Welcome to DelaFoto's Photography Blog. Look for Denver photographer, Ariane's latest images & personal stories about recent photo sessions and more.
Animal Assisted Yoga
When I'm photographing people and their beautiful animal companions, I love learning about the inspiring things they are up to. In this case, it is lovely Kristin and her Newfoundland, Bruno.
Several years ago, Kristin was struggling with the impending loss of her mother in NJ who had Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. It would bring her mom such joy to receive puppy pictures of Bruno. Through that experience, Kristin started to take Bruno to Highlands Behavioral Health System, to help their patients heal. She also started to take yoga on a regular basis and noticed that the yoga helped with her own grief process.
Kristin soon realized that she wanted to combine animal assisted therapy and yoga with patients. Kristin created, Downward Dog Upward Spirits to do just that. She now offers yoga programs designed exclusively for behavioral health hospitals and treatment centers, and Bruno is certified to do animal assisted therapy through Denver Pet Partners.
The other day, Kristin and a patient were talking about rescue dogs, and a patient got down on his knee to hug Bruno and said, “Bruno, today, you rescued me!” If you'd like to learn more about Kristin and her great work, you can email her at [email protected]
Studio Fun with Triples!
Yellow Labrador Retrievers, Bella, Gracie & Jack came to DelaFoto for their first ever studio session. Spanning an age range of nearly 12 years, Jack is the youngest at 8 months and his sisters are 7 & 12.
Their range in color tones, differences in personality and age made for a fun series of group shots. Their mom and dad, helped get them into position, lining up 3 labs into nice sits is no small task. We used a neutral, grey backdrop to set off their creamy/gold colors and a chocolate brown rug to prevent slipping & sliding for the older gals.
The first image shows their curiosity and concern, looking to mom & dad for treats. The second image, we start to settle in but happen to capture young Jack as he springs up and heads for the strange photographer lady, making those weird sounds!
The final image is after a minor readjustment, we put Jack on the left so that Gracie can sit more comfortably. We have all butts down and heads pointing forward, tricky since each dog reacts differently to each attention getting sound I make.
When all is said and done the image that wins mom and dad's heart is the first one, since it displays the 3 dogs' personalities well, and it's just darn cute. I personally get a kick out of the second image, with the 2 girls sitting calmly as Jack takes charge!
Something for everyone here, plus a series of fun head shots of each pup. A super way to showcase their personalities with simple, elegant portraits. Thank you to Kristin & Keith for bringing in your wonderful family members, lots of Lab love here!
In the Studio: Roxy & Tank
While many of my sessions with a pair of dogs involve a matching pair, Roxy & Tank were quite the opposite! The combination of Roxy, the Black Lab and Tank (American Bulldog), were challenging on several levels.
First, there's the technical aspect of lighting. You do not want overexpose the white fur or underexpose the black. Second, their personalities were just as opposing. Roxy is a quiet, shy, gentle soul. Newcomer to the family, Tank is a rambunctious boy who could hardly sit still.
Their patient mom had gotten the photo session as a surprise gift for her husband. The main goal was to get a great portrait of these pups together. Being large and strong, positioning them and gaging their very different reactions to my photo taking cues was a challenge. We did get this winning shot, among others that I think capture their personalities perfectly in the DelaFoto style.
Cats of Southern France
After wrapping up DelaFoto business for 2015, I headed off for a relaxing 2 week trip to visit my family in Southern France. We were blessed with mild sunny days during most of our visit to the french countryside.
While vacations can be a chance to put my camera down and take a break from photography, not on this trip! Who could pass up the chance to capture the gorgeous scenery and potential portraits in a place so rich in natural beauty and character.
While I did use my iphone for the day to day photo ops, I could not skip over my Canon for portraits of the beautiful french cats I encountered. There are always cats at my father's home and we often see cats lounging outside other country homes and in the rustic villages we visited.
These are extremely affectionate, resilient cats and were a joy to get to know (while we missed our dogs back home). Shown here are 6 month old kitten "Jojo" and my sister's fluffy furbaby "Fauve". Finally, a portrait of my sister with a super grumpy, striking stray Persian we met while out exploring.
Photographing Kids & Dogs
When I photograph children and pets, I like to keep it simple. The keys to success are some good planning, rolling with everyone's personality, and lots of patience.
In this case, adorable pictures for mom's holiday cards were created with a blue & white theme. The boys had coordinated outfits (I was sent photos in advance so I knew what to expect). The set was bright, cheerful and comfortable.
Starting with just the kids, we let them be silly and make funny faces. Meanwhile, the pups got to roam the studio, sniff and check things out. Everyone got their natural tendencies and curiosity out of their system.
Then came the photos of all four of them. Fortunately, dogs often enjoy all the attention and they give children a purpose: to hold them for the pictures!
Mom stayed behind the camera with me and helped with directing the boys while I got the attention of the pups. After some wiggling, twisting, sliding around we get what we're looking for. The one shot where everyone is smiling, looking forward, not blinking and woo hoo! they look great!
With that goal met, we broke into individual photos of each boy, with each dog, and even some great portraits of the dogs alone. All in a half hour. I'm a big fan of keeping it quick too, before we lose everyone's patience. Photographing kids and pets, not easy, but well worth the results. Thanks to the determined parents that go for it, they make for some real treasures!