Oh, my!!
Olivia. You are so fun to work with. Carolyn, Taylor and I had a blast to working with you.
I'd say we were definitely successful with our goal of capturing ALASKA scenery. Mudlflats, Rain, Waterfalls and Mr. Darby - what a treat for us.
Thanks everyone! Really wonderful day in the 'office' today and yesterday.
My favorite way to enjoy time behind the camera - enjoying Alaska with Alaskans.
So much more to see! Can't want to share the entire collection with you next week.
Zeke (15), Luka (15) and Chinese Crested friends Fiona (11) and Madison (6)!
These four lovely dogs visited the studio for portraits together and individually.
They are the four-legged dog kids of someone who has quietly rescued dogs and cats for decades in Anchorage. Cindy ... you are a role model to me. I don't know how you do it. But you do. One rescue at a time. One happy story at a time. And you just keep doing it.
Thank you for sharing your family with me over the years. And thank you for being there for so many wonderful cats and dogs over the years. You've inspired me and so many others.
Meet four amazing rescues from Friends of Pets: JoJo, Max, Peaches and Siskel.
They were amazing in the studio today.
Taylor and I photographed this foursome in as part of our annual work with Friends of Pets. Photos from the session will be used in FOPs Alaska Waste Water Utility fundraising mailer that hits mail boxes in the fall. We'll design the marketing materials for this after the final photos are selected.
These four were a real treat. JoJo, in particular struck a chord in my heart. He was found as a stray that had been hit by a car. Today, he is easily the happiest pup I've seen in a long time - and you know I see a lot of happy dogs! What a tribute to Friends of Pets and JoJo's family.
Incredible.
Beginning August 1!
4 GB USB Drives that include your favorite high resolution images as offered in our different studio packages.
Along with our new portrait albums, the studio is also offering Digital Packages that can include high resolution images for your personal printing and social media activities. This is in addition to our email-CDs, Music Videos, books and wall art.
Our High Resolution packages allow you to take the disk and create your own artwork. They're not available for commercial use.
All high resolution images in your package are put on a nifty USB drive (shown here) that will work on Macs and PCs. Images include basic touch up and color correction along with a limited copyright release.
Here's a belated preview of Mr. Gabby Hawley.
He. Is. Magnificent.
When he arrived at the studio for the second time, I had already planted in my mind that we would capture a lot of photos in our parks ... but I also knew we had to go to a lake!
Taku Lake it was! And wow, I'm so pleased with that decision.
I love goldens - and Gabby is why.
Thank you for bringing him to me, Nancy!
This was a busy session! Five Miniature Pinschers - each with energetic and cuddly personalities. Put them all together in front of the camera at the same time - magic
Well, true 'magic' may be stretching the truth. In this case, the magic happened because of a lot of work by Taylor and Erin behind the scenes.
The end result was beautiful.
Well done everyone! Thank you so much for making this session perfect.
A nearly 10-mile hike into the Chugach Mountains kicked off a beautiful Sunday morning. The trek was about 5.5 hours. Uphill - all the way to Hidden Lake.
Weather at the start was 47 degrees. After that we encountered clouds, a few good breezes, fog and intermittent sunshine on our backs.
Shown here: Chevy, Elim, Skyler, Haley, Salcha, Yentna and my amazing Layla (golden.)
This was one of the many Summer 2014 Bucket List trips on my list. So happy that Layla and I were able to enjoy this with friends: wonderful dogs and their people.
Great sunshine and personality highlighted today's senior portrait session with Logan. I was especially happy that we were able to create a family portrait during our time together.
Here's a collection of photographs we created today at the request of veterinarian Riley Wilson/The Pet Stop. He's been the lead veterinarian for The Alaska Zoo for as long as I can recall. He's been my veterinarian since the 1980's when I first met him with my wonder dog, Lindsay. At the time, Riley also had a golden retriever whose name was Jaeger.
Riley's daughters have been volunteering at The Alaska Zoo for quite some time.
Lately, they've been volunteering and assisting with the care of five wolf pups who were brought to The Alaska Zoo after hero firefighters discovered them hunkered down in a den that was surrounded by a forest fire in the Kenai Peninsula.
