So, South Carolina you say… getting warmer by the day, and we’re inspired to keep on truckin until we hit Florida! From what we can tell, Hilton Head Island is a playground for golfers and retirees… and a LOT of tourists!

It’s a carefully planned community well known for it’s “eco-friendly” development style, with strict building codes in place to ensure minimal impact on the environment, with the style of buildings and how they are situated amongst existing trees being strictly enforced. This includes everything down to the colour you can paint the building, the height and even the size and placement of corporate brands. As a great example, there’s a McDonalds that doesn’t even have have their golden arches on the building! Just a small discreet sign among the bushes at the edge of the road. Incredible!

We spent three days on the island, going for long walks and rides along the beach and exploring the many, many miles of bike paths stretching across the island. It was a totally relaxed few days with lots of time to unwind. Perfect

During one of our rides we did spot this gator… scary… I immediately decided not to let the dogs off the leash!! Yikes.

We didn’t have our camera gear on most of the bike rides, so the iPhone was put to good use on several occasions… sorry about the image quality guys!

Greta and Fritzi both loved exploring the beach and digging in the sand… and BOTH managed to find something nice and smelly to roll in!!! They were both treated to a bath when we got back to the hotel… do they look a little guilty to you?

We got a kick out of having our babies dressed in matching costumes this Halloween… Aren’t they the cutest??!!

When you truly love, love LOVE what you do, everyday is like a holiday. Each day starts out pretty much the same for us…wake up, grab a piping hot- freshly brewed coffee, play with the doggies, catch an episode of Entourage and get cracking on our jam packed day.

Us humans are prone to routine and lately it’s been the norm for our jammed packed days to continue on until the wee hours of the morning. It is very satisfying almost addicting for Dave and I to see the reactions of our clients…or should I say friends when they see they see their photographs for the first time. It’s really a driving force and motivation for us to keep at this crazy pace. At least we get to do it together!

As per Dave’s parents advice, we were due for a day off. We were both fully on board and wanted to invest in some serious "us time". Dave, Fritzi, Greta and I love getting back to nature and out of the big city whenever we get a chance. Exploring country dirt roads, and photographing old abandoned houses and barns always makes the top of our list.

We saved up until Friday for our big day off and of course it rained cats, dogs and quarter horses . Dave googled the weather network and said "hmmm…80% chance of thunderstorms…possibility of large hail…are you afraid of a little rain?" I was all like…"who..me, no. (did he say hail ?!?)"  Throwing caution to the wind, we embarked on our grand adventure!

As we loaded up the car, I asked Dave if he had any locations in mind. He revealed nothing…we were going on a surprise adventure!!! Unbeknownst to Greta, Fritty and I we were headed to the Badlands. When we arrived, we were all in awe…the Badlands totally rocked…but what exactly were they?! Land clearing left the soft red clay exposed to rain and created rounded hills. Circulating groundwater caused red iron oxide to change green making the narrow green bands. Wow… and only 40 minutes from Toronto- sweet!

We had an hour of fun at the Badlands. Ominous clouds loomed overhead and we knew we didn’t have much more time. At the first sight of rain the dogs ran for the hills. Greta was not impressed was sure to shake, shake, shake the rain drops off her pretty pink raincoat.

Geeesh, you’d think these dogs were made of sugar. We had to quickly dry these little ones off or they would never forgive us! Greta was looking at me like…"Mommy, you should know by now…we detest the rain!"

Ohhhh our sweet, adorable, little cutie pie Greta. It seems that no matter how many things you buy a teething puppy dog they always seem prefer your brand new designer pumps over a chew toy. I forgot how many pairs of shoes I accidentally donated to Fritzi’s cause, but Greta was quick to remind me! She’s soo cute and she’s really starting to get into mischief, chasing her big brother everywhere, jumping on him and bitting his ears. Fritzi doesn’t mind, he entertains her and somehow puts up with all of the nibbling.

