Just a few tips…
We all want our little guys and gals to be around for a while:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/increasing-dogs-life-expectancy.html
Magic! We had a shoot with her last week. She was, as her name describes, magical. This pup had the best expressions. Her mom definitely has a little actress on her hands. We hope that these shots can get her further in her career. Don’t forget the little people, Magic. Not only is she an entertainer, but her mom told us that she was trained as a therapy doggy AND she was a rescue! Take a gander…
*A
we spent a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon taking some shots of Rocky (pit/boxer) and Shyla (shepherd mix) and their mom at Elysian Park. we chose this location cause its rarely crowded, but unbeknownst to us (or maybe we did know but forgot) there was a Dodgers game that afternoon, so it got pretty busy in the area after all. luckily, we managed to find a spot up the hill where Rocky and Shyla were able to frolic and be photogenic :). there was also a great downtown skyline from that hill, though the view could’ve been a lot better minus all the smog. but i wont complain. i wouldnt ever live in any other city in the world. somewhere out there, behind all that smog, is a beautiful DTLA skyline. just use your imagination. anyway, heres a sneak peek of Rocky and Shyla…the happiest pair you could imagine. Both dogs were rescues, each with quirky personalities. Rocky had the sweetest disposition (what bully breed?) and Shyla just never seemed to run out of energy. all 3 were a pleasure to hang out with!
btw…Annabel left for Jamaica today. she’s probably prancing around in her bikini looking for mischief. or getting a tan while looking for mischief. ANYWAY, Annabel, enjoy paradise, kick your feet up, relax, and have an AMAZING birthday!
been soooo busy to blog. between work, wedding planning, Fleabag shoots, volunteering, and trying to get back into shape…there’s really not much time for anything else. except for a mani/pedi. theres always time for those. anyway, i wanted to sneak in this blog post to share our shoot with Beau (chihuahua mix) and his brothers, Harley (beagle mix), Pooka (kitty/man of the house), and Sashimi (betta fish).
Beau was a dog I met a couple of years ago while volunteering at (the worst) animal “rescue” i’ve ever experienced. Yes, I’ll call them out - The Pet Adoption Fund in Canoga Park. They call themselves the largest no-kill shelter in SoCal. Thats only because they have a hoarding problem and dont try even a quarter as hard to place their pets like many other rescues do. The no-kill part is actually even sadder cause a lot of these animals have been rotting there for months/years and rarely get to come out. (i.e. my Scottie bear that I adopted from there whom they claimed was there for 2 months, but I found out later was there for over 2 years…in a tiny cage..just him and his feces…all day everyday). Sad, right? Volunteers are what makes this place strive, not the people that run it.
ANYWAY! i always get heated when i think of this place so i’ll get back to my story and make it short and sweet. I laid eyes on Beau and fell in love. he was scared shitless of strangers and looked so depressed, but you could tell he had a whole lotta love to give. so i made arrangements to foster Beau just to get him out of that craphole. Through some networking, i was able to find him a foster mommy. His very kind foster mom eventually fell in love too and decided to keep him. yay! despite some health problems (under control) Beau is now living the sweet life that he long deserved.
Here he is mesmerized by his brother Harley’s butt:
and a few more of the boys…
Thank you to Beau’s mommy for having us over, but most of all all..for giving Beau a forever home!
-S
So this entry is a couple of weeks late, but I still have to share the occurrences of Mother’s Day day.
I headed out early morning to Temecula with my Mama. Technically to Sun City to meet with my aunt and cousins first. Arrived, had a crepe with raspberry sauce, loaded my mom, aunt, and 3 cousins into my truck and was off to the wineries. It was damn cold that day, but the sun was nice and bright. Anyway, we only hit two spots. Ended up staying at the second one because they had a live sax player and a petting zoo - how appropriate for me.
We scoped the place out, took some pics, petted some animals, watched some ducks, looked at flowers and so forth. We secured a table with enough chairs and went inside to purchase some vino. Got 3 bottles of wine and one of champagne - 3 of the six chicks finished 2 out of 3 bottles (the other three are not old enough to drink, though being the Mexicans we are, we did offer the 17 year old a sip or two - she declined).
