Happy Golden Retriever Day!!

I don’t have golden retrievers myself but they have been, by far the breed I’ve photographed most frequently since I’ve become a photographer.

In 2022, I photographed 30!

Already in 2023, I’ve photographed 11. Two of the 11 were highlighted in my last blog post and the photos in this blog post are from the other photo shoot.

And yes it was as fun as it looks.

This video has sound so consider yourself warned! It was made by the breeder so she chose the song. LOL

This video is dog mom Rory following her 8 puppies to our photo shoot. The puppies were crated and the crate was strapped to the four wheeler’s driver so they weren’t going anywhere. This drive was about 2 minutes long and was the easiest way to get the puppies to the photo shoot location.

When I first got into dog photography in 2015, I met a woman Courtney Higgins at an event at a local doggie daycare. She’s a Charlotte based dog trainer.

Courtney and I hit it off immediately. She is also a lover of photography.

Fast forward 6 years and we are friends. She is the one currently helping me work with my dog Molly and her leash reactivity.

When I need dog models for commercial photo shoots, she is my go to because her dogs are so well trained, always well-groomed, and super photogenic.

In the past couple of years Courtney has also become a respected golden retriever breeder. You can find her training and breeding details on her facebook page Trek Goldens. She recently combined her training and breeding under one name, they were formerly Steadfast Training and Golden Wise.

If you follow my Instagram page and see all of the golden retriever puppies I photograph, most of them are hers. She hires me to photograph her puppies and she gifts the new puppy parents with a photo. Here are a few sample posts of her dogs:

golden retriever puppy Wimble
8 week old golden retriever puppy
Ace - one of my personal favorite photos from 2022 - this photo is also my current screensaver and looks much better as a panoramic than cropped square for Instagram!

Because of Courtney, I discovered my love of photographing puppies.

Here’s a behind the scenes video of what was happening as I was photographing the puppies running towards me. Thanks Courtney for capturing this moment. I always love the behind the scenes videos and photos.

This is one of the reasons why I love my job so much.

Golden Retriever lovers, this one is for you!

Our blog circle topic is Golden Retriever Day. Next up is Douglas, Wyoming photographer Erin Schwartzkopf of Erin Kathleen Photography shares a Golden Day where Cooper the Golden Retriever was celebrated! Be sure to click the link at the bottom of each post to make your way around the circle.