A few of you may know that I officially started a pet photography division about a year ago. I bought my first DSLR camera and figured I'd be taking pictures like a pro within days. To say I underestimated what I had to learn about photography is a huge understatement. What I didn't realize is that I would love it so much. I love being behind the camera and I long for the day when I'm going to feel completely comfortable . As I mentioned in my last post, I do think I've learned a lot! Some of you also know that I love California and that we lived there for 3 years. We recently went back and this time I took my Nikon. I was only there for two full days and I spent most of the daylight hours with my camera in my hand.

We lucked out and were there when there was a storm off the coast so the waves were really big and that meant a lot of surfers were in the water. I went the The Wedge in Newport Beach which is a big surfing beach and then to the Huntington Beach Pier. Huntington Beach is also known as Surf City USA and it lived up to it. I could've sat there all day shooting photos but it was actually hot in SoCal so by late morning I packed it up. Here are a few pictures in and around southern CA: Corona del Mar, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.

About 1/2 mile from the pier is the Huntington Beach Dog Park so of course I spent some time there as well. I learned something on this trip. Pet photography is hard. Since all of my pet photography is outside in natural light, most of the dogs I photography are free roaming which means they're pretty unpredictable. If I were photographing them in a studio, the dogs would be a little more predictable and the lighting certainly would be. Outside, these are only two of the things that need to be considered. I had this epiphany while photographing the surfers. I was in a fixed spot and the surfers were fairly predictable. They were much easier to photography than the dogs on the dog beach. I still love photographing the dogs... especially on the dog beach because it was beautiful.

While at the Huntington Dog Beach, I noticed a woman taking pictures with her cell phone of her elder golden retriever. Not wanting to be too intrusive, I snapped a couple of pictures of the dog too. I approached her before we left the beach and gave her my cell phone number. I told her I'd taken a few pictures and if she'd like them, she could text me and I'd send them to her. She texted me and I sent her the pictures. I am not 100% pleased with the results but her response was "Ohhhhhh!!! I love them all!!! Thank you so much. Hugs."

I started my pet sitting business in memory of Sloan my chocolate lab. I started the pet photography business because of Buddy, our black lab whose health was failing and I wanted to have decent pictures of him. I've said this before but one of my biggest regrets is not having great pictures of Sloan. Providing that golden retriever's mom with those pictures gave me a feeling I can't even describe. The feeling is priceless. Here are some pictures from the trip. My favorite place in the world: southern California.

If you'd like images of your pets that you can treasure forever, I'd love to provide them to you.