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  • Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

    "The story of our dogs is the story of us. A dog can't change the world but they can change your world.
    And if each of us can pass along even a fraction of the unmitigated, world changing love we receive from our dogs?
    Maybe we can see about that whole changing the world thing." - Will Kearney

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I’m not crying, you’re crying! That’s what I was muttering to myself as I left my shoot with Pam, Laurenzo and their 10-year-old pup Kosta. Pam recently contacted me about doing a shoot on the Sunshine Coast, as a way to surprise her boyfriend. Kosta, their mastiff boxer lab mix, had had quite the year. After experiencing some face twitches, he was incorrectly diagnosed with brain cancer. After many tests, an MRI and a spinal tap, it was revealed he actually had issues from a thyroid gland, and he would recover. Cue mega relief. He was now on the mend, and she wanted some family pictures with him and Laurenzo, who had fostered then adopted him in Montreal.

I’ve recently moved to the Sunshine Coast (shh.. but it’s only a quick 40 minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to paradise), so I’m now offering shoots in Sechelt, Gibsons, Robert Creek and still have some limited availability in Vancouver. I was so happy when Pam wanted to shoot on the coast, since I knew it would be perfect for Kosta.

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“This getaway to the Sunshine Coast is for us, but for him mostly.. he needs some time outside of downtown Vancouver,” Pam explained when she first reached out. Kosta has some reactivity with other dogs, so she knew he’d have a better chance of a relaxed shoot in a less busy, more nature-filled area. We picked our date, and she organized to stay in a pet-friendly airBnB in Sechelt, so she could really unwind with Laurenzo, and treat him to a full weekend of surprises.

But. Lorenzo found out about her surprise (to help with scheduling, once they were on the coast Pam fessed up about the photos). SO… Lorenzo then secretly reached out to me. He told me he wanted to REALLY surprise Pam….by proposing to her during our doggie shoot. Would that be okay?

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After getting Kosta relaxed and shooting in a few locations, I gave Lorenzo the secret signal. He should go ahead and propose, whenever he was ready (I think he was ready in all of 4.2 seconds.)

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(she said yes). 🙂

 

 

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You know when you meet those people who are SO DARN nice? Like, in every possible way? That’s how it was right from my first contact with Amanda. She and her husband were moving out to Vancouver from Alberta (my hometown) and wanted to schedule a photoshoot with their dog Henry as soon as they arrived.

We had a lot of laughs and a really beautiful sunny evening together. Henry wanted nothing more than to be held, petted and cuddled by his people. Whenever they put him down he looked back over like.. ok… so when will you be holding me again? I loved everything about this shoot, including the great outfits Amanda and Brandon chose to wear. When she received her photos she sent this response:

OH MY GOSH I LOOOOOVEEEEE THEM!!
They turned out AMAZING!! So much better than I could have imagined! Too bad you didn’t do our wedding :p I was viewing them on my phone all weekend :):):) Brandon and I will certainly be downloading them all sometime this week. Upon our return from vacation I’ll absolutely look into ordering some so I’ll touch base with you again then! I just love them so much!!

Even Brandon loves them, which says a lot!! WOW!! Just so amazing!! You’re truly so talented!! My favorite photo changes by the hour, I love them all! especially some near the end when I’m holding the little guy/Brandon has him flipped over his shoulder.. so cute!! Actually, mad props that the ones of Brandon and I being affectionate didn’t look staged! Bah! They’re all just so beautiful and the colors of our clothes look so nice in the setting… just majestic!! TRULY! Oh!! And I totally see what you were doing about Henry being in the sun for some of them – he literally looks like he’s glowing! I could go on and on….

Anyways, just wanted to let you know we adore them and are absolutely obsessed with how they turned out! 🙂 I actually got to show my mom and she said they are beautiful! 🙂

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This was my second shoot with Stacie and her awesome Palivos family, including their sweet dog (and “first child”) Reggie. Reggie’s health had taken a turn for the worse and Stacie wanted to make sure to capture some happy family memories while he could still enjoy a day out to the park. We headed out to the Historic Stewart Farm one perfect sunny day and had a wonderful time goofing around, exploring and taking photos. Reggie was a total trooper. His kids will miss him dearly when it is time for him to go, but for now, it was all smiles and great memories captured.

Stacie says: ” Cindy! WOW!! I am speechless!! You are amazing and what awesome awesome pictures you have taken! I absolutely LOVE them and I am honestly tearing up….What an absolute treasure to have these gorgeous moments captured on film….I love you and everything you have done! Looking at them, I can feel the emotion and the FUN! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I can’t wait to show everyone (they are all asleep!) and have some (how do I pick?) on the walls! Have a wonderful and maybe restful long weekend! Love Stacie (and the rest of the crew) 🙂

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Cindy

Cindy Hughes is a pet photographer in Vancouver, British Columbia. She provides lifestyle photography for people and the pets they love. Cindy specializes in dog and cat photography and is available for commercial and editorial assignments. Will travel!

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It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, so I wanted to share this super fun photoshoot I recently did on Macdonald Beach. Kristi and Kenny and their three pups were looking for a photographer because they were due for updated family photos,  but also because one of their dogs, the lovely Katie, had entered the final stages of heart failure. I’m so glad they found me, we had a great time romping around in the sand. When we first met at the beach, I was expecting to meet the dogs and see Katie very slow and tired, but that wasn’t the case at all.  She was full of pep and joy when we did their photoshoot. Dogs always amaze me with their resiliency.

In addition to Katie, the dog family is rounded out by Mugsy (an 11 yr old Maltese) and Oscar (a 4 year old Bichon boy). Oscar was a recent rescue who had been found wandering around on the roads and who was prone to taking off on long, ahm… “adventures”, so he had to stay on leash at all times – and was FULL of personality and fun (and check out that adorable overbite).

We got lucky with one of the few sunny days that week, and I think Kristi killed it in that yellow dress. (Okay Kenny, you did well too :)) Check out some of our handiwork!

Kristi says: ” Omg those are so awesome!!!!! Love love love them💗  You’re so amazing! You totally captured the essence of Mugsy, Katie and Oscar 😊❤️  Thank you again so so much!!!! I’ll recommend you in a heartbeat! Thanks for the recommendation to go with yellow!!!  You will be our go to photographer whenever the time comes for new pics.  It’s was so wonderful to have met you! We feel truly blessed😊”

 

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I was soooo excited to do this photoshoot. Sonia got in touch with me about a month ago and told me about the awesome adventure she and her husband Dustin are going on. They’re going to take the summer off and take their three beautiful huskies on a cross country trip across Canada – in a hatchback. They’re going to talk about their adventures under the (very cool) name, Huskies in the Hatch so you can follow what they’re up to. 67 days from Tofino to Gros Morne Newfoundland in a hatchback with 3 huskies? Bucket list! They leave on April 27th so be sure to follow them here. 

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