Still, two weeks after photographing this little puglit, I cannot get her out of my mind. I have spent COUNTLESS hours in front of my computer selecting and deselecting photos, trying to narrow down 671 images to 50. Yeah, right. This is what I cannot stand about decidedly photogenic dogs and their equally lovely people… it’s pure agony to pick which images make the “cut”. Oh what a delightful problem to have.

I met Momo and her family on an incredibly blustery day in San Francisco (February 4th to be exact). This also happened to be the same day I arrived in SF – so I landed, jumped on the BART, found my hotel, checked in, and had just enough time to change clothes, gather my camera gear and grab an umbrella before bolting out the door. I was thankful for the town car that the Hotel recommended because although I typically walk EVERYWHERE in San Fran – this weather was pure misery.

When I arrived my destination in SoMa, I was relieved to find a gloriously chic lobby waiting for me. As I walked in I thanked my lucky stars for the large windows, high ceilings and perfectly appointed decor, because there was no way we were going to be able to shoot outdoors as we’d hoped.

Deborah met me in the lobby, a squirming Momo in her arms, wriggling against her mom to greet me. Deborah set Momo down, she bounced over to me and I got my first fill of pugalove in ages. I got pug sniffs and snarfs and kisses and wiggles (and of course hair). It was the perfect way to start our time together.

We plodded into the elevator and headed upstairs to Momo’s apartment where apparently it became immediately necessary for Momo to run crazed circles around the floor, pausing at a few of her favorite toys before racing off again, tail tucked, screaming a battle cry that I took to mean:  “oh-my-gosh-mom-there’s-someone-here-and-she-has-treats-and-toys-and-she-smells-really-awesome-and-I-think-she’s-here-for-me!” She was right.

We spent the next two hours tugging, chasing, tossing, cuddling, and of course, shooting. Momo has the BEST little personality, and she was at the perfect age where she was still too small to jump off the couch on her own, so once I plopped her up there she hung out… being devastatingly photogenic until I let her down.

She also very clearly loves her humans and some of the images we captured are PURE GOLD!  I am so excited about this shoot I was actually a few days behind getting it out because I can’t stop obsessing over it.  I think you’ll have to agree with me that this is the real San Francisco treat!

P.S. After this shoot I had a meeting to attend – I ended up at a nearby “Philz Coffee” and had an AMAZING taste experience: If you want the details read my Yelp review. Otherwise – make sure you seek out a a Philz in Nor Cal and try the “Tesora Mocha”. Yum!

]]> http://dane-dane.com/blog/mighty-momo-the-mini/feed/ 3 http://dane-dane.com/blog/mighty-momo-the-mini/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thedanesdish/~3/ew_4hz7Fx9s/ http://dane-dane.com/blog/more-bully-love/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:03:13 +0000 admin http://dane-dane.com/blog/?p=694 Here are more photos from our Experience.Frenchie.Project on Sunday  — just because you really can never have enough photos of Bullies   Here is mama Squirrel and our little Cream Pie Guy…

Here is “uncle hippo” the litter’s jolly Bulldog chaperon { and Angela his proud mamma }

And here is our sweet little “Cream Pie Guy” again — our #1 pick.

Could he be any more adorable!?

Murphy was last year’s winner of the 4th Annual CityDog Magazine CoverDog Model Search, which means several things:

#1  Murphy was one of hundreds of dogs that helped raise over four thousand dollars for local organizations like the Pasado’s Safe Haven + Reading with Rover

#2  Murphy was one of five semi-finalists that CityDog Magazine readers voted on last Fall – and he won by a landslide!

#3  I was the one who originally photographed Murphy at the West Seattle Thriftway event – here is his “winning” photo from last summer:

I just ADORE his fluffy bear!  He is the most rasta Wheaten I have ever seen and I just could not get enough of him when we met again in January for the CityDog Magazine cover shoot.

We shot at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle in their swank Presidential Suite. I was a bit early (I came directly from my shoot with Enry) so I had lunch at the “Art Lounge” – what a great way to spend 30 minutes!  I wish I had had more time to soak in the incredible waterfront view and conversation with the friendly bar tender. They have a great “tray” option which included a tiny little sandwich, small caesar salad, AMAZING seafood chowder and a sweet little pastry with fresh fruit { see delicious photo below } – it was the perfect lunch for in-between shoots and I cannot wait to go back to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine there!

Ok so back to the murph-meister.

Here’s some glimpses at Murphy posin’ it up for me at the Four Seasons. I think he takes nicely to the lap of luxury, what do you think?

