Beautiful images

About the love of an old dog

old dog with hat photo session

A few weeks ago, a beautiful human being emailed me to book a photo-shoot for herself and her dog. Her old, blind, cancer-ridden rescued dog. A dog that someone abandoned in his old age and that she rescued, to give him the most love possible in his last years of life. A gentle, quiet Boston Terrier named Lucky.

He meandered slowly and patiently through the studio, and allowed us to place him and dress him up with all the wisdom his age provided.

A photo session unlike any other I’ve ever done before.

Boston terrier photoshoot Boston terrier and human mom photoshoot Boston terrier photoshoot

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Summer Vacation in Cape Cod with your dog

A few weeks ago, we decided to make the best of the hot August weather and take a few days vacation in picturesque Cape Cod region, in the United States.

We stayed at a lovely pet friendly motel, in Provincetown (the very tip of Cape Cod) called Cape Colony Inn, within walking distance to the main street with most of the restaurants, boutiques and about 40 art galleries.

Here you can see some of the photos with or without our dog, who, I must say found the sand and ocean a bit odd at the beginning, although she took pretty fast to digging feverishly into the sand (clean beach towel, what is that??).

Several photos were taken in the Port of Provincetown, other by the sand dunes and marshland close to Long Point Beach.

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Weimaraner Braque dog photo shoot at home

A few weeks ago, I was hired to do a Father’s Day surprise photo session. The “baby” was a 3 year old Weimaraner Pointer who “matched the furniture”, to the delight of his human mom, hence the photo session was booked at his home.

Let me tell you; this dog did not like the camera, in fact I had to stalk him through the house (and the garden) to be able to get some good shots. Apparently the gods of pet photography were smiling upon us because we got some very good shots, including one that was printed large and framed to be delivered to Dad this very day.

Let’s hope he liked his surprise!

weimaraner photo session

weimaraner photo session

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Lights, camera, dance! An aerialist photo session in studio

I recently had the pleasure ( and challenge) to photograph a beautiful professional aerialist and ballet jazz dancer. It was certainly a novel way to shoot portraits and not entirely dissimilar to photographing acrobatic cats in mid-air, although this cat, I was able to communicate with. Small blessings. 😛

It was both a gruelling and satisfying photo session, while certainly delightful to discover another talented Quebec artist. To see her literally fly through the air was a real treat!

dancer photography Montreal

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Happy New year 2016

Sphinx kittens photography portrait in studio

Happy New year 2016, Montreal.

As the frosty tones of January start to take hold of the city, here are two delicate sphynx brother kittens with eyes as blue as the ice on the St-Lawrence river.

I hope you enjoy the photo. And before you ask, they were not photoshopped to stand together and yes their eyes really are that color. And they were really, really tiny; one could fit in the palm of my hand.

Kitten photo

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A furry family photo-shoot in our studio

Now I know that when someone mention “family photography” your first thought is taking you to the parents with their kids. Human kids, that is..

Well, as it turns out in my line of work, the ‘kids” are usually of the furry, four-pawed variety. Case in point, a recent photo session comprised of mom, dad and two fur-kids. I should say two adorable fur-kids. I will never deny that working with animals is hard but, at least for me, patience and a willingness to spend 2 hours crawling on my belly while making weird sounds, seem to appear out of thin air (I am generally not a patient person – LOL) when it comes to working with cats or dogs. Some session are also more rewarding than others. This one was particularly fun. Enjoy some of the pictures I took.

French bulldog playing

Family photoshoot with dogs in Montreal

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Print the photos you love – advice from a pro

I’ve always wondered how people see the value of getting 100 photos on a stick from the photographer, only to misplace the stick (and lose all their photos) or damage the stick (and lose all their photos) have you seen an USB stick? not the sturdiest things around…besides, are you ready to rummage through the junk drawer to get it if there is a house fire and you need to leave NOW??

