Lorna Doone

[rpcrowe]

Lorna is a two year old Maltese and Black Miniature Poodle mix (Maltipoo). She has a pretty dark gray coat and large expressive brown eyes. Her family had to place her with our rescue group because they lost their house and the apartment into which the are relocating does not allow dogs..





We are bringing her to an event tomorrow (Cardiff by the Sea dog Days of Summer) that is expected to attract over 70,000 dog enthusiasts.

[truonda]

I hope you guys can find a good home this little girl. She's adorable!

[Shadowman]

What an expression and still willing to sit still for the photo. Nicely captured.

[IzzieK]

Richard has a way with dogs no matter what breed -- he can make them stay long enough for them to be photographed...Lorna Doone is very pretty. Sometimes I wish I prefer small dogs but I don't...I sincerely hope you find her a very good home....

[rpcrowe]

Izzie wrote: "Richard has a way with dogs no matter what breed" Thanks. Izzie. for that nice compliment.

We usually shoot an entry picture when a dog arrives to get a baseline image in order to judge the improvement over time. I don't worry about the quality of that original image so I really don't need to gain rapport with the dog before shooting the entry level image. In fact, often the dog is so dirty and smells so bad, that we need to get it bathed ASAP. This is an example of an entry level image of a filthy and smelly Bernadette on arrival with her puppies...



I had not gained rapport with the newly arrived Bernadette and she was telling me that she didn't appreciate my interest in her puppies!

Later, after the dog is clean and has had our TLC for a while and we deem it appropriate for that dog to be adopted; I will always interact with the dog and get it relaxed and friendly with me before we shoot the "Rescue Portrait"... That is the image use for posting on our own and other rescue websites such as petfinder.com and adoptapet.com. I want the dog to look its best for that image...

I use a pretty simple setup and can shoot a portrait with just a minute or two preparation time. It's kind of a "cookie cutter" portrait setup but, it does effectively show the dog off. I probably have a dozen different colored background materials (usually made of fleece) and we choose the one that we think will look best for the dog's coloring. We thought that red showed off Jennie's coloring quite well.



We consider a head shot as one of the important images to show off a dog...

My wife will hold the dog in position using a very thin and lightweight show lead which I will edit out in Photoshop CS6.

My wife will often also do some last minute facial trimming before the portrait is shot. Sometimes I notice something in the viewfinder that we have not taken notice of earlier. This is frequently a lock of hair that is obscuring the dog's eye or eyes. My wife will either trim that hair or use some hairstyle mousse to flatten the offending hair. IMO, the dog's eyes (as well as people's eyes) are the most important facets of any portrait.

Dog portraits are no different from people portraits. They look best when the subject is clean and well groomed and when shot with a suitable color background...

[NorthernFocus]

That Lorna really has some expressive eyes. And the second two are a great example of how much difference a little TLC can make. Nice work, photographically and more importantly with the dogs.

[rpcrowe]

We were at the Dog Days Of Summer Event in Cardiff by the Sea, California yesterday. Between 50,000 and 70,000 people attended. Lorna did not get adopted but, Gunner, another one of our dogs did get adopted and we had interest in a third dog.

We met a person who lived next to Lorna's family and he told us that they treated her terribly including their bratty boy breaking her tail when she was a puppy. She was 2-years old when they turned her over to us because they lost their home and the apartment into which they planned to move did not allow dogs.

We felt sorry for the family but since learning that Lorna had received no shots nor had ever been to a vet in two years and since she was mistreated by their brat; I now consider them good riddance!

We did meet a groomer at the event who volunteered to groom all of our rescue dogs free of charge. That was a great find and will save us quite a bit of money. Judy grooms most of our rescues but occasionally comes across one, like Lorna, who is difficult to groom...

[IzzieK]

Good weekend, Richard. I am happy for you.

[rpcrowe]

Lorna and her groomer, Kim. I shot this for the Kim's Facebook page and wanted to include the window art. If I had more time and the gear with me, I would have flagged Lorna and the groomer to get rid of the speckled light pattern. I did not have a choice regarding time of day to shoot either...



More pictures of Lorna, as she looks now, are coming soon...

This is the groomer who has volunteered to groom our rescue doge free of charge. The shop is located on Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, CA. across the street from Cal State University San Marcos.