Phoenix, AZ Dog Photography

Susan Schmitz – Owner/Lead Photographer

I've always had a love for animals and art. It wasn't until I hit my mid-life crisis (Well, maybe it was a 1/3 life crisis... I'm still young... most days) and I moved to Sedona that I was actually moved to explore my artistic side.

I just started taking photos as a reference for my drawings & paintings. Then I started to appreciate the instant gratification of a photo. Once I learned Photoshop, the geeky-techy side of me was completely hooked! I found the perfect blend of personal interests; dogs, photography and technology. And from this merger, A Dog's Life Photography was born... and so was I.

Laura Sand – Photographer/Account Executive

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had three loves in my life… music, animals and photography. The first memory I have of taking pictures was when I was about six years old. I would run around my house and back yard taking pictures of all the things that I loved…my parents, my brother, my cat… well mostly my cat. The first memory I have of listening to music was the same year, although there is photographic evidence of me grooving to tunes through headphones before the age of two.

I’ve learned that life is very short and you only get one shot at it. I’ve followed my dream to a place that I never knew was possible. I met Susan in prison! Ok, let me clarify… it was the greyhound prison program’s graduation day and we were both there for the celebration. We clicked immediately and she began teaching me the ropes from the very first moment. The rest… as they say… is history.

Pawsitive Pet Foods

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Laura and I recently had the pleasure of meeting the fine folks from Pawsitive Pet Foods a few weeks ago at the Phoenix Pet Expo. I was especially interested in talking to them because I have been on an exhaustive search for an easy alternative to the homemade food that I have been painstakingly preparing each week for the last few years for my Doberman that has Chronic Active Hepatitis (CAH). I LOVE my Misty Blue to death but I don’t necessarily love slaving over a hot stove for her so often. That dog eats more home-cooked meals than my poor husband does.

I only had a few minutes before the doors opened at the Pet Expo so I quickly asked Julie if she could take a look when she wasn’t busy to see if she had any food that didn’t have any copper added to it. (Dogs with copper toxicity Chronic Active Hepatitis cannot metabolize copper and it builds up to toxic levels in their liver. This is the reason why she has been on a homemade diet for so long.) Later in the day. Laura stopped by their booth and they gave her a huge bag full of samples of some dehydrated all-natural foods that she thought might work for Misty. We thought that was super nice of them and I was excited to give them a try!

A few days later, I received a message from Julie with a long list of high quality foods that they carry. They listed out the nutrients and sorted by copper content. She and her husband had taken the time to go through every bag of food, figure it all out and type it all up for me. WOW! Not only did they remember to follow up with me, they completely went out of their way to make sure that I had all the info I could ever need.

The outstanding customer service did not stop there! There were numerous email conversations back and forth about which one would be the best food for my dog. Julie from Pawsitive foods was incredibly helpful and eager to make sure that I was 100% satisfied with my choice. We finally decided on the right food for Misty’s needs, a combination of Great Life chicken grain-free kibble and NRG Optimum Chicken with Vegetables and Oats. Then. get this… SHE DELIVERED IT TO MY HOUSE!! I was blown away. When I asked why they deliver (because it must take up a ton of their time), she said that they want to make sure that their customers are getting their money’s worth. They just charge enough to cover their gas to get the food to them. You also have a choice to come pick it up from them or have them ship it to you.

Seriously… these people are awesome. You must give them a try. Check out their website at www.pawsitivefoods.com or give them a call at 602-689-9895. You won’t be disappointed. If you have dogs with special food needs, they will stop at nothing to get you what you need. They are super knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. And they support local rescue groups, too!

I will be posting the list of dog foods and their copper contents along with Misty’s progress on the new foods in a separate post. If you found this website because you were searching for answers about CAH, you will probably want to check that out. In the meantime, click here for more info on Chronic Active Hepatitis and how Misty has managed to live with it for so long.

Posted in Dog Health and Nutrition

by adogslifephoto

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Our Dogs Are Our Teachers Too

Thursday, June 17, 2010

I read this today and loved it. Now I’d love to share it with you. Today’s Poodle model is Mario Andretti, beloved pet of Corinne Dudine, adopted from AZ Poodle Rescue.

~Laura

The Lessons We’ve Learned From Our Dogs:

Always run to greet loved ones when they come home.
Recognize the ecstasy of fresh air and wind in your face.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, lie on your back in the grass.
When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Enjoy long walks.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you’re not.
If what you want is buried, dig deep until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

~Posted by Bob Schieffer on CBS’s Face the Nation website

Posted in Misc

by adogslifephoto

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Meet Big Sexy

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Big Sexy came to A Dog’s Life Photography through our rescue group photo program. She is currently under the care of Mayday Pit Bull Rescue and is looking for a loving fur-ever home.

Even though she came into Mayday pretty chewed up from a recent dog fight, her foster Mom looked past all of this and found her to be an awesome girl. Big Sexy has lots of personality and charm, complete with snorting and grunting, but beware this girl can snore!!

Big Sexy was found by a young college girl. The circumstances are a little unclear, but looking at Big Sexy’s wounds, it was clear that she had gotten into a really bad dog fight. After being taken in by her foster mom, she was taken to the vet and was put on antibiotics to help heal her infections.

