Bev Hollis Photography

Yesterday we visited with Ben – finally. Ben’s shoot rescheduled several times from early summer when we were having so many thunderstorms. Given the amazing color we got yesterday I’m glad, in the end, we postponed until fall.

Ben is all lab. He met us yesterday with 3 toys in his mouth at once and honestly thought we were there to spend the day chasing him! Until the treats came out.¬† He quickly got the idea of “model shoot” and was happy to lie about the beautiful grounds of the farm he shares with his humans, 2 other dogs and 2 cats.

Ben is a dog with deteriorating joints and a ton of soul.¬† It’s his rear legs that are the problem.¬† Ben has found this yoga-type move to help him rise. He gets his front legs under him and “pops” upwards in order to not stress those painful back legs.

He was a trouper yesterday – following us (and our tasty treats) and hanging in until we were done. He even found time to bark at the UPS man.

I always say it’s all about the eyes. In Ben’s case this was especially true.¬† I just think there is so much history and soul there.

After we rambled around his property Ben invited us in to warm up and snack on some candy corn. He even carefully followed us downstairs where we caught a few last restful poses.  Thanks for a great afternoon Ben!

As predicted the Saturday skies poured rain for most of the day.  Folks were accommodating though and most were able to reschedule their holiday sessions.

Sunday dawned cool and sunny – we were off to a great morning start! We started with our good friends the Shaffers with their FOUR dogs, Marley, Emma, Jake (of puppy series Jake fame), and Jen.

This family of dogs is a joy to photograph and we love their humans too! Jen is a “silver” lab and is featured in the bottom image. Isn’t that color beautiful? I just loved the way light reflected off of her coat.

I can’t wait to make their holiday cards this year!

Later in the day we met Luke and his family of FIVE dogs! Just a sneak peek here of Luke with one. Believe it or not we got a couple great family shots with mom, dad, Luke and all FIVE dogs which will make lovely cards!

Well, that was the end of the fun for the day. We started our next shoot with Chloe and Riley – two beautiful Weimaraners.¬† We found a gorgeous setting along the creek bank and started shooting. Below is Riley, in one of my favorite images of the day…

And then, without warning, with nary an awkward sound I started seeing this in my LCD screen:

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This my friends, is the dreaded ERR message. A jammed shutter. A long UPS trip to the Nikon service center.

So alas, we were forced to abandon that session and the last of the day (with 3 of our favorite Cockers) and reschedule for next week.

A rental is on its way. A backup camera has been purchased – OUCH! With any luck we’ll still have some decent shooting weather so I can make it up to those who had to reschedule.

This is the weekend of our holiday card limited edition sessions. We scouted some beautiful backdrops today and look forward to the weekend.

Of course, the weather needs to cooperate with rain predicted for Saturday. Sunday promises to be sunny and dry though so we’ll shoot in the barn tomorrow and hopefully venture outdoors on Sunday.

Maggie braved the dropping temps and gray skies to do a short model session for us this afternoon. Isn’t fall grand?

Yesterday took us back to the farm for another secret session and our second Rocky this week!¬† Rocky’s mom Sheila is planning to surprise her husband (Rocky’s dad) with some photos for Christmas.

Rocky is a 10 month old yellow lab who is almost white.¬† He is filled with that youthful Labrador exuberance but has also earned his “Canine Good Citizen” rating.

What this meant for us was a dog who would strike some gorgeous poses when asked….

… but lest you think it was all serious posing for Rocky… This is what he spent time between shots doing..!

We had a fun afternoon with this youthful, energetic guy.

When we shoot at the farm it’s an “outing” of sorts.¬† We cover some hilly territory and yesterday I even had Rocky’s mom Sheila standing in a creek bed with Rocky.. I think I need to start having people do a stress test before coming to the farm!

Thanks for a great day Rocky!

Yesterday, amidst blue skies and shimmery gold leaves, we went on a secret mission to photograph 3 beloved dogs.

One of the dog’s humans has decided to surprise the other with a dog photo book for Christmas.¬† What a lovely and thoughtful gift!

So we followed these canines around their property and gathered our images.  As usual, personalities came forth and were consistent throughout the shoot.

Mia, the German Shepherd, does not¬† know she’s a geriatric.¬† She is over a year post-op from back surgery and going strong.¬† We even caught her running with Rocky’s ball on occasion. (Don’t tell Rocky!) She did grow weary after a bit but she was just too curious (and too much a shepherd) to leave us out there with the others.

[caption id="attachment_182" align="alignnone" width="604" caption="Mia"][/caption]

Rosie, the collie, suffers from collie eye anomaly – a disorder that can render collies completely blind. Rosie still has some vision. It seems she could see well enough to know we were there but not well enough to figure out we weren’t strange space aliens coming to do some damage to her territory. So Rosie danced on the fringes for most of the session.¬† We managed to snag a few of her because we know her human will want to see her in that book!

And then there was ROCKY! I must capitalize ROCKY because that better describes him. Big, bold, boisterous ROCKY… A bit of an attention seeker and happy to have some afternoon playmates.

Lovely dogs all.¬† We can’t wait to make their surprise book!