This week on the blog, I’m turning the spotlight on our wonderful model, Patsy, as she takes in the sights and sounds of Sitges.
Known as Spain’s answer to St Tropez, this beautiful Mediterranean city, which simply oozes Bohemian charm, is about thirty minutes south of Barcelona, and a perfect location for a dog photography shoot.
One of the top five locations in the world for Pride festivals in the world, Sitges is a bustling town that celebrates diversity, full of good energy and charm, from its olde worlde back streets to its cosmopolitan bars, restaurants, and nightclubs. A perfect home away from home for a cultured lady like Patsy the boxer, who spends much of the year enjoying the cool breezes and mountain air of Andorra, but likes to don her sun hat and bikini to wander around the town and beaches and chinwag with locals and tourists alike. She's well-known in these parts and people stop to talk to her and her human, Clive, as we go.
In early April 2020, Patsy's world was changed forever when one of her humans passed away after contracting the COVID-19 virus while in Andorra. David and Clive had known each other for over two decades before they married in 2019, and Patsy was a central part of their family from the day she arrived. The sudden and unexpected loss of David was keenly felt throughout their community, but nowhere moreso than within their family unit.
These days, Patsy might be happy with a more sedate pace of life than in her younger years, but she still has a distinct sparkle in her eyes and a cheekiness to her character that tells of a life well lived and, most importantly of all, well loved.
We stop outside the Palau Marycel to admire the massive doors of this beautiful traditional building, and to rest the paws a moment.
Sitges has oodles of character, with narrow streets in the old town: cathedrals and museums coming out of its ears. The textures of the urban setting make a real change from my normal environments in the mountains and countryside, but Patsy takes it all in her stride like the professional she undoubtedly is.
In this town of diversity and contradictions, a couple of minutes' stroll from the whitewash, bricks and cobbles, is a selection of pretty beaches, busy in the height of the tourist season, but in the cooler months, dogs and their owners can be found enjoying the sand and warm waters of the Mediterranean.
As the sun starts to dip, we head towards the harbour area, where we spend some time admiring the graffiti that was created here as a competition of "Fantastic Street Art Sitges". Patsy appeared rather unimpressed with the Big Bad Wolf behind her!
The sky gave us a dramatic display over the sea as the sun fell below the horizon, first turning the sky into pastel blues and pinks before bursting into a finale of burnt orange and peach.
Visiting the town of Sitges in an evening like this opens up possibilities for a wide variety of photography, and I always love finding those little gems that help a dog to really sparkle, whether they prefer the bustle and urban textures of the back streets, the space to run on the beach, or the pensive beauty that appears as the sun goes down.
And, of course, what better way to top off an evening in the seaside town of Sitges than with a cool beer on the front? It's OK, 'im indoors is driving!
Want to find out more?
If you're interested in a photography session with your own best furry friend, drop me a line and we'll make it happen! I can't wait to meet you both and to capture those sweetest of memories for always.
Back in the madhouse
On Tuesday, Labrador twins Willow (black) and Shadow (yellow) had a brilliant time at agility class. Willow is really getting to grips with the seesaw now. We've been going really slowly with introducing it to her as she's not keen on sudden noises, but during this class, she was putting real energy into making it bang as she ran along it. Sometimes the realisation that they can control the noise is what it takes to make the noise less scary. Brave girl, Willow! Shadow was his normal nonsense gogogogogoGOOOOO self. Some work on accuracy needed with him to engage that little brain of his. Stopping to think has never been his strong suit: act first, sort out the devastation left in his wake later!
All around the blogosphere!
This week's topic in our blog circle is getting out an about in the city, and I'm sending you off next to New York State where Syracuse pet photographer Nancy Kieffer shares some photos from a recent session at an urban art wall. I can't wait to read it and see how she incorporates the artwork into her own photography. There's always something to learn from all the great pet photographers in this circle. Once you've finished Nancy's blog, click the link at the bottom to continue on in the circle, until you find yourself back here, where you belong.
Until next time, I hope you're keeping cool in the heat wave, and wish you the purest of joys that is the love of a dog.