A Final Trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake | Heritage Session™

A Final Trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake | Heritage Session™

Aug 15, 2017

When I first heard from Buddy’s mum it was with a mixture of excitement and sadness. Buddy came all the way from Pennsylvania for what would be his final trip to Canada – a dog bucket list of sorts. He was facing some serious health issues and his mum wanted to enjoy travelling with him one more time. Niagara-on-the-Lake was chosen as the backdrop for this special occasion.
Niagara on the Lake dog bucket list photography session
As you can see above, we took some portraits on what is arguably one of the prettiest streets in the Niagara region.

From there, we moved to enjoy a picnic in the park. Buddy put on his best tie and brought a blanket. They spent some quiet moments together reminiscing about what a great life he had led.

dog picnic in Niagara-on-the-Lake
He even brought his best friends to join in the fun!
a corgi pup and his stuffed animals
But a new park is a place to explore and sniff. Even have a little run. But, most of all, times like these are reasons to smile.
a running senior dog
smiling corgi dog
Buddy still loved to get his feet wet in the gentle surf, so we spent some time on the little beach.
dog photography session if the water
corgi dog playing in the water in Canada
All too soon it was time to go home. A short while later, I received a note from his mum saying that Buddy was gone. I cried. This beautiful boy who had brought so much joy to his family was no more.

I was even more touched when she ended her note with the following:

“Through all of this my mother and I have said many times we do not know what we would do without your photos.  After they were taken, he started to deteriorate rapidly.  He looks so wonderful, healthy, and happy in them and that is the way we hope to remember him.

 

Thank you for everything.”

Run free Buddy. Always.

For more information on Posh Pets Heritage™ Sessions, see below.

POSH PETS® HERITAGE SESSIONS

Celebrating the life, love and legacy of your pet. ™

  • High-priority sessions are reserved for pets that become ill or are simply elderly. We make every effort to schedule these on short notice and work within their restrictions.
  • An opportunity to take time out of your busy schedule to spend some quality time together, celebrate the life you have shared and create images you will treasure forever.
  • Please note: The Creative Fee covers time and talent to photograph a maximum of four (4) subjects, which can be any combination of people and up to two (2) pets who live within the same household. Additional subjects may be photographed for a small additional fee.
  • More information can be found here.
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Dougie, the Boston | Southern Ontario Dog Photographer

Dougie, the Boston | Southern Ontario Dog Photographer

Aug 20, 2015

I love it when I get calls from people looking for the perfect gift for a dog lover and they have decided on a Posh Pets Gift Certificate. It’s a double-dose of awesomeness. Firstly, the givers are invariably incredible people who have really searched for a personal, completely customized gift for their family member or friend. And then, I have the opportunity to meet the dog or cat lover themselves and their adorable pet. What more could I ask for! It is in this way that I came to know Dougie (an obvious fan of the Maple Leafs), and one of the cutest, full-of-personality boston terriers I have ever met. His mom is pretty cool too and she loves Dougie dearly.

After some discussion, his mom picked Dougie’s favourite park on an early week-day morning for his session. It’s where he goes rambling almost every day, and given the fact that practically every single person we met during our session knew Dougie by name, I’d say he’s a bit of a celebrity.

Dougie was careful to be out in front showing us the way around. But, as the ever careful leader, he never got too far ahead. If we lagged a little too much, he would stop, turn around and patiently wait for us to catch up.

dog portrait in toronto

Often, we saw the back of him. Which gave him an opportunity to show off his great terrier derrière. (Hey, it rhymes!)

dog walking awayprovincial park dog photography

Dougie was more than happy to introduce me to ‘his’ lookout. And then he flashed his beautiful smile!

happy boston terrier

Dougie is a trooper too. Always up for fun, he was willing to stand in grasses that clearly came way, way, way over his head! And produce a head-tilt, no less!

dog with blue sky in ontarioThe fence post – the entrance to many awesome smells and trails to explore. Come on guys – what are we waiting for?

dog in bronte provincial park

We ended the session with some amazing portraits of this beautiful boy in a bed of red needles. This image hangs large in a place of honour in Dougie’s home.

awesome dog in red needlesboston terrier in bronte provincial park

It was such a pleasure photographing this little guy and creating an amazing folio box filled with fine-art matted prints. You can see more of the products Dougie has in his home on the Posh Pets Instagram page (@dogphotographer). I know that I smile whenever I see his charming face.

Has this post got you wanting to design a custom session for your pet? If so, the place to start is here.

Calendar Girls & Boys – Canada Pooch Calendar Cuties Photography Shoot | Toronto Pet Studio

Calendar Girls & Boys – Canada Pooch Calendar Cuties Photography Shoot | Toronto Pet Studio

Nov 20, 2012

We had planned the date and location for weeks – 10 dogs on October 27, 2012 in High Park, Toronto for their calendar shoot for Canada Pooch. The weeks leading up to the shoot were glorious fall days full of sun, colourful leaves and the crisp fall air. But all that chaged the week of the shoot. For that was the week that “Frankenstorm” decided to make its appearance in Toronto and the eastern seaboard was pumelled by Hurricane Sandy. Copious amounts of rain fell from the sky day after day…

With no time to lose, there was a last minute change in venue to Pawsway (which is an awesome place to take your dog, by the way!). There, we could be inside (read: dry!) and out of the rain (read: warm!). But, it did also mean that we would have to change our plan and have more of a ‘commercial’ look to our images.  The decision was made to photograph them against a white background in line with the Canada Pooch website.

The day arrived and it was pouring cats and dogs outside. But, inside we had so much fun meeting all of the pooches and the pooch-parents who had braved the elements to come. Seeing all of these furry faces dressed up in the latest Canada Pooch outerwear…well, everyone felt like a model! As you can imagine, there was was a lot of excitement in the air as dogs and people were meeting each other for the first time and everyone wanted their pooch to do well. But they needn’t have worried – take a look at the results below and I think you will agree that everyone did marvellously!

Here is a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at what the Posh Pets’ set looked like before everyone arrived…

And here is cover boy, Foley. Or rather, his covers. This beautiful boy managed to get both the front and back pages of the calendar.

The petite Belle who was a last-minute replacement. But, this girl is a natural…took to modelling like she was born for it!
 Charlie, who gave us a run for our money! I am sure that this boy has some border collie in him…this guy loves to move!
 Sweet, little Eva. She was a doll to work with!  But, she is wearing a top secret style that is part of the Canada Pooch so her image will be ‘revealed’ later…

Leo likes to do tricks – and he showed us quite a few! Here he is, executing his awesome paw shake.

We tried for a “looking back” shot with all of the dogs. But it was Lucy who rocked this angle!
 The following brothers were Malbec and Pinto (someone loves wine!). Here, Malbec shows us his serious, GQ look…
…while brother Pinot is an absolute ham!
We also met a pair of sisters, both sporting the soon-t0-be released Canada Pooch styles. All I can tell you is that Lucy strutted her stuff in yellow…

…whereas Poppy liked the feel of the wind in her hair!

And here was little Sacha, who was probably the calmest of the group. She just sat and posed for us!

How can you get your hands on these images (including the ‘secret’ ones)? The calendars are available for $20.00 each from Canada Pooch directly and 10% of proceeds will go to Toronto Animal Services. If you are interested, please contact Canada Pooch directly at [email protected] by November 30, 2012. They will give you all of the details! It is a great deal – some great dog imagery and a way to help the TAS take care of less fortunate doggies!