Big Sexy lives with 3 other dogs and 2 cats in her foster home, but it has become clear, when bringing in any new dogs, that she needs time to adjust to the new dog, as she gets a little overly stimulated, and will need a firm experienced owner to correct the behavior. Once she is corrected, she can usually get along with no issues. This behavior probably stems from having to defend herself in the past.

She has been in foster care for 4 months now, and has become a different dog, she loves to go for walks and does not pull on the leash, which is nice, she loves to wrestle with her foster siblings, and enjoys running around the yard chasing them. She was recently introduced to the pool and doesn’t care for swimming but will get in when she gets too warm. Big Sexy is absolutely adorable, she is smart, and learns quickly. She is crate trained, spayed, and micro-chipped and is up to date on her vaccinations.

For more info on Big Sexy, contact Mayday Pit Bull Rescue through their website at www.maydaypitbullrescue.org.

Posted in Dog Photos, Rescue Group Photo Program

by adogslifephoto

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Danielle - These pictures are BEAUTIFUL! I adopted Big Sexy last week and she is the most precious dog I have ever met. I love her! I may contact you for a print of one of these pictures.

Danielle Daigle - Susan… these are gorgeous photos!! I LOVE the pink ones. I wish I could take her. She’s seems so sweet!!

Jennifer Mazzocchi (Mayday Pit Bull Rescue) - These pictures turned out amazing!!! You totally captured her “feminine” side. Love it!

Let’s talk water

Thursday, June 3, 2010

I’m a regular at my local water store. I feel like I’m in therapy. Yes, my name is Laura and I buy water for my dogs. A bit extreme I know but I have to mention there is all kinds of wrong going on with Phoenix water. It’s a fact. That’s why there are stores on every corner where you can buy reverse osmosis filtered water and ice. So while I filter my own through the gizmo in the fridge, I buy the dogs’ water.

Now I’m not a Rockefeller so I don’t have money to throw out needlessly but this quite honestly is the best $2.50 I can spend on my dogs’ health. They drink more of the bottled stuff than they ever did of the stuff from the faucet. Not to mention, it is super cool if you travel with your dogs because you take the same water they always drink. So there are no upset tummies and consequential potty disasters. Nothing changes for them…except of course for the scenery.

Speaking of water and traveling with your pet, as you may know, we took a road trip last weekend for the Greyhound Gathering and I used the opportunity to try out my latest cool gadget. It’s called the Flydog Spill Proof Pet Travel Bowl. This handy thing fits on the back of one of the front seats and will not spill no matter what. Trust me, I turned that sucker upside down and still couldn’t get the water to come out. It’s super cool.
This is what it looks like:

My dogs loved it too. They drank out of it every time they got in the car. They took to it right away. The trick was to leave it out for them as their water bowl at home for a few days beforehand. So they were used to drinking out of it and knew exactly what to do when they saw it in the car.

It made for a more relaxing trip for all of us and even led to a puppy breakthrough. Drum roll please… Chloe went potty on her leash for the first time ever on this trip! I’m such a proud mom! Let me tell you, I’ve travelled over 2,000 miles with her both on my way home to Chicago and back, where she did not go to the bathroom for three days. I had to take drastic measures at one point. You don’t want to know. I believe that not only keeping the same water but also having it available for her constantly made it happen.

So be a regular at your water store. Buy those big jugs in 2 or 3 gallon sizes. Once you have the bottle it only costs a few bucks to fill it. Your dogs are worth that much.

Posted in Dog Health and Nutrition

by adogslifephoto

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Fix Your Photo Facebook First Friday Winner for June

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Fix Your Photo Facebook Fridays winner for June is Sandi Wittenberg! Sandi submitted a photo of a friend’s dog, Mariah, that passed on to the Rainbow Bridge recentlly.

Here is the photo as submitted on our Facebook page:

Tips for taking this type of photo:

I had a hard time with this photo because it must have been taken at a very low quality setting on the camera. So, there was a lot of digital noise that degraded the photo. Also, since the dog was laying on a blanket with a very bright color, a lot of the red was reflected back onto the dog which made his fur look odd. I would recommend using at least the medium quality setting on the camera and using a neutral color blanket.

Tips for editing the photo in Photoshop:

I had a hard time getting the noise out of this photo even using the most advanced techniques. So, I decided not to give it more of a graphic image feel so I could get away with smoothing out the colors.

I started by making a duplicate layer copy then using the “Cartooned” filter in the Clean set of filters by Topaz Labs. I played with sliders so I had some crisp edges.

I reduced the opacity of the cartooned layer to 75% to bring back a little of the detail from the original photo.

Then I used the clone stamp tool to get rid of the black thing behind the couch and the healing brush to clean up the hair on the blanket.

I then bumped up the vibrance and saturation both 16% to give it a little punch.

There was too much red being reflected onto the dog from the blanket so I added a selective color adjustment layer and in the reds category I changed the values as follows – Cyan +8, Magenta -15, Yellow -3, black +21.

Here’s what I ended up with: