shine pet photos | modern pet photography

Jock & Jojo are the fabulous mascots of my favorite pet store in Venice called The Modern Dog. We had a gorgeous, sun-kissed shoot in Venice Beach - where else?

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Little Miss Jojo:

Jock:

Cleo: So sweet, so cuddly, and such a little food whore (her mama’s words, not mine!)

She reminded me of a floppy teddy bear. And I loved her velvety, pillowy ears.

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Cleo has a custom made tag with her nickname:

I was featured in the latest issue of Koream Journal, the ultimate source on everything Korean American.

I grew up in a very non-diverse town (I was just one of very few Asians in a graduating class of nearly 800 students!) and ended up getting really involved in Asian Pacific American activism in college. I helped found the oldest Asian sorority in the country at Penn State (founded in 1930!!) , served as the president for a semester, and also was a governing officer of the Asian Pacific American Coalition for a year. So to be recognized by my fellow Asian Americans is a huge, huge honor. I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Thanks Koream Journal for profiling me, and to Ellyn Pak for a fun interview. And of course, my girl Korissa for taking my photo with the dogs!

On newstands now!

I met the cutest little rescue dog named Ernie and I couldn’t wait to take his photos. Problem was, Ernie was DEATHLY afraid of the camera. Just even having it out around him made him scurry out of the room. And the sound of the shutter clicking completely freaked him out!

Usually with dogs like this, I have them over their camera shyness within 15-20 minutes. Not with Ernie though. I think the first hour of our shoot yielded a lot of photos like this:

And this:

And this: (poor guy!)

Luckily with a ton of patience, treats, and praise, Ernie slooooooowly started coming out of his shell. You can see him totally blossoming in these photos as the shoot progressed. Given how shy he was (I was a little scared I might not get a decent shot, to be completely honest!) I’m so proud of Ernie for sticking it through and eventually learning to trust me and my camera. And no telephoto lenses were used either - I shot with my 50mm and wide angles the whole way through - go Ernie!

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Ernie is his mama’s first baby. Second baby is on the way.

Thanks everyone for sharing all your stories! It was really hard to choose because there were so many hilarious stories contributed, but we finally narrowed it down to Tristan and Buster, the tree-eating bandit!! Congratulations! Thanks everyone for participating and stay tuned for the next contest.

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I’ve recently connected with the amazing Melanie Monteiro, author of the very popular “The Safe Dog Handbook: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Pooch, Indoors and Out.”

Like me, Melanie is also an advertising ex-pat - she quit a very successful advertising career in Los Angeles and traded it all in for a career focused on canine safety. She’s a certified pet first-aid instructor, a canine safety lecturer, and a consultant to hundreds of clients. Her book is an amazing pet safety guide, chock-full of easy to follow advice on how to keep your dog safe and happy. I feel like every time I open up a dog magazine these days, there’s a new fantastic review of the book!

So aren’t you guys lucky that Melanie has offered to give a SIGNED copy of her fabulous book to a lucky Shine Pet Photos blog reader. She’ll custom sign it for you and your dog too!

All you have to do to enter is share with us your funniest or craziest dog mishap you’ve ever had. Melanie says she’s heard them all - “from a dog that was accidentally locked in the refrigerator who ate an entire ham before being found (he only suffered minor hypothermia, thank god), to a dog that swallowed 15 baby pacifiers!”

The contest will end this FRIDAY, August 14th at 5PM Pacific Time. Feel free to share your stories, but only US residents will be eligible to win the signed book.

We can’t wait to read your stories!