Ashleigh Wells Photography | The Blog

I have been so busy the past week with editing and computer problems it isn’t even funny, BUT there is something else that has been keeping me and my family on our toes and that is our newest addition who came into our lives a week ago!

We have been thinking of getting another dog for about a year now and looking at all of our options. We had really wanted to rescue a dog because we feel it’s the best thing to do. However, we also wanted to raise a dog from a puppy so that our current furbaby, Roxie, would be able to teach the new dog what was passed on to her by our late Beagle, Dixie. We were torn and we couldn’t make a decision at all about which way to go.

A couple of weeks ago we stopped in to the SPCA just to see if any of the dogs felt right for us. We visited a couple of locations and found a dog who felt like she was a good fit. So we walked her every day that week until that Sunday when it was time for our family assessment where we were to bring Roxie to meet her as well. She had done so well with our daughter and us that we thought it was a done deal…unfortunately she lunged for Roxie as soon as they were within reach of each other and it didn’t work out. When we saw how that happened and thought about the future possibility of our daughter accidentally getting in the way of a scuffle with our dog and a rescue dog, we decided that for now in our lives, a puppy would probably be the best option.

A friend of ours knew a couple who had some English Bulldog puppies so we called and arranged to meet them. When we got Roxie we had actually originally wanted to get an English Bulldog, but because none were available from reputable breeders at the time we found American Bulldog puppies and ended up falling in love with that breed as well! The idea that we might finally be getting a dog of our “dream breed” was so exciting! As we drove out to Langley, Bryan turned to me and said “This is SUCH a classic Ashleigh and Bryan move on our part! We’re not going to be able to leave there without a puppy! You know that.” Of course, he was right and we brought Penny Lane Wells (Penelope when she’s naughty) home with us right then and there. Of course because we had convinced ourselves we wouldn’t do this, we had NO puppy supplies ready yet and had to stop on the way home to get her some good food, a bed, a crate, collar, leash etc. So far she has been a wonderful addition to our lives! Our older dog, Roxie has taken to mothering her (and will even try to nurse her if we aren’t watching haha!). Penny is learning how to be a “good dog” from her big sister and is almost house trained already! I am so happy for Roxie that they get along because her happiness comes first in our home. I really think finding Penny was fate for us because if we hadn’t found the right fit soon, Roxie would have been too old for a puppy. English Bulldog puppies are great with an older dog in the home because they are known to be quite lazy (I can attest to THAT!) so that seems to keep her from being less of a burden on our first born furbaby too!

Enjoy the puppy picture overload below!

Welcome home Penny!

Nice to meet you Roxie!

Sleepy girl!

Curly-Q tail

First bath!

My favourite treat from Dig It Delights! (organic cow tendon)

My professional modeling career begins…

This little sweetheart came to see me a couple of weeks ago. She was a little overdue, but WELL worth the wait! She definitely knew what she liked and didn’t like and she was such a funny little thing with all kinds of expressions and hand gestures. She looks like a little Italian baby when she’s “talking” because those hands are flying trying to emphasize all the important points she’s making hahaha! I had a great time hanging out with this family and hope to see you all again as she grows! Congratulations!

I had such a fun time with this session. When the woman who is owned by this dog and cat told me she wanted a photo of all three of them in their Canucks gear I just knew we’d get along haha! For those of you reading that are not Canadian, we love our hockey…like REALLY love it so to me this request made total sense haha! I can’t tell you how many times we teased poor Marshall (the dog) by asking him if he wanted to go for a “car ride”, but how could we not when we got the CUTEST expressions every time!?!? Eventually our session was over though and he did get his much anticipated car ride. Guinevere, (the cat) was not as thrilled about the experience as Marshall, but in the end she cooperated for a couple of shots for me. Thanks for coming in guys and I hope you enjoy your photos!

“Did someone say CAR RIDE!?!?!”

“Alright lady, I will pose momentarily…if I must”

“I’m sorry did I hear someone say CAR RIDE?!?!” (he fell for it EVERY TIME! HAHA!)

From March 3-6th I was busy having a great time and learning lots at Image Quest (our local BC convention) at RiverRock Casino. On the 3rd I volunteered to take notes for the judging at the PPOC BC’s annual Salon Judging event. I learned so much watching the judging and hearing the conversations about all the different images that were entered. It was especially interesting to see my own work judged and critiqued and gave me a lot of good ideas for future entries! I am also very excited to share that 2 of my images got merits there and 2 were accepted. This meant that I was in the running with 12 others for Photographer of the year! I was totally shocked and excited! The following two days there were some incredible lectures to see and people to meet as well as hanging out with my friend and business partner for my other brand (Perfect Blend Photography) Trina Letawsky. The last night was the awards gala and it was so great to see everyone all gussied up (even if it DID mean I had to shave my legs hahaha!). I did not go home with the Photographer of the year title, but I did win Best in Class for my image, “Solo” in the Portrait of a Man category and I got an honourable mention for my image “Thoughtful Paws” in the Animals category. When they called my name for my award I looked like such a geek because I was just so shocked I had won I didn’t know what I was supposed to do hahaha! After a delicious dinner, my husband and I headed out to leave through the casino and I decided to put $20 into the slot machine. Keeping in mind we are not gamblers at ALL, we were shocked when my $20 got us a $700 win! That was just my night I suppose! Thank you to everyone who has helped me come this far. One of the goals I had written out for myself for this year was to win an award. Any award. I didn’t care what I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it and now that I’ve got that step down I can’t wait to set some new goals and dreams for the rest of the year! Here are some photos of me from that night taken by Paul Wright accepting my award and then some from after the dinner…

