All of our dogs have a fair amount of experience in front of the camera and in a studio environment. However, our lives have been a bit hectic since our youngest was born 11 months ago and until yesterday, we hadn't had an opportunity to set up the strobes and get some really good photos. Plus, we had the added incentive of having our friend Melanie Leon here to celebrate her 21st Birthday. We've known Mel and her mom, Dr. Jane Leon, for more than 15 years and both have helped deliver 4 of our 6 litters over that time. So, it was time to catch up and to update our puppy portfolio.
First, here's a picture of Melanie with some of Annie's second litter born in 2001. Annie (Ch Nordike's Ruffiann V Mobster) was our first Rottweiler, first show dog, first champion and the first dog we ever bred. She had 9 puppies in her first litter and in her second, Annie had 8 puppies and Mel actually helped pull one of the puppies out that had gotten stuck in the birth canal. Mel's mom is a veterinarian and both are incredible with animals.
Over the years, Mel has been the favorite kid of all our dogs but none more than Rowdy who just totally adored this young lady. Here's one of my favorite portraits of the two of them taken when Mel was graduating from highschool 4 years ago. I think you can see how happy Rowdy was when Mel was with him.
Mel helped deliver the Scampy litter but she's been pretty busy in college and we haven't seen her as much as we'd like over the past 11 months so the photo session was an opportunity for her and Scamp to catch up with each other. Here's my favorite shot from the session.
But, of course, no photo session can go without it's out-takes and this one is no exception. Here's Scamp asking if I'm sure this is how Ryan Lochte poses for his calendar
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Giving Mel a big smooch.
"Hiding" his treasure after stealing one of dad's toys.
And then deciding that this shoot was over!
We had a lot of fun and Scampy got a fair amount of studio time which will help when we get him ready for the next calendar shoot. And Mel has more Rottie portraits to add to her extensive portfolio. Hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed creating them.
Jim
