Congratulations to the two winners of our Pet Photo Contest.
1st place within Perth is Kate from Ellenbrook with her photo of Patch.
And 1st place outside of Perth is Kimberley from Huntington of NY, USA with her photo of Parker.
Thanks to everyone who entered and voted!
HORSES ARE HERE AND WE’RE EXPANDING!
Houndstooth Studio is proud to officially launch Houndstooth Horses (HH).
Every Thursday as of 17th May will be horse photo day, with images captured off site and using natural light. We will also be growing our HH team to include an additional horse photographer! Watch this space for details.
For horse session info and bookings, please email us at info@houndstoothstudio.com.au
Giddyup!
Win with Houndstooth Studio in our pet photo competition! There are two prizes – so two winners and anyone can enter no matter where you live!
The competition is open to all Houndstooth Studio Facebook followers from now until 5pm WST on Tuesday 6th March 2012.
It’s easy to enter – Just upload a favourite and fun pet photo here then post your photo link onto your wall and send your photo link to friends and ask for their vote. Make sure you let them know that only VOTES count and not LIKES!
One photo entry per person can be submitted and you must have taken the photograph yourself and be able to produce the original file if requested. The photo can be of any domestic pet (yes, os if your sheep is domesticated, go for it), not necessarily your own. One vote per person can be placed per day.
The two winning images will be the photos with the most votes where the photographers location is:
Perth (Winner 1)
Outside of Perth (Winner 2)
… as of 5pm WST on Tuesday 6th March 2012
The prize for Winner 1, the resident of Perth, whose image receives the most votes (and who lives within 1 hour of the Perth CBD) is a 2 hour one-on-one Better Pet Photography lesson with our multi award winning photographer Alex Cearns AND a studio pet photo session for up to two pets from the same household including a 5inx7in print. This photo lesson will take place in the winners home and will be a fun and informative session filed with tips to help improve their pet photography.
And the prize for Winner 2, those outside Perth (including interstate and overseas), whose image receives the most votes will be a $100AUD donation made on your behalf by Houndstooth Studio to an animal charity of your choice, AND a 12in x 18in wildlife print from our website, also of your choice.
The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Prize is not transferrable or redeemable for cash.
So get snapping and uploading and don’t forget to share your photo link with friends and ask for their vote! Good luck!
Sometimes you see a web site that makes you go “Awwwwwwwww” … and the “Benfelds Boxers and a Griffon” site does just that! The site is managed by Vickie, a loyal supporter of Houndstooth Studio. It features some of the portrait images we captured of Vickie’s boxer gal Charli and griffon Monty – plus some adorable boxer pup photos taken by Vickie herself. The presentation of our pics really is superb and Vickie has created a professional and comprehensive website containing everything you need to know about her beloved boxers.
If you are in the market for a healthy, happy boxer pup from quality bloodlines, then Benfelds Boxers is one website you don’t want to miss. Check it out the home page by clicking here, or the photo gallery by clicking here.
As always, the studio has been a hive of activity over the past few weeks. Apologies for taking so long to upload our recent client pics! There are more to come in another post soon too.
Behind the scenes I’ve been working with our draftsman on the new design of the studio renovation, and arranging the contractors so that we can get started ASAP! So excited to be creating a bigger and better space for my clients to visit! It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done and I can’t wait for you all to see it!
We’ve had a rush of ‘dog duos” in lately, meaning two pooches from the same family coming in for photos together. Shoots with two dogs are lots of fun and there’s always great pooch energy flying around! Plus it’s always the best feeling to nail the shot of both dogs in the one pic!
Some of the fantastic four legged friends we photographed are: Charli and Monty, Bender and Bogan, Millie and Max, Benny and Bart, Ash and Mohini, Pooh and Ruby, and Molly and Tasha. Plus a trifecta in Fluke and his cat brothers George and Porridge. And not forgetting individual visitors Stan, Bella and Cindy.
Charli was a beautiful boxer gal, yet at just 14 months old she is a seasoned member of the All Breeds Dog Club and each weekend she struts her stuff in the show ring. Her brother Monty the Montenegro, a 9 year old griffon bruxellios was a total charmer, filled with awesome attitude! Such a smooth operator with the “ladiiiiies”, stealing the hearts of everyone he meets.
Bender and Bogan came to the studio with their mum’s, who happened to be sisters. Bender did some ball acrobatics for me, whilst Bogan had a downright fab time jumping on and off the couch! Bender’s gold coat looked amazing on our black backdrop, whist Bogan had such rich, orange coloured eyes!
Millie and Max, a standard poodle and bichon frise respectively, were elegant and graceful during their shoot! Millie had red painted nails and at one point wore some pearls. Gentleman Max settled for a bow tie. Such grace!
