeous kids with their new puppy Bruce (almost 2 years ago now) I was so incredibly honoured when Corinne & Greg asked me if I’d consider shooting their special day – and I’m so proud they’ll treasure these images forever xxx

Corinne got ready at her parents beautiful home in Jindalee with her family and her two beautiful little girls.

I love this next shot . . .if only we all felt this fabulous after a quick coat of lip gloss

Little Caitlyn & Maddie were so very brave walking down the aisle in front of everyone. See if you can pick the moment Caitlyn spots her Dad at the end of the aisle

Rin & Greg, I wish you a marriage FULL of love & laughter – it was an absolute honour to share your amazing day with you xxx

This week’s theme was my pick

I’m incredibly lucky.  I work with one particular Rescue on a weekly basis and have met hundreds of dogs that have have been saved from death row and are now treated with every ounce of respect & love they deserve.  Humans really do disgust me sometimes.  The excuses given as reasons for giving up on an animals life see me astonished on a daily basis.  Animal Rescue quickly takes over your life once you’ve looked into the eyes of an animal and seen the terror left behind from an “owner” that should have never been given the opportunity to own such a selfless, loving & loyal creature.  My heart has been broken so many times, and yet every single rescue pup I photograph gives me hope that one day everyone will see the absolute beauty in each and every dog that has been brought into this world.

Yesterday I met 2 of our foster Mum’s at a local Park.  It was heavilly overcast & bucketing it down with rain, yet, to my suprise, both fosters still turned up – stood in the rain for 15 minutes each & let me take some photos to help their foster babies find their homes hopefully a little bit sooner

Now head over to Pittsburgh Pet Photographer, Nicole Begley & see what Rescue means to her

So . . this week’s 52 Project Theme was the digital darkroom.  I often get asked how much I “do” to my photos from when I download them to the computer unti my clients see their final gallery.  For an average 2 hour client session I can spend anywhere from 2-6 hours sitting at the computer individually editing every shot that I feel is my best work.  First of all I shoot in Raw.  For those that aren’t camera savvy it’s basically the format you take the photo in – a jpeg is a compressed version of a raw image – raw straight out of camera is basically a negative . . it’s got all the info I need, but in NO way is it ready to be hung on your wall!  As a general rule, I will always need to increase my exposure, enhance colours or sometimes decrease saturation of colours, increase the blacks, and get rid of any distractions that may have been caught in the corners or the background of my shots.  Client sessions (and rescue sessions for that matter) are not rehearsed, often I need to get rid of leads, drool, eye goobies, the seconds dog’s tail in the corner of the shot . . editing is a HUGEEEE part of my style – it’s like my signature & I know it’s part of what makes my work unique.

Here’s a shot of the beautiful Daisy & Zoe from a shoot last month – you can see the first image is dull, and Zoe’s lead is cutting straight through what is otherwise a beautiful pic of the two together (Zoe was kept on a long lead for the entire shoot as she quite likes to chase seagulls . . and not come back :p)

I’m happy to report Daisy & Zoe’s parents chose this finished image as part of their order – it will look fabulous on the walls of their gorgeous home

Please head on over to the awesome Boston Dog Photographer – Blue Amrich  and see what magic she creates in her digital darkroom! Remember to keep clicking on the links until you get back here

My brother bought his girlfirend a Petography Voucher for Christmas.  Beautiful Mel adopted the gorgeous Puk from Staffy & Bully Breed Rescue as a pup after she saw a photo of Mum’s new foster baby.  It was love at first sight & Mel wasted no time in making sure that little man could be hers forever.  Puk is one spoilt little man – I love seeing her photos on facebook. . “Puk alseep” . . “Puk in the pool” (on a sun lounger i might add) . . “Puk in a bow tie” . .”Puk with a flower” . .”Puk playing with balloons”

Soooo this weeks (AWESOME) theme for the 52 Project was to pick a song title & create a photo to represent it.  As always my ideas & the dogs ideas were somewhat different :/  Whilst I planned to use the song “Me & My Shadow” (the CLASSIC Frank Sinatra) and get numerous sweet shots of Alfie & Jersey doing everything together (like the USUALLY do), unfortunately whilst we sat at the park to get the shots all Jersey wanted to do was anything BUT sit with Alfie!  So, in the most opposite of switches, the song of choice this week has been changed to “White Men Dogs Can’t Jump” !  Please enjoy my very lady like little girl doing what she does best . . .

