Poodle Portraits

Happy New Year to all! As we enter into 2010 I will dedicate a few of my blog entries to a selection of my favorite portraits from last year, some of which were poodle portraits! I have to say, poodles are wonderful animals, at least the ones I have had the good fortune to meet. They are incredibly smart, soft and cuddly, attentive and just purely enjoyable pets to play with and to photograph.Below are Max and Milly, two adorable parti poodles (I am not exactly sure if that's the correct spelling and I was hoping for party with a "y" because they really do know how to have fun) that I enjoyed playing with and photographing for a few hours. Such sweet and loving dogs! These two are best buddies and seemed to fit perfectly in their warm surroundings. I loved the details and textures of the dogs and the room. I like to capture some tender moments as well. Sometimes when we're taking a break I can catch them during some quiet time. Sweet eyes indeed. Despite rumors to the contrary, poodles are not too proud to have some fun. Meet Teddy Bear, below. He certainly loved his time in the grass. I played around with this image with a photoshop plug-in (Bokeh) that enables me to blur certain areas of the image. After a little roll in the grass, Teddy Bear was ready for a little sight seeing. There was a gorgeous garden area on the property and l loved the contrast of his blonde coloring against the blue sky with the clouds. Below you'll notice sweet Gabe, a black poodle with eyes that will just melt you. Gabe loves to be outside so we photographed him on one of his favorite, colorful resting places. Gabe was incredibly responsive to the many noises I made to capture his attention. I especially loved the detail of his red heart collar. Gabe is a poodle with very deep set eyes, which makes him a little tricky to photograph. He's also very dark, which can create difficulty with lighting. In general I found it most effective to photograph him from a higher vantage point. This allowed me to capture a nice catch light or "twinkle" in his eyes. Then there was Stella. Stella was a wonderful poodle to photograph and play around with in the snow! We spent a splendid afternoon together in the crisp New Mexico air and she showed me the many sides of her captivating personality. We were both soaked and mostly frozen after that. Poodle portraits with Stella were oh so fun... I try not to pass up the opportunity to photograph an amazing profile of a gorgeous dog. Stella just soaked up the camera with her queenly ways. Ending frame: I just love this scene I took after one of the poodle portrait sessions. Need I say more?