Holy moly, WHAT a duo!! With Australian Kelpies, it’s all about the ears. Not really, but I do looooove their ears!!! The bigger the better! 🤩 Ava is all grace and Grit is all discombobulated puppy (in THE most adorable way of course! 🥰) I was headed out of town and short on time, and Ava and Grit came to my rescue – willing to meet me just after sunrise in order to model for my weekly session.
Ava is gorgeous and so well trained and would do just about anything we asked (she wasn’t excited about standing on a narrow ledge, so we didn’t force the issue) and she managed to look regal while doing it all! And Grit was all puppy enthusiasm – just here for the experience and loving every second of the newness.
“Top Tier Ears”

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

More about Ava & Grit, straight from their mom:
On the experience: “I was happy with how my 6yr old working kelpie Ava interacted/performed during the photo session. She does agility and tricks and for fun we also do nosework and canine freestyle (dancing) so this was a fabulous opportunity for me to ask her to listen/perform in a new/different environment. The experience gave me several ideas of static positions that I can work on with her. The experience also provided me feedback with where we have areas for improvement that will help us with our canine sports (focus, balance, precision positions). This was a big outing for my 4mo old working kelpie, Grit. I was so happy with the focus that he gave Ginger during the session! He’s very wiggly and being so young doesn’t have a repertoire of verbal commands. Ginger showed great patience and understanding working with him. It was a phenomenal experience for him as he got high value rewards for focusing and holding various positions. He's such a quick learner so this positive experience was excellent opportunity for him and I’m sure it will help shape good behaviors tomorrow.”
During the session: “We were planning on putting my 6yr old agility dog on a higher (4’) tall position for one picture. She was a little apprehensive/unsure of it while my 4mo old baby dog was being steadfast with no fear wherever we placed him, so I decided to try him in the higher position. At first, I stayed close after he was placed to give him rapid rewards for staying in position and when he didn’t show any hesitation, I was able to circle out further. What a great experience!”
On expectations: “I have such a hard time getting good photos of my black dogs. They just get lost on the background of most of my photos.”
Extra info: “I was apprehensive about taking my 4mo old dog for a photoshoot in a populated/unfenced area, but my concerns were put to rest with Ginger letting me know that safety was a priority for her, and we could keep the dogs on leash the whole time. There weren’t many folks out and about when we had the photo shoot, so the distraction level was very low. My goal is to improve my relationship with my dogs each and every day… finding things to do with them that they can enjoy while listening/interacting with me. I really appreciate Ginger for providing a novel experience for us that helped us realize that goal today!”
Some other images from our session:





Additional (unedited) images from the session:

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.
Comments