Mentoring – A Chance to Learn from the Best | Toronto Dog Photographer
Phew! It has been a rather busy Fall in Posh Pets land – so many cute, wiggly, furry dog faces to meet and photograph. And we had some of the most beautiful scenery to create portraits in with what was a gorgeous Autumn in Toronto. I cannot wait to share all of these sessions with you! (Hopefully, the imagery will keep us positive as we face another winter in Southern Ontario.)
In the midst of all of this, I also had a couple of days to catch my breath and spend some time with the amazing Barbara Breitsameter of Poppyblue Photography. If you are not familiar with Barb’s work, you should definitely go right now and check it out! Barb is a Certified Professional Photographer, a Platinum Photographer of the Year for both 2013 and 2014, and a platform speaker for Imaging USA (National Convention). However, even with all of those accolades, she is an amazing, warm, down-to-earth, humble person who is more than happy to share her knowledge with those willing to learn. I felt so privileged to have the opportunity to mentor with her. Barb, thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart!
So, you are probably wondering what did we do? Well, I have good news! I have finally finished editing some of the images we created together and am ready to share them here on the Posh Pets blog.
First of all, here is one of Barb’s own dogs, Fern. Fern is a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy…gorgeous from head to toe. She had been at the vet for a small procedure just the day before I met her, so I expected a quiet, dopey puppy. Nothing could be further from the truth! Fern wagged her tail and strained to greet me. By the second day, she was my awesome model.
The great thing about a mentoring session is the opportunity to go beyond your comfort level and try new things. In this case, I wanted to master studio photography. Knowing that Barb has won awards for her studio work, I was keen to get inside her brain and learn everything I could. Barb lined up some amazing models for me to photograph and guided me in the lighting. It was a great chance to experiment with so many pieces of equipment. Of course, I spent a good amount of time simply snuggling with the models 🙂
Two of the most perfect, roly-poly, frenchies (french bulldogs) I have ever laid eyes on! I literally squealed with delight when they walked up to the studio!
And then we had four of the most gorgeous basset hounds to photograph! They arrived in their very own, professionally wrapped vehicle…these guys are celebrities on the show circuit!
We also did some outside photography which is definitely my forte. Again, these two snuggle-bums!
And then Summer…she became our model after a rather serendipitous stop at the local veterinarian. Her Dad was so gracious to give us the opportunity to work with a lovely golden retriever puppy!
Last, but not least, I really have to thank Barb a ton for this last image. It seems appropriate that one of the last photographs a pet photographer from Canada could take was a dog holding a maple leaf. Not only did Barb help me by setting this up, she showed me how she would edit it. The result is simply stunning!
Thanks for following along on this little pet photographer’s adventure. I am always so happy to be able to learn new things and then incorporate them into my business and client sessions. If you are thinking of a Winter or Spring session for your furry face, now would be the time to set this up. In fact, given how busy this Fall was, if you really have your heart set on capturing the colours of next year’s Autumn, contact me and we can get you on the books NOW. Your first step is to contact me here. I so look forward to meeting you and your furry family members!