This morning when I woke up, I was ready to take on the day. I made my way to the kitchen to pop on a pot of coffee and to my surprise I saw the cutest, yet not so cute display of affection-towards my shoes. This little stunt will definitely teach me not to leave my shoes by the front hallway anymore! Greta, the little dare devil, made it up her doggy ramp to the couch with my tastiest shoes in tow. It’s really hard getting mad at her for having such great taste in shoes, so I avoided all punishment (this time) and caught this little angel at work instead. I don’t think she’d listen anyway because she pretty much calls the shots around here! I know, I know spare the rod spoil the child~ Hmmm…

Do you think she’s making faces at me?!?

Fritzi doesn’t exactly love going to the vet. Whenever we hit the front doors he yanks me in the other direction and tries to make a run for it! I guess he associates vet visits with scary needles and he doesn’t like the cold stainless steel table under his toes. I’m sure his experience would be a lot worse if he didn’t have the BEST vet in the world, Dr. “Oats”. He always seems to take a little of the sting out of the visit with his kind voice and cheery nature as well as lots of treats.

Today was Greta’s big day. She was going on her first trip to meet Dr. “Oats”. I sat in the waiting room with little Greta as she peeked around at the other dogs from her new baby blue doggie bag.

I worried what the little pup might be in for since she is so tiny and is only half the size of what she should be for a puppy her age. She sat there gazing at me with her sparkling little eyes. As any caring Daddy would be, I just wanted her to be healthy and ok.

When Dr. “Oats” met Greta, it was love at first sight. He must have spent the first 10 minutes just gushing over her. He’s that way with Fritzi too, and you can tell he just loves all animals. Greta got her check up, a quick little needle and was given a clean bill of health!! I called Charlotte right away to give her the big news, she was completely thrilled that Greta was healthy as a horse.

Dr. “Oats” said Greta was just the runt of the litter, which means she’ll stay quite small but that doesn’t mean that she’s not healthy. When I got back to the car Greta curled up right away for a snooze. But just in case I got any ideas about taking her in for another needle she slept with one eye open!

Did you know that over 40% of households in Toronto have dogs! If there is one thing about Canadians it’s that they love love love their pets and Dave and I are no acception! We were so happy we could make it out to this years Woofstock and brought Fritzi for his 2nd year and Baby Greta for her 1st.

In order to accommodate so many wagging tails, the city of Toronto shuts down the section of Front St. right outside St. Lawrence Market. Check out the shot below Greta was actually named after this pretty Dachshund because “Big Greta” and I were neighbours not so long ago, isn’t she cute!

We met so many wonderful dogs and their owners on our stroll check out this giant Great Dane, he makes Fritty look like an ant! We and so many great vendors as well. We nearly cleaned out ShopPuppyLove.com. Fritizi got his brand new Puppia harness (very sharp!) and Greta got a new tank top, jacket and puppy bag. It was great because all of the proceeds of the purchases went to Pet Rescue so we were happy to shop and help!

Greta poked her little head out of her puppy bag and grabbed the attention of whoever saw her big brown eyes. We had people taking her picture, little children were running up to meet her, we even let a few hold her. She is so sweet, she just melts your heart

Woofstock had so much to offer any dog lover, Fritzi got a doggie ice cream and shared with his little sister! There was everything from a doggie diving contest and dog water park to puppy sized cowboy hats. With so many dogs we bound to meet some interesting characters. Check out goggles the chihuahua. We had an awesome time and will totally go again next year!

If you have a special pet that you’d like photographed, we do in-home photo sessions for $200 in the GTA. We also love to meet up at High Park and do photo sessions with owners and their pets - either playing or going on walks by the water. Give us a call at 416 824 3238 or contact us here.

This afternoon we went to a local dachshund breeder to pick out a new playmate for Fritty - we both had our hearts set on a little girl because we’ve already got a wonderful, but boisterous little boy! We really thought it was important to find a good breeder, and after making a several calls we found Cheryl, who’s been breeding dachshunds for 46 years - and has won all sorts of prizes and awards.

When we arrived for our consultation, we were greeted with about 14 adorable puppies, wagging their tails with sheer joy at our presence! We made our way to where the newest arrives were kept and met three beautiful little girls. There was a gorgeous 5 month old, an adorable 10 week old, then off in one corner of the room, lying ona soft bed was THE tiniest puppy we’d ever seen! Bright brown, inquisitive eyes looked up at us, and we asked Cheryl if she minded us holding this little beauty.

