Double Trouble

When I have a specific idea for a photo in mind, I reach out to my dog model network to see if anyone has has interest and availability, and that’s exactly what happened this week. I wanted to photograph two dogs together, and the very first respondent sent me a photo of what looked like twins – be still my heart! 😍 In discussions with their mom, I realized I was kind “over” photographing in my area, so I offered to travel and hour or so away to her neck of the woods to work with something a little more creatively fresh. She gave me a couple of location suggestions in Evergreen, Colorado. The “be prepared” trait in me is always a little nervous walking into a photo session in an unknown location, so I went a few minutes early to scope out the area. And omggggg – it was wonderful – just what I needed to build my excitement! Meet Gibbs (10.5) and Jax (4.5), two friendly and talented Australian Shepherds. They happily posed on rocks, on walls, in little tiny caves, and were rockstars at one of my favorite poses: the over-under. And they had the most incredible synchronized head tilts I’ve ever seen. 🥰

“Double Trouble”:

Fun note: Usually, I prefer one of the very first images I take in a session. Because typically the dogs are interested and engaged and not bored with my noises yet, LOL. In this case, we were pretty much wrapped, however I was going to push my luck and photograph them in one more spot, on a log on the other side of the parking lot. When we reached our cars, I saw this fence marking the perimeter of the lot, and I pivoted – and their mom asked them to “paws” on the fence. Awwww. And amazingly, my noises still worked to get those head tilts! (Not pictured here though – I opted for the happy smily image instead. 🙃)

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

After I had Gibbs and Jax locked in to model for me, I realized I had another photography assignment due the same week, but it required an odd number of subjects. So I reached back out to their mom, asking, “Do you happen to have another dog that can tag along to the session, that we can phase in as needed??” 😬 Ha! And amazingly, she did, and was willing to bring Rottweiler Abby along for the session. Adding the extra dog required adding an extra handler, well, maybe not required, but it’s just easier with more hands on deck, someone to hang on to whomever is not in front of the lens at that particular moment. And thankfully, one of my previous dogmodel moms (Raven and Jordan) was available to fill the wrangler role. Since Abby is an often maligned “dangerous” breed, I thought it would be humorous to flank her with two fluffy Aussie “bodyguards”. 🤣 And I did manage some frames with her looking all happy, and the Aussies with more serious “tough guy” expressions, but ultimately I preferred the location and expression where all three of them look happy.

“Bookends”:

The behind the scenes (BTS) look of how I created it:

More about Gibbs, Jax, and Abby, straight from their mom:

• On the breed: “I've had dogs my whole life. I joined 4-H when I was 9 and showed my two Shelties. When I got older I knew I wanted a herding breed and my friend in college had a really cool Aussie. I was hooked! I've had Aussies since 2008 and they will always be "my breed". I love that they have good work ethic, they are smart but also silly. And they can snooze all day and be up for anything at a moments notice!”

• Their names: “Gibbs and Abby are both named after characters in the NCIS TV series. It was my husband's favorite show at the time.”

• On the session: “I loved that we got matching head tilts from both of the boys!”

• Session prep: “A good stay is a must! And you need to work up to adding distance to your stays.” (Author’s note: I am happy to photograph dogs on leash if they don’t have a great stay and/or are a flight risk. 🙃)

• Captured moments: “I know everyone has the cutest dog, but my gosh my dogs really can show off for the camera!”

• Comments about the photos: “Everyone loves them! And most agree that they are beautiful subjects.”

Additional images from the session:

Such a delightful outing!

Ginger Wick Photography is an award winning dog photographer specializing in creating beautiful custom artwork of dogs & their people. Based in Parker, CO serving the Denver area.