The pups head to a zoo in Minnesota tomorrow. This was our last chance to interact with them.
Taylor and I were honored to be invited to capture these and many other photographs. It's was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Well, maybe it was a once in several lifetime opportunities.
Looking into their eyes ... an amazing experience. I hope you enjoy these portraits.
Please do not copy, transfer, reinterpret or use these images in any way without the studio's permission. They are copyright protected. Use without permission is a violation of copyright laws.
You can support The Alaska Zoo by clicking here.
Here's a fun collection of photographs from today's adventure with Layla and friends on a mountain behind Arctic Valley Chalet.
Terrific group of people and dogs.
The hike was about an hour up and 45 minutes down. Very, very energetic and refreshing at 50 degrees with a gentle, cool breeze.
Taylor and I made an adventure of the day with Warren, Diane, Hurley and Pablo.
McHugh Creek, West Anchorage and the Hilltop area all provided wonderful photography opportunities. Then again, there really isn't a way to take a bad photograph of Pablo and Hurley. They were magnificent!
I loved working with these two dogs. So photogenic and, with Taylor's expert lighting assistance, the day way perfect.
Thanks everyone. Today's session really struck a chord in my heart. Well done.
While wrapping a portrait journey with the Maisey family, I asked Layla to fly a kite.
We did this in Hatcher's Pass next to Summit Lake. Two hang gliders were flying overhead at the same time.
To do this, I tied the string to Layla's collar. She tolerated resting her paw on the string as I snapped away.
There is little that Layla won't do for me. She's very tolerant and I'm very blessed to have her in my life.
Carolyn Franks, our newest addition to the studio, designed a new banner that now announces our work with high school seniors. We launched our 2015 Senior season with the banner and six fancy pennants that represent the high school colors of all Anchorage High Schools. It looks SO cool! I'm really impressed. The front of the studio already looked great with the home-grown trees and shrubs. Now it really POPS!
Great work, Taylor and Carolyn. I'm really excited about the months ahead with each of you on the team. So impressed.
This exceptionally handsome golden retriever is Gabby. We'll officially photograph him next week. Sometimes, we ask our customers to visit the studio in advance of their photography appointment to visit with me. I love pre-session visits. It gives me a chance to meet everyone and that allows me stir the creative senses well in advance.
I'm so excited to see Gabby again soon. At 12 years young he is certainly one of the most handsome goldens I've ever met. And I've met a lot of goldens!
Layla continues to amaze.
One day, a collection of her stories will be published.
For now, she entertains every day.
Today, she's a Dog on a Log.
True love.
Thank you Amber, Ivy and Patsy.
Our time with you during your session left a lasting impression. What a gift.
Marc Lester/Alaska Dispatch captured this image of me while performing march music during the Independence Day Parade in downtown Anchorage. I'm glad most everyone was smiling and clapping along. It might have been awkward otherwise.
Saturday's family portrait work included a revisit with the Hulse Family - including their three beautiful black dogs. We photographed Shawna a couple years ago for her senior portraits. These days, she's pursing a degree in the culinary arts.
The above average temperatures (it must have been near 80 degrees today) proved a bit hot for their fabulous puppies. So, we created and found shade wherever we could during our outside photography adventures.
Great family poses. And, the three dogs, Sauska, Chawnee and Shadow posed together is definitely one of my favorites.
Carolyn and I joined Bart, Andria and Zeus for a hike along Powerline Pass this morning. We left the Flattop Mtn. Parking lot before 9 a.m. and enjoyed excellent weather. The trails were fairly quiet for the first hour. After that, traffic picked up as lots of travelers hit the trails.
Here's a peek at some of what we accomplished during today's portrait adventure! The beautiful and the silly!
An exceptional day with Layla and Carol included two parades in the '57 Thunderbird (with spontaneous performances on my trumpet) in Anchorage and Chugiak.
Wow - what a hot, lovely 4th of July. It was made even better with so many children singing and saying "Happy Fourth of July!!" Parades are certainly among the most unifying events in our great nation.
We hope your Independence Day was just as epic.
