Client Session ~ Bam Bam the Golden Retriever at the Gold Coast

Golden Retrievers rank very highly on my list of favourite breeds. They always have the loveliest temperaments, with that perfect mix of fun, goofy and when they get older; chilled and wise. At eight months old on the day of our shoot, Bam Bam was at that awkward stage between puppy and adult – just starting to look like an adult but still with a lot of puppy silliness! Luckily there is heaps of space for dogs to race around off-leash at the beach, so this is exactly what Bam Bam did for the first half hour or so.

Interspersed with digging and thoroughly rubbing his face in the sand for good measure.

The Spit on the Gold Coast is one of my absolute favourite places for dog photography sessions. It can get busy on weekends, but during the week it’s often fairly deserted and there’s a long stretch of beach that is a dedicated off-leash area for dogs. There’s a patrolled flagged bathing area for people, so you can get in and have a swim with your pup! The lifeguard towers make cool features in the backgrounds of photos too, setting the scene nicely.

Bam Bam is much loved by his mum Sally and dad Chris. On choosing him, they had this to say:

“Chris and I decided we wanted to buy a puppy and we started researching breads that would suit us best… We decided on a Labrador/ retriever and waited anxiously for someone to advertise puppies…. We were at breakfast one morning and I happened to stumble across an add and we went to see ten of the cutest puppies I have ever seen in my life… Bam Bam was the chubbiest little puppy he kissed us and wagged his little tail when we picked him up for a cuddle… They say you dog chooses you, we definitely chose each other… He has the funniest little personality… Both Chris and I love the little monkey to bits!!”

Living right near the ocean at Currumbin on the Gold Coast, Bam Bam gets to go to the beach every day – what a lucky boy!

You may have noticed a distinct lack of sunshine in these photos, quite different to my usual style.

We’d scheduled the shoot for the early morning on a Saturday morning and I awoke to stormy weather! By the time I’d driven down to the Gold Coast, the rain had mostly cleared but it was still quite overcast, with dark clouds threatening to crash the party. The light cloud cover never quite cleared – but I love the way the light turned out – it was almost as if the sun, in desperately trying to peek through the clouds, settled for asserting a gorgeous soft warm glow over the scene instead.

What I see through the lens doesn’t always translate to how the raw file is recorded and often in cloudy conditions, the images tend to have a colder blue cast to them. This can be easily brought back in the editing process to re-create the feeling of the light on the day – here’s a “before and after” that I shared on Facebook.