Hayda is a Husky, Maremma and Cattle Dog cross, which means on any given day you get whichever breed decides to show up in his brain. Natalya describes it exactly like that, and honestly, having spent a Session with him – she’s not wrong. He’s not a cuddly dog by nature – none of those breeds particularly are. Huskies are built to pull, Maremmas are built to live with livestock and guard it rather than befriend people, and Cattle Dogs are built to work hard in harsh conditions all day long. While he knows his people, and he’s selective about anyone else, I’m thankfully in the circle of trust after having worked with him at GRC more than a few times.
When picking the location, Natalya said she wanted to capture the kinds of places she and Hayda actually spend time together – not a park, not a city backdrop, but the Australian bush. Not the lush European forest feeling you get further up in the Ranges, but something drier, wilder, more classically Australian. When she described what she was after, I knew exactly where to take them.
I suggested the Wright Bushland Forest Reserve out near Cockatoo, and told her she’d need to be willing to travel for it. She was from Sunbury, so it wasn’t exactly around the corner, but she didn’t hesitate. Wide tracks, with narrower trails winding through the bush, and the kind of light that filters through gum trees as the sun gets lower in the afternoon. She said yes immediately.
On our way there, we happened to run into each other on the drive in and followed each other to the Reserve. When we parked, she got out of the car and looked around, then immediately said “Oh my god, this is our vibe. This is perfect.”
We moved through the wider open tracks and a few narrower bush trails to capture Hayda in the environment that he loves – moving, exploring and doing his own this. While we snuck in some portraits, and a few surprisingly tender moment (Hayda isn’t known for being affectionate), we kept it really low pressure so he wouldn’t feel like he was “working”. Instead, we were all just going out for a walk in the bush (leaving the annoying new puppy at home, to which Hayda was VERY happy about!) and capturing the moments. Things like when he leans into Natalya, or offers a belly for a rub, or when he was just calmly observing the world.
Toward the end of the session he made it very clear he was done. No more posing, no more camera, thank you and goodbye. So I gave him some space, let him move around more freely and we waited for the light to get into the perfect spot for my second last location of the day. When it did, I got it. Then we headed back and captured a few final portraits of the two together with the setting sun filtering through the trees behind them before we got back to the cars to eat some dinner while chatting.
