Jacklyn, Rick and their four legged family. http://www.itsoverrover.com/

    As a photographer, I often find my clients and I looking for the perfect condition to set up an outdoor shoot. Locations may vary, however the preparation time is always the same. I pack my camera gear, charge the battery not only for the camera, but for the flash and the wireless triggers as well. The portable power pack for the strobes is also fully charged, as is the spare battery for the camera. Memory cards are all empty have been formatted and are face up in their case so I can easily recognize that they are unused. Things such as reflectors, filters, light stands, props etc are are all inside the bag they live in between shoots and are ready to go. The day, location, time and other small details have been gone over with the client, so everything is a go. Now all I can do is count the weeks, days, or hrs until the scheduled photo shoot. When that day comes I am excited and my excitement builds as I go over my mental checklist to make sure I have everything. Once that is done I open the front door so I can load all my camera gear etc into the van and that is when it happens.  It rains!  Weather is one of the things that we  have no control over and it can change the entire game plan to the point where  the shoot has to be called off and rescheduled. It has happened on a number of different occasions, sometimes repeatedly with the same client. Only a few short hours earlier the sun was shinning in all it's glory, with just the right amount of fluffy white clouds in the sky to diffuse the harshness of the natural light. Now buckets full of water have replaced the sun and there is no sign of white clouds in the dark sky. For me this is a photo shoot nightmare! Please do not get me wrong, I absolutely love stormy days as well as being out there with my camera for storms are amazingly beautiful.......just not when you have an outdoor shoot planed that involves babies, families or products.
 
  Recently I had the honor of shooting for a company called It's Over Rover. This shoot had been called off at least 4-5 times over a period of 2 months already due to really bad weather. The day before the shoot the sun was shinning and it was another day in paradise on Vancouver Island. The day of the shoot came and although the morning was ok  it started to  rain cats and dogs shortly before we were to meet. I was sure that we would have to reschedule again, Jacklyn however choose to roll with it, so this time we just decided we would make the best of it and shoot anyway. I am really glad that we did, for even though things turned out different than we had planned we were able to capture some great moments  and for that I am grateful! In a world where we often try to take control of things we forget that there are things that we have no control over. One of those things is the weather, the other is time. One of the beautiful dogs I was privileged to take photos of that day is sick and it is only a matter of time before he leaves us. Although that is a very sad thing, I feel really blessed to have been part of a special day for both Jacklyn (owner of IOR) and Rick (Jacklyn's husband). I was originally asked to just take photos for Jacklyn's company, however I am glad that she then asked if we could also take "family" photos. Working with dogs is Jacklyn's biggest passion, however it goes far beyond that. Jacklyn loves all dogs, however these ones along with Rick are her family.  For those of you out there who have a dog and live on lower Vancouver Island, I highly recommend that you take a look at the It's Over Rover website linked above if you have any doggie needs that need to be taken care of.

Wishing everyone out there many relaxing walks along our beautiful beaches and wooded areas this fall/winter be that with or without a four legged friend!

Jason