While sitting, drinking and eating snacks that we brought along, we noticed that the petting zoo belonged to a family. There was a little boy who was walking around holding this somewhat large lizard. He came near us and I had to call him over to investigate that critter he was so nonchalantly grasping in his arms. I asked what it was. He told me it was a Blue Tongued Skink. Sooooooo, I asked if I could hold it. Harrison ( I later found out his name) said yes and handed me the Skink. As soon as I held that Blue Tongued lizard, it PEED on my lap. Of course, I was too into my conversation with Harrison that I didn’t notice what was happening until my family was laughing and screaming in disgust. HA! A stream kept flowing from him as I tried to move him away from my person. No use in that now; my jeans were soaked with Skink pee. I turned to Harrison and said, “He peed on me!”. He responded with a chuckle. It was the most perfect response from a child that belongs to a family of animal lovers. I gave “Shorty” (the Skink’s name) back to Harrison and took a shot of the two inseparables before they walked off together.
After, my jeans dried off and we finished the 2nd bottle, we sponged in the Sun a bit more and left the wineries to go back to my aunts house. We had a nice homemade dinner, I took a nap, and when 8 o’clock rolled around we drove back to L.A. with funny flashbacks of wine, Blue Tongued Skinks and a blue eyed chuckling boy.
Gotta go back for more Temecula wine, hold the pee.
*A
we spent an afternoon strolling around Eagle Rock looking for photo ops for Banky’s shoot and ended up doing a bit of walking. and judging by Banky’s husky figure, he didnt exactly seem to be the ‘strolling’ type. as you can see below, theres much more to this guy than his exterior butterball beauty.
“sensitive Banky”
“worrisome Banky”
“gangster Banky”
it was a pleasure, Banks!
-S
It was a crisp Sunday morning in Pasadena. Sara and I were ready to shoot Fleur and her pack of buds with the Arroyo Park as our setting. We enter the trail and soon meet Fleur and her mom. They are ready to go with HIKING boots on and energy that overflows… Let me just say that Sara and I had never been to the Arroyo… As we set on, Fleur’s mom, Sara and I look down to the ground only to be greeted by 2 pointy ballerina slippers that were attached to Sara’s feet. Hiking boots they were not! Being the trooper that she is, Sara took off her shoes and began on the trail to begin the shoot. JK! She probably got corns on her corns, but she was a good sport and still managed to get some awesome shots.
Okay, all joking aside… The weather was quite overcast that morning but we had a great shoot with Fleur - a greyhound/shepherd mix. She was the most energetic dog we’ve seen in a while. She was leaping through the grass, climbing rocks, and galloping along the trail, always looking back to make sure we kept up. She was as natural as can be. We trotted along capturing Fleur’s vibrant spirit in her most favorite setting, taking shots of her exploring gopher holes, getting into daisies, and jumping into the casting lake.
At the halfway mark, we met up with Fleur’s pack and their parents. Mijo - a little Chihuahua with a blue comfy hoodie on and a sturdy Esme, who showed off her strength by carrying logs along the walk.
All 3 dogs had great personalities, united independently.
We had lots of fun and hope to bring our own dogs to the trail soon.
*A & S
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Yesterday, animal rescue advocate Betty White made a special appearance at Pink’s hot dog stand in Hollywood to unveil a new wiener dedicated in her honor - the Betty “Naked in the City” Hot Dog (no toppings or condiments). In honor of this event, we decided to share some shots of a couple of wieners we had the pleasure to shoot yesterday. These handsome boys are better than Pink’s hot dogs if you ask me. Plus they have no calories. Here are brothers, Joey and Uno. Hobbies: fetching balls…….aaand thats it. Oh and being photogenic.
Oh yeah, a portion of the profits from her “Naked in the City” dogs will go to support the Los Angeles Dept of Animal Services’ animal shelters. We love Betty! Btw she’ll be on the May 8th episode of SNL. Watch it people!
-S
One half of Fleabag will be in Florida this weekend! I feel so coast to coast. Shooting a few doggies out there in the Sunshine State - should be good fun under the sun. I’ve never been so it’s new territory for Fleabag and for myself.
Let the weekend begin…
*A