Commercial Pet Photographer // West Paw Shoot

Gah! I’m so excited to finally get to share these images! A few months ago, West Paw — a super-awesome dog brand from Bozeman, Montana — and I began planning a commercial photo shoot to tell the story of some new collars and leashes. We had to keep everything very hush-hush since the products weren’t yet on the market and were going to be revealed at Global Pet Expo.

As I went out and scouted urban, beach, and country locations in San Diego, West Paw and Westway (that’s really fun to say) put out a model call for dogs and their parents. We had an amazing response and received so many applications from dogs we would have loved to work with. In the end, we chose a mix of sizes and breeds who we felt would not only show off the products the best, but also represent a variety of dogs just like yours and mine. One of the things I loved most about our models is that West Paw didn’t restrict them to being only purebreds; we had quite a few shelter mutts! My favorite!

Our first location was an urban spot with a great crosswalk and café where we could sit & enjoy a coffee. Yes, I was in the middle of the road to get this shot. Yes, I had spotters. Yes, I was afraid of being run over. No, I did not get run over. Yes, I got many odd looks from passing cars. And, yes, it was totally worth it for the shot! That’s Jack Flash and Bailey. They were superstars!

A little later, Bailey and her new Saint Bernard friend Beowoof (how ridiculously awesome is his name?!) got to hang out for a while as their moms chatted over coffee. Bailey thinks she smells bacon; Beowoof is a realist and knows it’s for the table next to them.

Later that afternoon, we headed to the beach! Nala came out to play, first! She is the happiest Vizsla I’ve ever met and always has a smile on her face. We were tossing one of West Paw’s Zogoflex toys for her and she couldn’t get enough!

Kira and her mom drove all the way from Arizona to model for us! Kira got to play with one of West Paw’s Zisc toys as she modeled her perfectly coordinated collar and leash. A fun fact about Kira is that when I was fiiiiiirst learning the art of pet photography and attended a workshop all about it, Kira was one of our models. I absolutely love that we’ve stayed in touch all these years!

This beautiful, happy, wet, drippy beast is Rosie. Her mom volunteers with Rancho Coastal Humane Society and brought some puppies to our next shoot — but you’re going to have to wait for that blog post another day!

Rosie looooved to run and play at the beach. She was so, so happy the whole time! You might be asking who that is in the background in the image below… that’s Jeremy! We worked together on this shoot to capture still and video on this project. Our work really complements each other’s so we’re going to be putting together some packages for future commercial clients who want to add a little video to their photo shoots!

The next morning, we set off to the country for some sparkly morning sunshine shots. This goooorgeous black lab is Tallulah. She loved to explore the trails with her dad.

A fellow photographer and friend came out with her stunning brindle pup, Sadie. Sadie was laser-focused and was happy to be sniffing and adventuring in the chilly morning air. 

Next up was Jack, who happens to be Tallulah’s brother. He was all about getting to play in the creek! I think he would have stayed there all day!

Later that afternoon, we headed over to some of my very favorite drippy pepper trees. The light just sparkles through them and I knew it’d be a perfect spot for Mike and his mama to hang out.

After we finished up by the pepper trees, I went over to join Kahlua and her mom on the porch. The yellow flowers were in full bloom, so we had to put on the goldenrod Strolls hemp collar to match! I loved that these two didn’t take themselves too seriously. Clearly we had some really good laughs!

After all the laughs, we picked up the pace a little. Dory took us for a jog and showed us how to look absolutely fabulous while working out. Will she be coming out with her own workout video? I don’t know, but I sure hope so!

There’s no better way to wrap up two days of shooting than to get really ridiculously muddy so we grabbed Mike and told him it was time to get messy! The Jaunts collar that he was modeling is perfect for dirty dogs since it cleans up easily. And who doesn’t love a dirty dog? Well, probably their parents since they have to give the pup a bath! Hah!

I’m absolutely thrilled with how these photos came out and beyond excited that I got to work with such an amazing company. West Paw’s products are super-high quality and made in the USA, they have awesome customer service, and they’re so generous to non-profits — they donated all the toys we used in the photo shoot plus a ton of beds and blankets that they brought down from Montana to my favorite rescue, Lionel’s Legacy.

As I mentioned above, we did a second shoot for some more new products a few months after this one, so keep an eye out on the blog if you want to see those photos!