“Sure. Meet Tiny or Tid Bit.” She called her, the runt of the litter. “When she was born, we feared she wouldn’t survive her first day”… she’s had a survival story that you have to hear…. she was born very tiny, with an underdeveloped liver. Although this has meant her body has grown more slowly than it should have, her heart is strong and her mind is sharp! She’s a battler, that’s for sure. She’s 4 months old and only weighs 2 lbs compared to the 11 lb. average for Miniature Dachshunds, but she loves to run and play with the other dogs. Within minutes, we knew she would be the perfect puppy for us - we could provide her the extra love she needed and be close at hand to care for her. We’ll have the time and attention to help this little girl one day grow up big and strong. Please help us welcome Little Baby Greta!!!

Ahhh the life of a dog, wake up, scratch, eat, go for a walk, play fetch, go for a walk, sleep, repeat…Yes it’s true even dogs need a vacation sometime. And when our dog Fritty does it he does it right, he hits the beaches of Southampton! With wedding photography season well on the way we thought it might be nice to take a little get away before it all begins. There are so many awesome places in Canada to take a vacation, but we always seem to be drawn back to my parents place by the beach…gotta love it When we get there we usually adopt Fritty’s daily routine as well and eat twice as much as we usually do. Fritty and I try to keep all the eating under control with our morning runs on the beach. His legs may only be 3 inches high, but this wiener dog can book it something fierce!! He is always leaving me in the dust but that’s ok, we love enjoying the sound of the waves hitting the shore, the sun on our backs and the feeling of the sand under our feet.

Dave loves the beach just as much as Fritzi and I do so we decided to all head out for an afternoon stroll together. Dave has this game he plays with Fritty, through the stick and… hide…No…no it’s waaay less complicated then it sounds but they both love it. So on one of these many adventures they have together Fritzi decided to out smart Dave and give him a taste of his own medicine… he ran for it with his new found stick. We later found Fritty in a “cave” not too far away with his stick in tow and he wasn’t willing to let go of it any time soon! Check out little Fritty… he has a serious addiction to fetching sticks…I think we may need an intervention.

We started our morning off right with a highly nutritious Breakfast of Bacon & Eggs at a local greasy spoon. We meet up with some photographers Tif, Alex and Jaymz to chat about whats happening in the world of photography, catch up and bounce ideas of each other. It’s great hearing what everyone’s up to these days and finding an excuse to eat Bacon!!! I know this isn’t the best shot of us, but hey… Sorry guys! haha.

After Breakfast we headed out to the live taping of “daytime”…I was running around (while Dave sat in the audience…supervising lol) shooting the show, guests, crew and the rockin’ audience. We met some awesome people on the show like the Hosts of daytime Kim McCleary and Gurdeep Ahluwalia and Producer Marissa Corrigan. Oh, and we can’t forget Michael Craig of Barefoot Wines had a pretty awesome set up too…(In case you’re wondering Michael, yes, we will shoot for wine. haha)

Since we started our day at the ungodly hour of 7am we ran to Starbucks and downed 2 Grande Lattes, picked up Fritzi the weiner dog and headed out to Sutton, Ontario. We were on the way to meet Jen and Brent our super sweet couple that we’re shooting this Summer. On the way we took a detour and nature hike with little Fritty (as Dave calls him) He’s sooo happy that Winter is over, his little legs are so short he can’t do much in the snow. We got so many shots of all of the beautiful budding plants and flowers, but my faves by far were the gorgeous sprouting Fiddle Heads.

While hiking in the forest Fritzi discovered a little pond and dove straight in. He learned how to swim last Summer he’s really become a little water rat!! We had to bribe him with Hagen Daas to get him out of the water.

We met Jen and Brent at their beautiful little stone chapel by the lake. I was blown away by it’s charm and the location on the water is so amazing. Needless to say we were totally stoked!! We caught this little “church mouse” peaking at us so I had to snap a shot! We headed down the little winding road led us to “The Briars” a gorgeous country club with tons of old world charm and lots of beautiful shooting ops for the big day!!! Look at these two… Jen and Brent are so cute together, we can’t wait to capture their love for each other on June 28th.

We finally rolled into Toronto/home at 10pm. This is an interpretation of how it looked to us after our crazy day!!!