After photographing dogs in San Francisco for nearly 10 years, Bo the Boxer puppy was the first dog who ever really wanted to eat my camera strap during our fine art dog photography session at Ocean Beach. By the time we were done, I think everyone was completely covered in sand and dog slobber — which for me — means a productive day at the office.

Photographing big, excited puppies in an enormous open space is not easy. Especially when you've got elements like harsh sunlight and crashing waves to deal with. But, those challenges are exciting to me as an artist. I love an easy, peaceful dog photography session in a calm, quiet shady space. Those are easy and sweet and flow so nicely. But I need to be challenged in my work or else I get bored, so this session in San Francisco with Bo was a great way to put that into practice.

More importantly though, Bo was such a good dog. He loved his people, and his people just adored him. They were head over heels in love with this dog, and as I so very often see, this dog brought the family together. Bo wrapped his humans up with love and playfulness and attention and it moved me to see such loving connections between all three of them. I'm truly lucky to get to witness that kind of emotion and loyalty on a daily basis. It honestly makes me tear up every time I see it, because I know that feeling first hand, and because I know how important it is to love and be loved. For some reason, this fine art dog photography session with Bo — though it was a bit of a sandy juggling act — really inspired me.

And, if you are familiar with my work, you know that there's nothing I love more than a beachy landscape with a dog running right through it. Give me foamy textured waves and paw prints in the sand and flapping ears and paws mid air — print it huge and hang it above the couch and I'll call it a day done right.

Bo the Boxer at Ocean Beach, San Francisco