Lizzie’s owner first came across me through the volunteer work I do for Arctic Breed Rescue. Lizzie used to have a Samoyed “sibling” but he died suddenly and it was this that prompted her to get Lizzie photographed. Although she’s in good health, she’s 13 now, and while no one likes to think about their dog passing she knew Lizzie wouldn’t be around forever so she wanted to have nice photos to remember her by. We started their session at home so I could do some running shots without having to worry about Lizzie taking off. She’s at the age where she should know better by now but having her off lead in a park wasn’t an option. She’d barely done two strides when she started limping, eeeek. I hoped it was just a bindi but despite her smile it seemed to be more than that. We decided not to do any more action shots, packed everyone up and went on-location. I’d found this spot nearby earlier in the day and fell in love with it despite the ridiculous amount of flies (the term “plague proportions” was used)!

There was probably 75% cloud cover but I managed to still create some beautiful images thanks to all that lovely long grass.

There was the teeniest bit of blue sky so I used my light and got down low to include it in some shots.

For some variety we moved to another spot for the next lot of photos. By the time we got there it was quite windy and rain was definitely on the way but we soldiered on! Shooting a white dog on an overcast day is like having a giant softbox, things could definitely be worse.

Considering her age and her incident at the start of the shoot it was great that she was still smiling right up until the end.

This is the wall collection that Leigh ordered. I’m really honoured that she chose me to capture these special memories for her and I hope that Lizzie gets to enjoy them with her for another few years. I have a deal with mine that if they live to at least 18 they’ll be rewarded handsomely!

I don’t do travel sessions very often but if you’re in Canberra and would like to be notified of my next trip down there please send me an email.