Black cats are the best.

It’s Halloween as I write this so who better to feature on my pet blog than Queen Bean showing how beautiful and affectionate black cats are!

Quite frankly I reckon having a black cat in your family makes you pretty lucky!

Miss Bean was an absolute delight to photograph, not only was she amenable to the spots I wanted her to pose in within the garden, she showed me a couple of great spots she had picked herself.

I’m also a little envious that Bean likes to jump on her Mum’s shoulders to tour the garden.

Must train my two cats to follow suit!

Ari and Olive

One thing I have learned over the years as a pet photographer is that cats, dogs and in fact any domestic animal is not always going to react exactly how we think they will.

Ari is my fur niece - adopted by my gorgeous human niece and her partner during lockdown 2020. I had met her a couple of times before her sitting and she seemed a sweet and relaxed cat. And she was when I arrived for her photo session too ………. until I pulled out my camera with it’s big shiny lens.

Then she became noticeably more weary and anxious to escape outdoors.

This is quite common I’ve found. Cats especially are often suspicious of anything out of the ordinary in their environment and when that strange thing being pointed at them looks like a large unblinking eye, it can be pretty unsettling for a normally laid back cat.

This is nothing for a fur-parent to fret about however. As the saying goes “good things take time” I’m not watching the clock and am happy to let a cat find their confidence. If you relax - so will they.

In this case I think it helped that Ari’s flatmate Olive joined in on the shoot and was posing up a storm. Not to be out meowdelled, Ari gave me a range of facial expressions and even some action shots!

Louis

We all know lots of dogs love carrying sticks and balls when they are out on a walk - some even carry their own lead! However, I have never come across a pup before who is obsessed with carrying home a feather … until I met gorgeous wee Louis who I photographed last summer.

When his parents told me about his feather fixation I was fascinated and wanted to capture it! We were walking by the river for his session - and do you think we could find a feather anywhere?? So the session went on a little longer than usual and we hiked out to the river mouth at the beach and finally found one for Louis to carry home. So glad we persevered - I think Louis is pretty cute carrying his feathery prize. He almost looks like he’s running to tickle you with it!

Toa.

In July this year, an orca calf became stranded and separated from his pod along the coast of Plimmerton in Wellington.

Three teenagers witnessed the tragic event unfolding. Young adult Ben rushed to the orca’s side whilst friends Flora and Sean alerted authorities and biked to nearby Hongoeka Marae for help.

The following two weeks saw several animal welfare groups including HUHA, Whale Rescue, Wellington Zoo, Department of Conservation, local community groups and many volunteers join to care for the orca calf with the hope of reuniting him with his pod.

He was named Toa, which means brave in Māori.

I was really honoured to be asked by the team at HUHA to photograph Toa’s supervision for an afternoon.

What I really wanted to show in my images was the amount of care and attention to detail I saw. Volunteers who entered the water where given a safety briefing, required to wear a mask and gloves, step on a mat to sanitize their foot coverings and asked to give Toa space. The afternoon I was there I saw wee Toa swim from volunteer to volunteer, seeking comfort and interaction. I even heard a volunteer sing to him which he seemed to respond to ( there were always people in the water with Toa to prevent him hurting himself and to monitor his condition)

It was completely fantastic to see all these different groups work together with the amazing Orca Expert Ingrid Visser at the helm and use their strengths in different areas to give Toa the best chance of being reunited with his pod.

During my visit it was a beautiful sunny day but even out of the water it was FREEZING. Bitterly cold. I can only imagine how cold it was for everyone in the water.

Unfortunately the weather turned a day later and a massive storm front came through Wellington halting the search for Toa’s pod until it was safe to send boats and planes out to confirm any sightings made by the public.

Incredibly sadly, despite the 24/7 expert care and incredible community spirit, Toa passed away on the 23rd of July.

I’d like to say thank you to everyone who gave their all to give Toa a fighting chance to be reunited with his pod. He died being comforted by people he had become familiar with and in a safe, calm environment.

If you would like to read more information about the rescue effort and HUHA’s daily work rescuing and caring for animals, you can check out https://www.facebook.com/HelpingYouHelpAnimals



Mya and Kiara

Today’s blog is brought to you by the very clever and beautiful Mya and Kiara.

These two stunning Border Collie pups were an absolute delight to photograph. Full of fun and great expressions, whilst listening to their human Mum the whole time.

We started the shoot on the grass away from the beach so that we could get them in all their floofy glory. Once I had enough "they are just so FLUFFY” shots it was a run to the beach for a bit of a swim.

When you are considering having a pet portrait shoot, think about where your dog loves to visit but also the environment of the area. If you have just had your pup groomed especially for the sitting, you may be a bit gutted if the first thing they do is take a big dive into a muddy pond. If it is important to you have have them dry and clean for some of the photos then a nice park ( dog friendly of course) that doesn’t have immediate water access may be a good idea.

Personally I love a good wet dog photo - that’s what dogs do right? They love to get sopping wet or super dusty rolling on a dry dirt path. I think it’s part of the joy of being a dog xx

Teddy the Water Pup

Okay, so my first blog in 2021 is halfway through February and it is of a dog portrait shoot I took before Christmas 2020. These are strange times, I feel I have an excuse! Don’t judge my slack blogging habits.

I am starting off with the completely gorgeous Teddy though - so that makes up for the blog radio silence right?!

Teddy - what can I say?

I have admired this wee pup for quite awhile on Instagram. I met her at a HUHANZ collection day back in 2019 where she stole the show with her mad posing skills ( under pressure too with members of the public “squeee”ing at how clever she was)

So I was SO excited to get the opportunity to photograph her in a much more calm, relaxed environment.

Teddy is quite an expressive dog - with I feel a lot of her expression coming from her ears! She is also a water baby. I have never seen a dog sit down and let waves break around them before. She just adores being in the sea.

She has a huge amount of energy but has lovely manners and really listens to her Human Mum. Her sit and stay is on point.

While I love working with dogs who are fantastic at listening to commands I also love photographing dogs that find a stay a little more challenging. People often say to me “I’d love to have a sitting but there is no way my dog would sit and pose for you”

Do you know what? It doesn’t matter. I have photographed dogs who can’t do a “sit” and I have photographed dogs who will sit and stay even when their Human runs after their child who is tearing off down the path.

There are lots of tricks I can use and I’m pretty quick on the shutter. People are often surprised what I capture when their pup has been a little “hard of hearing” during the shoot.

So please don’t think your dog isn’t “we behaved” enough to have a shoot - feel free to have a chat with me and we can talk about how we will get great images of your furry family member x

P.s. check out my FAQ for pet sittings for more info.