I have always thought sled dogs are some of the most beautiful in the world!
(and if I am being honest, I am biased. Dew Claw dogs are particularly beautiful)

And it appears I am not alone, photographer Albert Lewis agrees with me. So much so that he spent this summer traveling around Alaska and Canada photographing these amazing athletes for his book “Born to Run, Athletes of the Iditarod”. If you are not familiar with the book you will enjoy my friend Helen’s article on Northern Lights Media; talking about how the idea came to be a reality, and Albert’s vision for sharing sled dogs in a new way. Dew Claw dogs were featured along with beautiful dogs from many Iditarod kennels.

To describe his work I was quoted as saying,  “Albert lets us all have an intimate look at these amazing animals. We all love the images of the team amped up, teeth showing, tongues waving, as they charge down the trail. But that is just one side. His images capture the other side of their personality, what we see every day as we live with them. The image of the sled dog as a wild, out of control, charging beast, will suffer irreparable  damage at the hands of Albert. He captures our dogs alone, at rest. You see their character, strength, curiosity, love, intelligence, and the depth of their eyes. It’s beautiful.”

As part of his fundraising campaign he offered a very special incentive, a personal photo shoot for one lucky kennel owner, where we would come out and shoot the entire kennel in the beautiful, well light, high fashion, up close and personal, style of the book. Now here is where it gets exciting!  Team Dew Claw members and dear friends Marlys, Dawn, and Kirstie got this exciting opportunity for the Dew Claw Dogs. Our entire team captured in this intimate style, showcasing generations of Dew Claw Dogs from the youngest puppies, our Little Rascals litter, to our retired race dogs who still live with us.  Whiskey was a total ham and proceeded to play with the squeaky toys Albert had brought along, we got great shots of my little man. We even got a few shots of Chopper (our cat) who was not at all impressed (she got rewarded with catnip so I think we are forgiven for subjecting her to fashion photography). He spent an entire day with us, turning the garage into a first class photo studio.

Working with Albert it is beyond apparent how enamored he is with dogs. And the dogs are pretty fond of him too, despite the somewhat strange assortment of lighting, contraptions, and backdrops. Using squeaky toys, shaking kibble in a can, and making a wide range of sound effects each dog had their shot at looking adorable/beautiful/thoughtful/intense/ for the camera. Some were shy, others acted like old pro’s and seemed to really play to the camera. The Rascals lived up to their name! We had already figured they would be a handful. So while Albert, Ann (his Fairbanks area assistant and fellow dog lover) and Dan had a coffee & snack break I took the Rascals for a little 3 mile free run with the quad. On our return they were slightly, though not much, less energetic. Before we could get Albert back into the studio he and Ann simply had to play with the Rascals! Not sure who had more fun the humans or the puppies. Once both got a good dose of playtime we were back to work. One at a time the Rascals came in for their photo-shoot, and with some assistance from Dan they managed to stay (kinda) in place (well at least close) so Albert could capture the adorable puppy faces.

We have big plans for the images we will be getting from the photo shoot, let’s just say this years Checkpoint Sponsor Thank You gift will be especially special. *Interested? Learn more about the Checkpoint Sponsor program for Team Dew Claw

I think it is safe to say everyone; canine and human had a lot of fun. Now we are no Albert Lewis, but Dan and I did capture a few shots of Albert capturing shots. What follows are the photos we took of the day, an inside look at how beautiful images of sled dogs are created. I hope you enjoy them. And stay tuned, we will be sharing some of the amazing portraits of the dogs in future blog posts.

 

HUGE  THANK YOU to Marlys, Dawn, and Kirstie for making this special photo shoot possible. And to Albert and Ann for all the hard work they put into it. You can see more of Albert’s work at the Born to Run facebook page , or purchase the book at See Spot Run.