Misty day Dog Photography, Portable Studios and Wasted Energy

Jamie Emerson runs Hairy Dog Photography in the North East of England covering Durham, Newcastle, Darlington, Northumberland and beyond.  Bespoke pet photographer, specialising in outdoor, lifestyle portraiture.


Almost every time I step out for a dog walk...

...I'll have a camera of some kind with me.  Sometimes I'll also have high hopes of a decent photograph but usually it's purely force of habit.  Today looked 'interesting' outside - huge rolling fog banks drifting through hollows, causing trees to suddenly loom up before being immediately wreathed in mist again.

So rather than the usual point and shoot, or small DSLR with one small, prime lens, I hefted one of the big cameras into my rucksack along with the monstrous 70-200mm lens.  A weighty combo.  I'm sure that most of us have gone for a walk with a camera, only to return home without the blooming thing leaving its bag.  Well, I do that a lot, so if I have the 'Big Guns' with me, I pretty much force myself to take at least one photo.And yes, it was pretty much a waste of effort - what should have been a set of beautiful, ghostly, ethereal photos was in reality, some photos of greyness with hints of tree...

In light of the lack of visible subject matter, I reverted to my default setting of dog photographer and got one passable shot of Kasper in the woods, where the fog was less thick.  So at least carrying the big camera for a few miles wasn't a complete waste of effort!

In other news, I recently visited Charlie the Spaniel in Byker, Newcastle for an indoor pet portrait photography session.  My portable studio squeezes into surprisingly small spaces and although I do specialise in outdoor, lifestyle portrait work, I'm equally at home in a studio and always relish the chance to get creative with the lighting.  Charlie and his people behaved admirably throughout - you can see his full gallery here on the hairy dog website.

If you'd like to book your dog in for a session, please feel free to pop over to the main Hairy Dog website to learn more or get in touch using the hairy dog contact page.

Coffee table photo books

Beautiful hardcover little black books!

Lots of people are not so good about making up their minds - it's the human condition.  Faced with 40 beautiful photos of a favourite dog, it's not surprising - most of my clients want all of them!

For all these people, may I introduce my Little Black Books.  These are 14 page albums containing 26 photographs from your session.  They're a lovely, dinky size at 7x5".  The pages are top quality photographic paper bonded to a really super-thick substrate.  The quality really is amazing.  So much better than any of the online photobooks available.  Just the perfect solution for those who can't decide which are their favourites.

Here's what they look like...

You may choose to have printing on the front cover

Super-thick pages are UV laminated for a very long life

Photographic paper ensures brilliant, vibrant colours

As always, please do take a minute to look through my dog photography from all over the north east and just call Jamie Emerson on 07866127732 to book your session or to ask any questions.  See you on the dog walk :-)

Durham Dog Walks in the Sunshine!

Today's sunny Springtime walk with lots of photographs...

Here at Hairy Dog Photography, Kasper the dog and I are always overjoyed when the first signs of Spring start to show on our local walks around Durham.  The wild garlic coming through, blue skies and proper sunshine (!), the first splashes of green.  Grand!

We had Finlay the baby with us today too - he seemed to enjoy it as much as Kasper and I.  The notion struck me to take my least used lens today - a 14mm Samyang fisheye (stupidly wide angled lens).  It's a lot of fun but sees very little use as it's a bit, well, silly really.  It's good for the odd shot at a wedding and has even made the occasional appearance at a Hairy Dog photoshoot but for the most part, it's sadly neglected.

Really enjoyed using it today - it's obviously very limiting and pretty soft until it's stopped down to f8 or thereabouts but it is always interesting!  The manual focus is a challenge too, especially with a fast moving dog...

If you'd like a photo session with your dog, or know someone who might, please don't hesitate to get in touch through the Hairy Dog site.  Pet photography gift vouchers are available too and are always a lovely present.  If you just want to know what it's all about, take a look through the galleries and the "About" page.

I think you'll find this is a public footpath...

First port of call - Mallygill Woods ( Jamie Emerson, Hairy Dog Photography ).

This is what the 14mm Samyang lens looks like at f2.8.  Not so good for bridal portraits :-D

Moorhouse Woods dog walk, Durham, by Jamie Emerson

I love what the Samyang lens does to the edges of the frame at f2.8.

Just checking he's still there...

If you do want to book a dog portrait session, please feel free to call me (Jamie Emerson) on 07866127732, or just drop me an email on jamie@hairydogphotography.co.uk

You can also visit my main Dog Photography Website and have a look round the galleries.

See you on the dog walk!