Suffice it to say I am a staunch advocate of printing your photos. Latest case in point, this photo of my fur-baby taken in the park, this fall. I tried a new company too (Pictorem), very impressed with the quality of the canvas print and the customer service as well. 🙂

Canvas print

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Montreal Fall Photo-shoot with your pets

Fall is a wonderful season in Quebec, if you like taking photos outdoors. Today we tried bringing our dog outside for a mini photo-shoot. Did I mention she is a German Shepherd and Husky mix? Yeah, the energy levels are up there. Here is one of my favourites. She is looking at a squirrel so just the fact that she is laying down for a second is quite the feat, trust me…

Dog photography outdoors

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Fall in Montreal, autumn colours

Well, in spite of a warmer than usual September, Fall has in fact, arrived in Montreal. Scroll down for a few  of our pictures to inspire you. You can also book an outdoors photo session with us, we have a fantastic natural area close by the studio and if you shoot at this location there are no travel charges.

If you feel like hoofin’ it along with a nice thermos of hot cocoa, here is this year’s Quebec Fall Foliage Map.

Fall scenery photo with dog

apple picking in quebec red maple leaves Fall scenery in Quebec

apple picking in Quebec

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Prepare to Fall in love…

Prepare to Fall in love. With this adorable pooch, or the scenery, or both. Take advantage of the gorgeous Montreal colors right at your doorstep and bring your dog outside for a canvas-ready photoshoot.

You can follow Quebec’s changing colors with this neat little tracking tool: https://www.quebecoriginal.com/en/discover/seasons-in-quebec

Some cool places to see the colour also are:

Mont Royal Park

If you don’t get the chance to head outside of the city, don’t worry; there are many great places within Montreal to check out the fall colours. Mont Royal is a favorite due to its extensive trails and paths. For easy access, use the #11 Bus (east or westbound). You can also walk up from downtown, use the path from the Park Avenue Cartier Monument or try the escarpment trail on the eastern slope. Other areas within Montreal that are great for leaf watching include:

  • Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
  • Mont Royal Cemetery
  • Parks Jean Drapeau, Maisonneuve and Angrignon

Mont St. Hilaire

Located just east of Montreal, Mont St. Hilaire is a perfect choice to take in the autumn season. Not only will you find breathtaking vistas, you’ll also discover numerous apple orchards and farmland that add to the country charm. Mont St. Hilaire is also a nature reserve, with the western part open to the public for hiking and cross-country skiing, for a small fee. To get there from Montreal, head to the south shore, take the 20 east, exit on Route 229 and head to Beloeil. Once you reach Beloeil you take Route 116 across the bridge, turn right on Fortier, then left on Chemin de la Montagne and head to Gault Nature Reserve. Enjoy!

Other similar areas just outside the city include:

  • Mont Tremblant (north)
  • Laurentians (north)
  • Mont St. Bruno, Mont Rougemont and Mont Saint-Gregoire (southeast)

Monteregie Cider Route

The province of Quebec has long been known for its amazing apples. Travel the scenic Cider Route and taste the best our orchards have to offer! Diverse and rich, the cider industry is alive and well, waiting for your taste buds to arrive. Take in the beautiful fall scenery while sampling delicious and unique local ciders and produce. To find out more take a look at the Cider Route map.

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This is a Maine Coon cattery photo-shoot

In life, there are cats, and then there are Main Coon cats. You have to meet one in person to realize how gorgeous they really are. They are huge and fluffy and soft and cuddly. They can also be funny. Like this:

maine coon cat

Of course he can also be dignified in his photos. Somewhat…

maine coon cat

Lately I’ve been wondering how well a Maine Coon cat would get along with my crazy german shepherd…hmm…

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This is Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Recent vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to recharge artistic batteries and quality tequila levels.

Here are a few photos. You can see the beach, flowers and of course glimpses of magical place that Playa can be at night.

This is a house and palm trees by the ocean.

Playacar beach, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Vegetation on a tree trunk on the street.

Yucatan vegetation

Close-up of a local species of agave plants.

agave shrubs

Close-up of a purple bougainvillea flower.

purple bougainvillea flower

The view from our rented apartment balcony. You can see the entrance to Playacar on the right.

Playacar

Close-up of a palm leaf of a different species. The color was really a silver-blue.

Playa del Carmen

Close up of a pink and orange bougainvillea flower.

orange and pink bougainvillea flower

The Flamboyan Tree in bloom at dusk.