Benny and Bart are two much loved rescue dogs who both shone in front of the camera. Their laughing shot of them together can’t but make you smile and has many people asking what the joke was, haha! What happens in the studio, stays in the studio… 
Ash and Mohini, also much loved rescue dogs, were a delight to work with. I was told that Ash is wary of strangers and always growls, but we hit it off right away and were friends from the get-go. Could have been the liver treats? Nah, I’m sure it’s my natural dog charm, haha ! Mohini had a beautiful white cross across her chest,which jumped out in her pics. She rocked out the head tilt in shot after shot!
I first met Pooh and Ruby at this year’s Million Paws Walk, and like Bender and Bogan, their mum’s are also sisters! They had their photos taken in the Houndstooth Studio pet photo booth and came back for more! Pooh the collie was soooo pretty, with lovely lines and perfectly groomed fur. Ruby the leonberger was a gentle giant, and both dogs helped me capture some assigned shots for the Nov/Dec issue of Dogs Life Magazine! Several clients have since told me that after seeing pics of Ruby they now want a leonberger! Can’t blame them! They are a magnificent breed. Deriving their name from Leonberg in Germany, according to legend the leonberger was bred as a symbolic dog, to mimic the lion in the town crest. They are related to St Bernard’s and Pyrenean Mountain dogs and have a beautiful nature. Ruby weighs in at 45 kilos (sorry Rubes!) and even has her own Facebook page!
Molly and Tasha, a lovely rottie and border collie pair, were well mannered during their shoot – usually they aren’t fussed with each other, but they put their differences aside for their ‘together’ shot. I was devastated to hear that young Molly has a heart condition. She is such a lively and beautiful gal and I really wonder sometimes why our beloved pets have to have to face such trials and tribulations. It’s just not fair. Thinking of you Mol!
Fluke , the 12 year old golden cocker spaniel with the best up-do hair ever, came to the studio with cats George (aged 16) and Porridge (aged 14). All three spent several months in quarantine earlier this year, after moving to Australia from South Africa. They had wonderful ‘plus ten in age” energy, and weren’t fussed by the goings-on in the studio. George and Porridge were almost too chilled as they just wanted to sleep and not be woken up constantly to have their photo taken. Fluke was a delight to work with and took some adorable shots.
The magnificent greyhound known as Stan visited us again – his first shoot with us was for a commercial client from Queensland back in May. This time ’round, we were able to do some pics of him infront of the black backdrop and I could be more creative. He was beautiful as always, and is one of my fave dogs!
Bella came to the studio at just 12 weeks old. A tiny maltese shih tzu cross puppy, she was cute beyond words. I made the mistake of jumping my hand towards her and saying “Hand spider”…which of course was then the only thing she wanted to chew on and bite! I couldn’t stop laughing, trying to take a photo with one hand whilst she constantly attacked the ‘hand spider’.
And last but not least, we met graceful 14 year old greyhound Cindy. An ex-racer, Cindy was one of the original 50 dogs re-homed by Greyhounds As Pets around 9 years ago. She was gentle old gal, who is battling on valiantly in her twilight years. Her mum told me every photo she has of Cindy shows her looking “terrified”. So I was very happy to capture pics of her smiling and looking like the regal greyhound she is.
Here are some of our fave pics from the photo sessions.
Monty and Charli
Bender and Bogan
Millie and Max
Benny and Bart
Ash and Mohini
Pooh and Ruby
Molly and Tasha
Fluke, George and Porridge
Stan
Bella
Cindy
In between our 5 day trip to Adelaide, we have been working hard in the studio, and have met some adorable dogs recently. Here are some pics from our recent pooch photo sessions.
First up is 6 month old black lab puppy Louis. He was such a cute little guy with a big personality – and he went crazy for the liver treats!
Then we met Bondi, an adorable boxer gal. She drinks out of a sports water bottle, and bought her zebra soft toys along to the shoot! She had two ‘bling’ imported dog collars which were simply magnificent – and suited her to a tee.
Bruno the happy chocolate lab paid us a visit! He reminded me of Scooby Doo and had soooo much character!
It was the week for boxers, with Sophie, an 8 year old, having some portrait shots captured as well. The pics were a gift from her mum to her dad who is working overseas!
And last but not least is Chilli, the 13 year old long haired jack russell. Age doesn’t stop Chilli from doing anything, not even this well balanced move!
Houndstooth Studio is coming to Sydney!! Direct from Perth, we are putting the feelers out to Sydney pet owners who may be interested in signing up for one of our special offer pet photo session packages.
