Croquet on the Lawn ~ Molnar Family Sneak Peek

A few weeks ago I got a call from Barbara’s father. He was calling to inquire about a portrait session for Barb’s mother for her birthday. I was so excited and said a very enthusiastic yes!!

We scheduled the session for the same day as Barb and Chris’ engagement session and luckily enough we had the perfect day for both sessions.

The true star of the show was Dudley, their 6 year old Border Collie/Blue Heeler mix who they have had since he was 1 week old! Barb used to work at the Arnprior Humane Society and there came a need to nurse five puppies until they were ready to be adopted out at 8 weeks old. It was a lot of work, but they were able to raise the puppies to be healthy and happy and socialized and 1 day after the puppies left to go back to the humane society to be adopted, they drove BACK to get Dudley.

Dudley is very attached to his humans and absolutely LOVES playing fetch – so much so that he will carry every item you have thrown for him in his mouth at once!

Dudley demonstrating his fetch abilities.

Married over 30 years and still so in love!

The whole family in the woods behind their house.

Growing up, Barb and her parents would play croquet on the lawn every year on Mother’s Day and again on Father’s day. We decided to break out the set and have a game on their front lawn. Chris had never played before and everyone had a great time, including Dudley who supervised and tried hard not to run after the croquet balls!

We didn’t forget about their elusive cat, Grecia. She was hiding out in the bedroom to avoid the dog-fest that was going on in the rest of the house. We had some cuddles and got some shots of her as well.

Have a wonderful day,

Liz – Contact Me, I would love to speak with you!

elizabeth&jane photography elizabeth&jane photography blog

Popularity: 1% [?]

Puppy Love ~ Barb and Chris’ Engagement Sneak Peek

Before I even met Barbara I knew that I’d love her. Barbara’s mother was helping with the search for a photographer for Barb and Chris’ September 2011 wedding and the inquiry started out something along the lines of “My daughter also love dogs and shoes!” and I knew I had to meet her!

Sure enough, Barb is wonderful and so his her awesome fiancé, Chris, as well as their super adorable fur-kids, Ava and Lily.

When we were talking about their engagement session I asked them if there was somewhere special they wanted to have the session and Barb knew right away a place that would be perfect. We had the session in the woods around her parents’ house in the small town of Carp, Ontario – where she grew up, and where they still walk their dogs today while visiting.

As we walked into the woods yesterday, Barb mentioned that she had a few places in mind for us to shoot in and sure enough, they had also thought enough ahead to bring a ladder into the forest to climb one of the trees!

Their dogs were so excited to run and play through the woods, even though Ava, their 3 year old white boxer, had just had surgery to remove a porcupine quill and wasn’t supposed to be playing around with Lily, their 10 month old Cane Corso Mastiff. Of course this meant we had to separate them every 5 minutes but they had a blast, including racing through the muck and mud…repeatedly.

Thank you Barb and Chris for climbing trees, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and for loving the idea of having the session for your dogs just as much as for you.

Family.

Ava, who is such a sweetheart and jumps like a deer.

Lily, the gentle giant who follows her big dog-sister around everywhere.

This may be one of my favourite images ever. This wasn’t set up at all, I was photographing Barb and Chris and saw this little face peering out at me through their legs. So cute!!

By the lake.

Can you spot Ava?

Barb’s ring is a family heirloom. It was Chris’ grandmother’s ring and both of them feel so special to have such a beautiful history in their engagement ring.

And this is what dogs look like after a session with me. Sleepy sleepy. Ava could barely keep here eyes open!

Have a wonderful day,

Liz – Contact Me, I would love to speak with you!

elizabeth&jane photography elizabeth&jane photography blog Canadian Destination Wedding Photography

Popularity: 1% [?]

Awesome Cherry Blossoms ~ Mel, Randie, Halladay and Wookie’s Sneak Peek

For some reason, every year I forget how many of the trees in Ottawa are cherry trees and that they explode in the spring with amazingly bright and fragrant blossoms. Some of the most abundant trees are right in my neighbourhood and I was thrilled to be able to photograph Mel and Randie and their two adorable pups, Halladay and Wookie.