 For more fun with song titles and animals follow the blog ring until you get back to Jumping Jersey!  Next in line is our  Toronto Pet Photographer, Posh Pets Photography

This week the 52 Project Theme was a choice of Retro or Vintage!  I went with a recent shot of Mack with his foster Mum – I love everything about this photo & love that I could edit it ina completely different way to my usual style

If anyone’s interested in adopting Mack just coment under the post & I’ll get some info to you

With Valentines Day on Tuesday (and my man spoiling me ROTTEN!) i so wanted this week’s “mood” for the 52 Project to be romance .. . it started off promising as i placed my beautiful roses on the grass for the pups to sniff  . . . .

and then Jersey changed the mood from romance to mischevious – she’s good at that :p

As with most of  my shoots – the dogs decide what i’ll be photographing

This weeks theme for the 52 Project participants was noses!  While my aim in 99% of all of my photos is to capture the eyes, there are always those nose focus shots that seem to show off the personality of that dog like you wouldn’t believe!  Jersey girl for example . . she has a long snout for such a little girl, so long in fact that when she was spayed, the Vet made her wear a dreaded ‘cone’ that was meant for a German Shepard!  That was a few weeks of pain (for us!!)  Instead of slowing her down, it simply gave her a weapon to move through the house (and us!) at full force, knocking anyone and anything out of her way!  Here’s to Jersey and her very characteristic beak

So, if you’ve been to the Main Website you’ll know that before I started this dream business of mine, I was a Personal Trainer & also studied Sports Science & Nutrition for 4 Years at Uni.  I don’t for one minute regret my studies as whilst they don’t necessarily help me with my Pet Photography, they certainly help me in life.  I have so many friends (and family members!) who still don’t know the best way for them to lose weight long term (in terms of both the ‘right’ exercise and ‘correct’ foods to be eating & maintain a lifestyle that will stay with them for life.  I can say that now, at 26 Years old i know what works for my body and I hope the knowledge I have about basic Nutrition & Exercise will see me maintain a healthy weight throughout my life. 

I first moved out of home with my 2 best friends (a Mexican/Aussie boy (now man) named Cen and a Aussie/Pom girl (now lady) named Char.  We had fun.  We were 19ish & all we did was eat Mexican Food & Donuts (for those playing at home, I worked at a Donut & Coffee shop from 14 years old!)  Needless to say after 6 months I was certainly looking a little on the plump side.  I’d never had to worry about what I ate before and it shocked me to one day wake up and realise all that drinking and eating (and literally NO exercise) had taken it’s toll.  I was always slim growing up, loved my sports and it had never been a problem before.  After my favourite demin skirt wouldn’t fit me I decided that was it.  Mum & I joined a 12 week Bootcamp & my love for running was born.  That’s when I decided I wanted to be a Personal Trainer & once I had that, Uni seemed like the clear next choice.  I loved Uni, I loved learning about things that applied to everyone & learning about nutrition – things that we all ‘should’ know, but no-one ever told us!

I’m no expert, these blogs will be based on my own experiences & what works for me.  I hope I can help someone out there see how they can take control of, and maintain a healthy lifestyle for their physical, emotional & spiritual being.

I’ll do separate blogs for each subject I feel is important & please feel free to ask any questions along the way. 

For now though, I’ll tell you that it shouldn’t be hard to choose to lose weight, or get fit.  You HAVE to want to do it – but more than anything you have to want to do it for yourself.  NOT to find your perfect guy or girl, NOT to be prettier that THAT girl & NEVER to please someone else.  This journey is all about you, your body & your mind. 

For today, all I will suggest is THROWING AWAY THOSE SCALES!  Trust me! (oh, and take that pooch for a walk)