Travel Session ~ Peppa the Alaskan Husky in Canberra

It felt as though obsessively checking the weather forecasts and weather radar was my main pastime during my Canberra visit! I had booked in four shoots over five days and hoped that I’d be able to shuffle around the shoots if there was any cloudy or rainy weather forecast. Unfortunately, there was so much of that kind of weather (very changeable too) every shoot had mix of sunny and cloudy conditions, except for Peppa’s – which was entirely cloudy!

I always think of my ingredients for a great session to be light, location and expression. Even if my favourite lighting conditions (clear skies and sunshine) aren’t present, it’s still possible to work with the light that is available and put extra effort into the other two aspects.

Fortunately, my superstar model in this instance was the gorgeous Peppa – a unique looking girl who has brains and athletic ability as well as beauty – which gave me a lot to work with!

Peppa is what’s known as an Alaskan Husky – not an actual breed, more of a “type”. The more well-known Siberian Huskies are bred with selected other breeds including German Shorthaired Pointers, English Pointers or Greyhounds (among others) to create this type, specifically for speed and endurance in sled dog racing.

Peppa definitely gets those piercing blue eyes from the Siberian Husky side of the family though!

Watching Peppa run was the highlight of the session for me – she is super. mega. FAST! She really put my tracking skills to the test! I personally think there had to be some Greyhound in her somewhere…

Especially when chasing her ball directly towards me – it was actually a bit of a scary experience! Luckily, she has great co-ordination and never actually ran into me, despite her mum’s excellent ball throwing skills (right at me!).

Co-ordinated as she is, Peppa also had some goofy moments.

And while her energy levels and endurance are very high, there was a little bit of down time for me to capture the in-between moments.

The park that Peppa’s mum chose for the session features a network of trails through the wooded areas, which they actually practice their gig racing in, as they’re members of the Canberra Sled Dog Club.

Since the sun never made an appearance, I placed Peppa on some lush green grass with little yellow flowers and photographed her looking up. A cloudy sky acts like a big softbox and produces soft, even lighting – perfect for those more relaxed portraits.