And finally… is a sneak peek at the brand-spankin’ new CityDog Magazine  2010 WINTER issue – hot off the presses, on newsstands next week.

Here’s some press Murphy’s received:   West Seattle Blog // West Seattle Thriftway // Komo West Seattle Blog

Here’s a look back at the last three CityDog Magazine CoverDog Model Search winners – I really enjoyed meeting and photographing all of these kids – congrats to Murphy for joining such an awesome group of elite Seattle pooches!!

It seems appropriate to me that our first meeting coincided with Valentine’s Day, because predictably,  the second I saw these little piglets I fell in love.

There are two little boy French fries that we are very interested in – “Cream Pie Guy” and “White Boy” – love the names don’tcha

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I will be sharing more information with you soon about how these little puppies wiggled their way into my awareness PLUS some more great photos in the next couple days, but for now it’s late and I have an early morning shoot (with a Golden puppy – aren’t you excited to see THOSE sneak peeks?) but most importantly, my boyfriend is giving me the evil eye because I am ignoring him on Valentine’s Day.

So here you have it folks… a first look at the possible new addition to the dane + dane studios // dog is good family!

* * Want to see the video!?  Check it out on the dane + dane studios Facebook page! * *

Well I did it again – I totally neglected my blog for nearly three WHOLE months. Wow. I always think I am prepared for the sheer volume of shutter-clicks, late nights, design deadlines, plane rides, print orders, post office runs and various social, family and business events that come with the months of November + December, but yet again I was totally bowled over by the holiday season.I needed nearly the entire month of January to recover!

But here we are, February!  I love this month… I just celebrated my birthday this week. It’s amazing how every year they seem less and less important. I was in San Francisco this time with two of my dearest friends, working the Dog is Good booth at the San Francisco Gift Show. If it weren’t for the celebratory cupcakes and super sweet gifts from my compadres (I totally scored – Nordies gift certificate, awesome photo frame and LUSH bath products *yay*) I might have forgotten it altogether.

Well, I take that back… with facebook, no one can forget it’s their birthday! Although, it is nice to see dozens of special greetings pop up all day online, some from people you haven’t even talked to in years. I should also note – Olivia and I share a birthday – pretty cool eh?  We’re both Aquarius’  – I was sad to have been out of town for her sixth birthday (yes, she’s now 42 – nearly middle-aged! )  She’s gotten a bit lazier in her years, but is still regularly mistaken for a puppy. Love ya’ girl.

Ok so on to the FUN stuff!

Since I last wrote so much has happened that I am not even going to TRY to re-cap. Lots of trips to California, lots of photography, a move, lots of design – several exciting press debuts etc. etc. I am, however, going to post a few of my most recent puppy shoots this weekend. I have another puppy shoot scheduled on Monday (t’s definitely puppy season) and let’s face it – who isn’t excited about the prospect of squishy adorable puppy faces!?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.

We also have a flurry of exciting announcements to share in the next month or so – so definitely get back in the habit of checking this blog again!

So… to quell your fears – no, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth and yes, I am still shooting like crazy.

In conclusion: photos… because every blog post should have them.  These are some fun, random cell-phone moments from the past few months – please forgive the quality, my iphone is in failing health.

{ P.S. the photo at the top represents two of my favorite things in the whole world: sushi + Olivia – I indulged in a lot of both over the holidays }

Cheers!

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This is Njala { Njala means “hunger” in Chichewa – this little guy was a gift from my dear Amy – he accompanied us to Malawai, Africa last fall }

This is SeaTac airport – feels like my second home. I often sit here and eat a bagel sandwich, sip a yerba mate latte, and make use of the free wifi!

My mac baby got sick during my busiest season ever – ahh!  Now she’s all fixed up with a new logic board, new operating system +  a CS4 upgrage – whew!

These are the  inks we were testing as we screen-checked a new Dog is Good design.  After hours of work we decided we didn’t like it + scrapped the whole project.

One of my favorite part of regular visits to LA — In N’ Out with my little Abby.  It’s actually pretty amazing how fresh their fries are… and sooooo tasty!

The view from the ferry window on my way home to Whidbey Island for Christmas – glorious isn’t it?  And this is a crappy camera phone photo. *swoon*

I am positive this is how I managed to avoid getting the great sickness of 2009  { swine flu, the plague, whatever – everyone was sick } Not me, thanks to Pho!

And finally – Palm Springs. Ahhhh. Every sunrise + sunset was more glorious than the last. Can you guess which is which?

