Max – Chihuahua Dachshund Mix

Meet Max who is a Chihuahua Dachshund mix, but I used him as a guinea pig in this shot on the little beach in Queensborough, New Westminster. Besides Max’s mom I had with me the secret weapon in a  form of a great art pet photographer  –  Bev Hollis!  I am not kidding! Bev came to Vancouver after her Victoria workshop and worked with me over the weekend. I love her work and I wanted to expand on my “creative approach” so I asked her to work with me. If you know Bev than you know when I say worked I mean it. From dawn to late in the night she shared her expertise, experience and friendship in order to help Off Leash Photography to get to the next level. It might sound funny when I say “to help Off Leash Photography”, but I mean it, I breathe my business, I am my business and when I get better so does my company.

More about Bev and upcoming changes in a moment, now let’s meet Max..

I known Max for a while, he lives in the neighborhood and we keep on running into each other on the walks. He is a small and very obedient 2 year old. His mom was a miniature Silver Dapple Dachshund and his daddy was a Cream Colored Chihuahua. What an incredible mix and you have to fall in love with the ears…

Max is a very playful fellow he likes to fetch things and dig holes on the beach. He listens very well, but when his pals come along he has to make sure to say hello, so he is gone..

Our session took place in the evening and on the contrary to the forecast it was getting dark quite fast.  It is pretty hard to get the action shots under these conditions, but since Bev said I cannot do it I had to prove her wrong…I am a stubborn student 😉

Within minutes the light was going away and we needed to get the sunset shots we came there for. All of us worked hard, we were impressed with Max that managed to stay still and let us set up the light that was giving us grief..But I am very happy with the end result..

It is quite amazing that this little dog was so patient with us, the flash kept on losing contact with the transmitter and every second the sky was getting darker…

I kept on adjusting exposure and Bev kept me on track. I tend to lose myself and snap snap she made me stop after each frame and check my exposures…

Below is a photo of Bev at the end of our first day.. This is the only one where she looks serious; she made funny faces on all other ones, she is such a goof!

Bev has teamed up with two other brilliant photographers and they are offering the workshops, check it out at Unleashed Workshops

Big thank you to Doris, Max and my inspiration and mentor Bev Hollis. Check out her work it is amazing!

I am so lucky to have such a fantastic friend and mentor.

Now, the big changes are coming.  My website is being worked on since April and it is in a final stages of a total change over.  I will post it on the blog since I know lots of you  just stick to the blog.

I am so excited about the revitalization of Off Leash and taking it to the next level, wish me luck. Thank you for checking up on me!