Mel and I met a few years ago through the dog world. I run the Ottawa Dog Blog and she is and Randie foster dogs for Hopeful Hearts.

One day last summer, while I was photographing Genevieve and James’ wedding (that post is coming soon!), Thomas texted me to tell me that “Mel says hi”. I thought to myself, who is he talking about? (I know a few Mels). Turns out Mel was walking her current foster and recognized our dog Wellie, from my updates on the Ottawa Dog Blog! What’s even better, is that she and Randie live around the corner from me.

Since we discovered this, she has been calling on me to photograph her foster dogs as they are ready to be up for adoption. The latest being a super cute schnauzer named Miko. You can read all about Mel and Randie’s journey as a foster family for rescued dogs here on her blog.

I have photographed a TON of Mel’s rescue pups so it was about time that I photograph Mel and Randie’s own brood. Halladay is a happy-go-lucky schnoodle (shaunzer-poodle mix) who simply adores his dog-brother Wookie, a schnauzer who Mel and Randie fostered last year and “failed”, meaning they didn’t adopt him out, but ended up keeping him! He is such a sweetheart and the two dogs just love each other. Halladay will actually give Wookie kisses on command, except when I was trying to capture it! haha

Family.

Such cuties! Halladay is on the left and Wookie is on the right.

I just love the colour at this time of year.

Mel proving she was a model in a former life.

Can you spot them? This would look so amazing as a really large print or canvas!

Bouncing through the dandelions = best time ever!!!

Have a wonderful day,

Liz – Contact Me, I would love to speak with you!

elizabeth&jane photography elizabeth&jane photography blog

Popularity: 1% [?]

White Socks ~ Gunner the Duck Tolling Retriever

Gunner is just about the cutest thing you’ll ever see! Not only does he have a beautiful golden-brown coat, but his paws and chest are all touched with white. It’s almost as if he’s wearing tiny white socks!

Gunner is a playful dog who had a great time checking out all the toys Gunner’s human and I brought with us as well as whatever sticks and smells he could find. He also had a lot of fun hiding and running in the long grass.

This session was a special one because the final print collection was a gift for Gunners human Dad. He is a fire fighter so we tried our best to include bits of that in the session including fire hydrants (both real and in toy form) and the amazing red doors of an old converted fire house in Hintonburg.

While he loves having fun, Gunner also treasures the most important thing in his life: his human family! The loveable fur ball knows who belongs to him, too bad it’s not me!

Prepare to oooh and awwww (and awwwww and awwww).

Here is the surprise birthday print collection that was ordered for Gunner’s human Dad. Love it!

You will notice in these final prints that Gunner’s leash has been digitally removed. I purposely left it in most of the above images to display that safety is always my number one concern. We always have the dogs leashed if they are young and also if they are in the city because of passing cars and lots of distractions. Leashes are removed from final prints and album orders.

Another exciting thing about this session is that I was able to have a HUGE 24×36 canvas printed to hang in the awesome store Masters n Dogs in Westboro (formerly Bark&Fitz). The owner selected this image herself as a favourite to hang at the front of the store!

Have a wonderful day,

Liz – Contact Me, I would love to speak with you!

elizabeth&jane photography elizabeth&jane photography blog

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Girl on the Bus ~ Melanie and Curtis’ Sneak Peek

Melanie and Curtis have the best story of how they found each other – I literally squealed when they told me about it at their engagement session today at Rockcliffe Park.

They met on a bus. Honestly, they did. Curtis saw Melanie one day on the bus on the way to work – he was running late and she was there. He immediately knew that she was special and from then on, he was purposely late for work, just so he could ride the same bus as her.

Little did he know, but Melanie noticed Curtis as well and it turns out that her sister went to school with him. One day Curtis got up the courage to talk to her, and the rest is history!

These two have a very special four-legged family member that we, of course, included in their engagement session. Their adorable dog, Poopsie, is such a loving ball of fluff and he really enjoyed the treats I was dolling out.

Melanie and Curtis will be getting married this summer and I can’t wait for their big day!

Have a wonderful day,

Liz – Contact Me, I would love to speak with you!

elizabeth&jane photography elizabeth&jane photography blog Canadian Destination Wedding Photography

Popularity: 1% [?]