Client Session ~ Geoffrey the Rhodesian Ridgeback X

I’ve known Geoff and his Mum for a couple of years now as they frequently visit the dog beach that I used to take my Great Dane, Luna to on the Gold Coast (before I moved to Brisbane). Geoff and Luna get on famously and he is one of the few dogs that Luna will quite happily race around with madly. Geoff just loves Luna and his mum Laurel tells me, every time he sees a similar dog at the beach he wants to go say hello, thinking it’s his girlfriend Luna!

Laurel was lucky enough to win the raffle at the 2011 Million Paws Walk at Miami which included a mini session with me. She came up to my stall on the day and was so excited she’d won. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the session ever since.

We originally booked the session in for before Christmas, but due to the weather we had to reschedule so many times I lost count. Patient clients are the best! Eventually though we had a beautiful afternoon to work with and I am so happy with how the light looks in the photos. I can’t stress enough how much of a difference beautiful light makes to the final look of your images.

Some of you might be familiar with this well known dog beach on the Gold Coast – called “the Spit” – it’s popular with locals and probably the least touristy beach on the coast. The ramp up to the kiosk at the start of the jetty is where we started our session.

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about our session beforehand, because what I remember about Geoff was him racing around madly on the the beach with Luna. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be hard to get him to stay still for more than two seconds! My fears were totally unfounded though, as well as having an active social beachy life, Geoffrey is also very well trained!

I am in love with this shot of Geoffrey with the kiosk in the background.

Geoff goes to obedience classes regularly and his mum Laurel actually volunteers at the Animal Welfare League, teaching kids how to interact with and train dogs. The result is of course, Laurel having a very well behaved boy.

The path behind the dunes heading up the very end of the Spit is one of my favourite places to shoot. I love the colours and the late afternoon sunshine makes the scene come to life.

The dunes are awash with little yellow flowers at this time of year and although Geoff is a big tough man-dog, I couldn’t resist posing him in front of them.

Further down the beach, the last of the afternoon light was just starting to drop behind the dunes. The view down the coastline includes the towers and buildings of Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and beyond, leaving you in no doubt that you’re on the Gold Coast!

Every time we had Geoff “stay” in a particular spot, when we’d finished Laurel would release him and he’d come racing along the dunes towards us, jumping big gaps between the dunes in some very impressive leaps and bounds.

Another aspect I love about shooting at the Spit are the dune trees – their long spindly bare branches make for an interesting background.

I couldn’t resist this shot of Geoffrey, silhouetted against the sky as the sun was setting.

Although he was rather tired (his second trip to the beach that day), Geoffrey was good enough to give me a lovely head tilt to finish off the session. I love this boy! Thanks for a great session Geoff and Laurel, I will have to bring Luna down for a trip to the Spit sometime soon.