Yucatan, Mexico

Another view of beach and ocean with a local tree on the right. Not sure what the tree is called.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Playa del Carmen at night. Jardins De Marietta. A lovely inner garden with artist galleries and an incomparable atmosphere. You can see some benches where people can sit and enjoy.

Jardins de mariettaScreen shot 2015-05-01 at 8.18.03 PM

Several open-air restaurants with lit lanterns of different shapes and sizes in the trees. Two of them are La Piola and La Cueva del Chango. This is common practice in Playa del Carmen.

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Here we can see a selection of Animal bloopers

I’ve been thinking for a while for a way to showcase all those animal photos that I took but never made it into the client’s selection because they were too strange or just plain funny (and inappropriate, sometimes..LOL) . So, I decided to add an “Animal Bloopers” section to my website. While that gets ready, you can enjoy some of the bloopers here in this post. 🙂

cat blooper

cat blooper 2

cat blooper 3

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Beautiful kittens

Of all the cats I’ve ever photographed, ( and I have seen  my fair share of unique), Sphynxes have always been the  most fascinating. I know some people have strong reaction upon seeing them; usually not of the positive kind, but I personally have grown very fond of them. In reality, they are gentle, playful and they love to cuddle with their human.

I want to share with you a few beautiful baby Sphynx that I recently photographed. They are delicate and alien, endearing and soft, real and phantasmagoric at once…

sphynx kitten sphynx kitten Tiny sphynx kitten

Baby Sphynx

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Sam…I am. This is Sam the dog.

This is Sam the dog. The basset hound, lab, german shepherd and love mix. He’s got the eyes and the sass and the softest fur ever! He loves his treats and his human parents. I had fun photographing Sam and his parents a while ago. Sam tried to lick me and he tried to lick the camera and argued with his dad when the session got too long for his taste. Sam made me smile. Sam is adopted. Sam is love.

photography basset hound dog photography basset hound dog photography basset hound dog

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Why should you photograph your pets professionally?

This post is going to be a little odd perhaps, a little off-kilter. “Why would I photograph my pets” someone asked me recently. I guess the underlying question would be “why hire a professional to photograph my dog/cat/ferret..etc..? ”

The blunt answer is: because they will (probably) die before you and all you will have to remember them is a dark, blurry, red-eyed photo of them. Or maybe not, maybe you got some decent shots of them with your phone playing outside, because the built-in camera metered nicely for a summer’s late afternoon. Maybe you were lucky that way. Maybe…

The truth is, however, most of your phone shots are just fleeting digital moments that will never see it to the light of print. The truth is, you love your pet like your child and yet your memory of them will fade slowly over time. I know because I’ve been there, like many of you reading this post. I know because I have 1000 amateur shots of my first dog and none of them is technically good enough to be printed bigger than a 4×6. If it were, I’d most probably have a nice 20 x 24 print on my wall. Because I shared 13 years of my life with that dog and he was my furry brother. Because I had crying fits for 2 years after he died. Because he shaped my life in ways I am still discovering. Because he made me love dogs and thus made me rescue my GSD baby in the nick of time (she was 5 minutes away from euthanasia).

Knowing all this, in retrospect, what is one hour of your time and a couple hundred dollars so you can have THE larger-than-life photo to print, frame and hang on your wall, to be able to look at the heart of your past, immortalized into image forever?

photo of old dog

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Advertising Campaign by the best Montreal pet photographer

There comes a time in every professional photographer’s career, when they see their work published in a major advertising campaign. Well for me, this is one of those moments. And it feels very, very, nice. 🙂

This particular project was commissioned by the (really nice) folks at Pets Plus Us insurance company – with campaign ads running in the winter edition of Modern Dog Magazine and Canadian Dogs Annual.

The lovely spotted gentleman in the middle is Jack, a very spirited and photogenic Jack Russell Terrier. The two humans are his very caring parents.

Now I know that some of you might wonder why so many people treat their pets as their “kids” even going as far as buying health insurance for them? Well, the truth is adding a pet to your family can have numerous health benefits, physical as well as mental. Here’s more about that from the folks at Positive Health Wellness Blog. Meanwhile, enjoy life with your four-legged friend! 🙂

Pets Plus Us - Published - 2 Canadian Dogs Annual_petsplusus_published

 

 

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