The studio pet photo sessions will be for up to two pets from each household, and will take 1- 2 hours each to conduct. We will be using the facilities of a photo studio within inner-Sydney and are looking to come over on 24th, 25th & 26th September 2010.
We have four fabulous packages on offer for Sydney residents, with savings ranging from $295 to $905! We are offering prints, canvas prints and aluminium mounted prints as part of the packages. This is your opportunity to have your pets immortalised in stunning portrait prints, captured by a multi-award winning animal photographer! You can view our gallery online by clicking here.
Please contact Alex on 0413 174 069 or info@houndstoothstudio.com.au for further information.
We recently produced a new banner, quoting Meredi, one of our happy Houndstooth Studio Clients! We think her words ring very true!
At Houndstooth Studio we pride ourselves in our knowledge of animals – their behaviours, nuances, and movements. This knowledge can only be acquired through the dedicated use of correct animal handling techniques, and a strong understanding of animals developed over a long period of time. Studio lighting set-ups for animals, and the concept and execution of a pet photo session, differs entirely from the way a photographer approaches portrait photography for people. Our skills enable us to capture our subjects in the very best light (pardon the studio pun!).
So if you are in the market for stunning studio pet portraits captured by an expert, call Houndstooth Studio – Perth’s animal photography specialists.
…that’s around 7,000 dogs who attended this years RSPCA Million Paws Walk in Perth. Every year the walk seems to get bigger and better – and this year was no exception! We got up bright and early for our 7am set-up on site, and went about readying our display marquee and studio pet photo booth for the event. The display marquee was designed by Debora and manned by Debora and Rachael. It was a visual masterpiece, with lots of beautiful prints to look at! Every time I peered out of the photo booth I marvelled at the constant stream of people checking out our products and making enquiries at our stall. Thanks to everyone who came by! We had a record number of entries for our “Guess the dog treats” competition, and Elliot of Booragoon took home the big prize of a $500 photo session at Houndstooth Studio! Congrats to Elliot!
To cover off on the rest of the Million Paws Walk arena, Suzie, Em, Daniel, and Di (with puppy Jack in tow) were on foot patrol, handing out our flyer’s and answering enquiries.
I took pooch pics in the studio pet photo booth for three hours and there was a 20 metre long queue lined up at the door for most of that time! It was great to see so many of our clients and Facebook fans participating in the photo booth too! We raised a stack of money from print sales on the day, all of which went straight back to the RSPCA. Online orders are now available too until 19th of June. Our three volunteers (one on “security” and two on the “till”) did a fantastic job and really got into the spirit of the day with us – we are going to request them again next year! As always, Clare assisted with the animal wrangling, positioning the dogs for their photos. She worked harder than ever, giving 110%!
As the official photography partner for the RSPCA in WA, we can’t wait for next year’s Million Paws Walk. Enjoy the selection of pics from the pet photo booth!
Above: The Houndstooth Studio MPW display marquee. Image courtesy of Richard Barry Photography.
There’s never a dull moment around here – which we totally love! This week we have a new and exciting commercial partnership to announce! Houndstooth Studio has teamed up with Multi Direct to assist them in their mission to raise funds for charity organisations throughout Australia.
Multi Direct is a national telemarketing company based in Western Australia, and they act for several charity groups, selling products for the likes of the RSPCA in WA, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, NT & ACT, the Huntington’s Disease Association in WA, NSW, Qld, Vic and SA, the Bowel Cancer and Digestive Research Institute Australia, and the North Shore Heart Research Foundation. They have been providing support to charities, and jobs for the local community, since 1992 and as a professional outfit they even honour the “Do not call register”!
We are working with Multi Direct to consult on, and provide, images of RSPCA animals to use on their national RSPCA products. This is a new initiative on the part of Multi direct, who were very keen to work with us due to our capacity as the official photography partner for the RSPCA in WA, the fact that we are Perth based, and because our images are highly suitable to their product range. Plus the RSPCA think it’s a fab idea too and are fully supportive!
The first two images chosen for printing are featuring on one of four RSPCA tea towels, which are currently undergoing production. The image depicts a five week old RSPCA kitten, combined with a shot of one of our studio clients, a magnificent two year old border collie Ace. Staff at Multi Direct saw Ace’s photo on our website and although he wasn’t in the RSPCA Gallery, they thought it would be perfect for the tea towel brief, so made a special request to include it in the design. We have to say a big thanks to the fabulous Jayde and Bruce, Ace’s ‘parents”, for granting us permission to use it.
We think the tea towel looks fantastic and hope that sales raise lots of funds for the RSPCA!
I’ve included a sneak peek - What do you think?
Here’s to the beginning of a long lasting and fruitful partnership with Multi Direct.