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More soon my patient and loyal friends… xoxo

]]> http://dane-dane.com/blog/back-to-the-land-of-the-living-finally/feed/ 0 http://dane-dane.com/blog/back-to-the-land-of-the-living-finally/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thedanesdish/~3/10J3Bl2z4RY/ http://dane-dane.com/blog/2009-holiday-portrait-events/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:40:50 +0000 admin http://dane-dane.com/blog/?p=644 Hello friends!

Well now that Halloween has come and gone (even just barely) and it’s OFFICIALLY November – it’s time to start getting busy with holiday madness (yes, already!)

I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about some exciting events we have coming up, during which you can join us for some fine portraits at fun events! As always our photo packages start at only $25 for these “mini-sittings” – this year we’ve added some Holiday Card options as well as the ability to purchase High-Res images to make unlimited prints and cards.

You will find us + these great and timely deals at:

Barkz in Kirkland, WA — November 8th, 11-4 { visit the Barkz website for pricing and full details}

Starbucks in Seattle, WA — November 21st, 10-2 { this is only available to Starbucks partners }

Barkz in Kirkland, WA — December 6th, 11-4 { visit the Barkz website for pricing and full details}

CityDog Yappy Howlidays Pawty in Seattle, WA — December 9th, 6-8pm { @ the W Hotel in Seattle}

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We hope to see you and your fabulous canines at one or ALL of these upcoming events – keep in mind, all photos will be back in time for holiday gift-giving! What is a better present than fine-art pet portraits?  Want to give the experience as a gift? Consider a dane + dane gift certificate.

We would also like to remind you that all of the dogs we photograph go into our “Doggy Database” – and we have some exciting commercial projects on the horizon in 2010 so make sure we’ve met your pup – he could be the next dane + dane super model

Hop Kiln Winery {who you’ve definitely seen mentioned in this blog before} is one of my favorite clients – partially because they are a winery {i love wine} and partially because they are a sister property to Kenwood Inn and Spa {which has become one of my favorite places in the entire world} but mostly, because the people there are really fantastic and a joy to work with. Did I mention they make really great wine? Yeah, they do. Located in the heart of the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County – Hop Kiln produces some delicious estate Pinot Noir as well as a charming Chardonnay and several other delicious proprietary blends.

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We are about to embark on another exciting design project which is still top secret – but you can bet I will share it with you when it’s finished! In the meantime, check out their new web site, join one of their three wine clubs and generally investigate this jewel of Westside Road: Hop Kiln Winery.

Apparently last night, while I made my boyfriend switch from “Dancing with the Stars” to “So you Think you can Dance” (because for some unknown and terrible reason House wasn’t on?) – I just barely missed seeing the lovely Karina Smirnoff modeling our Dog is Good Blue Bling tee on National TV.  I can’t believe I missed it!?

Apparently Karina showed up for rehearsal with the bling tee on, partially covered by a hoodie – but because of the steamy nature of dancing, she quickly ditched the hoodie and there it was in all it’s electric blue, sparkly glory!! Ahhhh I love it.

We met Karina last year at the Emmy event and gave her the tee and got to hear all about her awesome pups (including one very darling pit bull back at her home in New Jersey) – we instantly liked this dancing girl (and her awesome PR gal Melissa) but I have to say I extra-super-duper lover her now

Thanks Karina!  If you want a matching blue bling tee of your very own (only $19.95) or you want to see more photos of celebs with Dog is Good gear – visit the Dog is Good web site.

I will post the video from last night as soon as I can get my paws on it and edit it for web!

(P.S. if you’re wondering what the first National TV appearance was for Dog is Good – it was on Animal Planet’s “It’s Me or the Dog” with Victoria Stilwell which was filmed at Dog is Good world headquarters in Seal Beach, CA)

Since the last time we spoke I : photographed a beautiful wedding on Orcas island, went to Africa (and shot a beautiful wedding there), had mini-stops in Amsterdam, Nairobi and Lusaka, got home and slept for a day or two, flew to LA, had an epic planning and design session for Dog is Good, attended the “Surf City, Surf Dog” event at Huntington Beach, had my favorite sandwich in the world at Crema cafe, took three 12 year olds to Disney, flew from LA to San Francisco, drove to Sonoma, stayed at Kenwood, had meeting at my favorite winery “Hop Kiln,” less than 24 hours later drove back to San Francisco, flew home, had TWO Fall portrait events at Lucky Dog Outfitters, shot a “deluxe digs” piece for CityDog and then spent pretty much all other waking hours catching up!

Due to the distribution of photos on various travel hard drives (and my NEW and GORGEOUS iMac in the office) I don’t have much to show you yet… but this is my “I am still alive post” with promise of LOTS of lovely images, interesting stories to come! *whew*