For me there is nothing more fun to do photographically than take pictures of a Shiba. What about taking pictures of three Shibas? Now that’s what I call an awesome afternoon. This here is the mighty Taro. Just look at his confident gaze and large stature.
The Taro executive shot. Feel the power of the mighty Shiba!
Ok, actually, Taro is tiny. The smallest Shiba Inu I’ve ever met in fact, and yes, he’s full Shiba. Look how sweet he is…why doesn’t Suki ever kiss me??? Oh well.
Anyway, the following images are a few highlights from the afternoon we spent with the Shibas yesterday. Still have a ways to go in processing most of them, but I was anxious to get some posted up on the blog:
If you’ve been following my blog recently, you probably know that this is Suki. Not! This is Suki’s half-brother, Zuko. They met for the first time not too long ago.
The real Suki is on the left above and in the picture below. She’s looking a little concerned in the group shot above. Maybe she thought she was done with the whole cameras and flashes in my face thing and is not happy that it seems to be starting again. Sorry Suki! Being a model is tough, I get it. =)
Keeping these three together required leashes, treats, and very patient assistants.
Spent some time together at the dog park in Mission Bay. Check out Suki giving Taro the stare-down:
The Shiba meetup doubled as a Flickr meetup as we were briefly joined by the very talented Cara Rose. She came packing some serious heat, film cam on one shoulder, digital on the other. A photographic force to be reckoned with! Looking forward to seeing her shots, both from her visit to San Francisco and from running around with me trying to get some good frames of the dogs.
Make sure you check out Cara’s amazing work on Flickr, and also on her blog. Nice meeting you Cara!
Taro…such a happy face.
Taro’s light frame allows him to get some serious air, which we tried to capture at Peace Plaza in Japan Town.
Large, Medium, Extra Small (Zuko, Suki, Taro)
After a few photos at the Plaza, we formed a little Shiba parade down the street on our way to lunch.
I wondered if I could finish such a large lunch, while Suki wondered if she could turn that pigeon into lunch.
Zuko, being well-behaved while we chowed down.
I think the image of the day goes to little Taro. I just love the way this shot turned out, capturing the Shiba Inu spirit while revealing something about Taro’s unique personality. I’m telling you, I could photograph Shibas all day. High resolution gallery on my website is forthcoming!
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Camera: Nikon D700
Lenses Used: Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G // Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G // Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G VRII
Jonathan Fleming's Blog 
Hey bud. Looks like you are doing well! Awesome shots of Suki and the Taro and Zuko here man. It must have been a really good time π Very cool that you met with Cara too, she’s a very talented photog… you two together must have been a force to be reckoned with, no wonder Suki looked concerned lol!
I thought Taro is a big one! We’ll he’s cute! Very nice set!
the face close ups on Zuko just melt me SO much. and i’m so glad you got a shot of that awesome Taro jump! looks like your day continued with so much fun and successful shooting…awesome. I can’t say thanks enough for the shout as well and may need to get my hands on that awesome shot you took of me packing heat. be on the lookout for my shots this week! i’m so impressed with yours…its so cool to see the behind the scenes and then the results! lucky me.
Thanks for joining us! Let me know on that one image of you =)
How adorable! You captured so much personality from each pup. I seem to get like 2 expressions from my cat: displeasure and boredom. Maybe that’s just cats, though. Anyway, great set! I’ll be on the lookout for you and Suki when I’m next in SF.
This whole post made me laugh out loud because I was dying from all the cuteness! I’m so impressed by the “strobist” sets as well as the softer portraits. What a versatile photographer you are! So proud of my hubby and my baby (pup). =)
This is so awesome. Taro, Zuko, and Suki. It’s so exciting to see all three of them together. What beautiful pups and photos. Thank you for sharing!
i want to eat taro! (in a good way)
These are the best!! A lot of great shots here, as always.
The one of Taro next to the hand holding the treats really puts things into perspective. And the three-dog lineup! And… oh, what a beautiful bunch. *melt*
These are such amazing pictures; so soft and fierce at the same time. You and Cara must have had a great time talking photography together!
Oh my.. these pictures are heartwarming. They’re so pretty and you really captured their personalities well. I like the one with Zuko (?) crossing the street turning and smiling for the camera.
aww these are wonderful! π it looks like you had a fun day!
Love your site Jonathan! And the Shibas! I have added it to my rockmelt sidebar so every new post pop up hehe π Best wishes!
Awesome shots! Yay Suki, Tar0 & Zuko!
What an awesome post, Jonathan! I love how you’ve captured all the emotions of a Shiba. I can’t believe that Taro is full grown. She’s definitely the smallest Shiba I’ve seen too! I totally love that small, med, and large photo. Way too cute!
This was such a fun day! Thanks to everyone who made it happen. It was a team effort but I can testify that Jonathan knows no limits when it comes to getting the right shot. He spent a lot of time laying on the ground to get things just right! I can’t wait to see everything and Zuko expects me to order a giant print to hang on our walls. π
ζ΄η¬ in the size of L, M, and S;)) Sooo gorgeous!
Their faces are really different, unique.
You always say Suki chan is mistaken for a fox, but in the three Toro looks like a fox most;D
You humans and the dogs had the most fun that day, I guess:))
what a lovely dog!
Aww I love this post. They are definitely stars if you ask me lol.
Appreciate the comments!
omg, so cute! as much as i love suki, i must say, taro won my heart here π he just has the cutest expressions, and you certainly fooled me about his size in the first couple of pics, ha!
I love these pictures! The behind the scenes ones are great!
Wish that we lived closer so that we can join in on the west coast shiba shenanigans.
I love the one of the Shibas lined up by size! It’s interesting how much size variation there is among Shibas. When I lived in Japan, I took my neighbor’s Shiba walking sometimes and he was always much bigger than other Shibas we met in the park! I’d guess Zuko was about his size π