Here is the image that one in the category Portrait of a Man:

And here is the one that received Honourable Mention in the Animal Portrait category:

Here’s me with no clue what I’m supposed to do with the trophy or where I’m supposed to look…

Here’s how I look when I know the camera is on me. You don’t have to say it…I know I am oozing grace as usual. HAHA!

And a nice one

And finally (excuse the crappy iphone photo), but here is me after the slot machine win! I was pretty excited because that all went towards a down payment on a camera upgrade that will be coming soon!

This absolutely BEAUTIFUL soon-to-be mama came to see me before I went out of town for WPPI in Las Vegas. I just got an email from her to announce that her little bundle of joy arrived on March 8th and I am so looking forward to meeting the new addition very soon! I always think pregnancy is when women are most beautiful. To me a pregnant woman is literally just glowing and this mama was certainly no exception to that rule! It’s sessions like this one that make me feel so very lucky to have a job in which people trust me to capture these moments in life that seem so fleeting once they have passed. Congratulations guys on your new baby and I can’t wait to see you again!

Rusty came to see me with his mom a little over a week ago. She was having a portrait session with him to give to his dad as a birthday gift which is coming up (so if you know him…don’t spoil the surprise!). We had been holding out and hoping for a snow session, but sadly we never did have a good snow day this year, but I think we got some great shots of him anyways. He was probably the best behaved boxer I have ever met and seemed to love posing for my camera. Thanks for being such a great dog Rusty!

And I couldn’t resist getting silly with him on the beach…his expressions are HILARIOUS!

This little gal is the daughter of some very close friends of ours. I was honoured to be asked to photograph her as a newborn and now again as a 10 month old. We had hoped to do a 6 month session, but this year has been so bad for sickness we didn’t get a chance for her session until she was 10 months old. We did this a few weeks ago now, but I went down with the flu the other week and am back playing catch up again as a result! I cannot wait for cold and flu season to be over with this year. I never get sick this often! In any case, I’m back to blogging and I have a lot more to share with you all! Thanks so much for the patience of all my clients and friends who have been kind enough to not push me too hard to rush things that they are wanting.

Here is a comparison shot to show how she has grown since you all saw her last!

Sometimes there are little things we forget about our babies and I love it when I capture what I think will be one of those special memories that will come rushing back during family story time at parties and events. This sweet heart has one foot bigger than the other. As a result her one small foot is always losing a shoe or slipping out of it while she furniture walks. I love that I captured that little nuance in this shot and I hope her parents look back and remember the little things that fade and change so quickly.

Her favourite set up was when we played with the blanket. Babies this age seem to LOVE playing with this particular blanket. I wish the store still had them stocked because I would be snatching them up now that I know how much fun it brings for babies haha! Moments before this she was overtired and crying and as soon as she got a good game of peekaboo in she was all smiles!

I was so lucky to be able to photograph these GORGEOUS 10 month old twins! They have such beautiful hair it made me jealous haha! It always amazes me how babies get their personality at such an early age and these two were no exception to that. Despite the fact that they are twins they had quite different personalities and one of the boys was very serious and thoughtful while his brother was extremely outgoing and much more mobile. I love photographing babies when they are sitting up, but not yet walking and if you add two into the mix it is just double the FUN! Their parents quite clearly have their routine nailed down and handled all the “set” changes and clothing changes with ease. They even brought an iPad for the boys with a favourite app on it that makes them smile and clap as soon as they see it (something I may need to consider investing in for that purpose hahaha!). Thank you for coming in to see me!

I love seeing all of my Watch Me Grow Collection families come back so I can see how fast these little babies grow up! This little munchkin was no exception. I had such a hard time choosing between all of the hilarious expressions and poses he did during our session, I had to include most of them in his gallery. So much personality packed into such an adorable package! His brother and sister came along again (and were thankful that 6 month sessions go much quicker than newborn sessions do haha!). Any time this little man glimpsed his siblings he was FULL of smiles so it is obvious he adores his family as much as they do him.

This little bundle of joy and his family joined me in my studio a little over a week ago. He was so tiny and adorable and…AWAKE! Haha! I could not believe how hard he fought us to get him to sleep, but his mom really wanted some shots with him asleep and using some of my props so we persisted. This was officially my longest newborn session ever, but it was so worth it because he eventually caved and we got most of the shots we were hoping to! I was surprised at how well his big brother did at being patient with all of this and I have to say I am not sure I have ever met a big brother who was more instantly in love with his baby brother as this guy was. Even though the session went on for a long time, I really enjoyed spending time with this family for the day and taking photos of such a beautiful family!