The white Doberman? He's Sam. He lives with his parents Genaro and Eugenia in downtown Los Angeles. He is a true urban dog. The dude has a very calm exterior... except when it comes to bicyclists. Those make him crazy. But other than that, he's the picture of zen. I met Genaro and Eugenia in front of Disney Concert Hall for a photo shoot. It is one of my favorite buildings in Los Angeles, truly iconic. The building looks alive with all of its curves and swoops.

The shoot was for my "I Love L.A." series. When I met Genaro, who manages Pussy and Pooch, the fabulous small chain of beautiful pet boutiques, he showed me a picture of Sam on his phone and I was gobsmacked. Sam was under a pool of light near Disney Hall, very close to where Genaro and Eugenia live. I knew with the right lighting and a fast camera and lens I could do that and give it the more technical polish that a phone camera just can't do, no offense to phone cameras. You hit the technical limitations of the phone camera in low light situations.

So we met in front of Disney Hall where I took a few images to sort of establish the setting. A couple were having their engagement pictures taken there and at one point I realized the photographer and I had the same flash and transmitter, meaning we would make each other's flashes fire, so I had to change the frequency. But blah-blah-blah, that isn't the important part. When we finished, we went around to the back and up the stairs where I got an epic image of Sam looking up with the metallic skin of the hall as the backdrop.

And then we moved a little to the side where I know there is sort of a canyon of curves. But before we got there, I noticed a small patch of garden and I thought what if we put Sam in the bare mulch. You would have the organic green and brown against the shimmering metal that had the slight glow of the blue twilight. I showed Eugenia the back of the camera after I took a few images and she said it looks like a fairyland.

By 8 or so, it had changed from the golden hour to the blue hour and we went back around to the front. Eugenia showed me the pool of light Sam had been bathed in on Genaro's camera. I would have totally missed it. I just would not have seen that so i am very grateful that they opened my eyes to look for the unexpected.

And so these are the images of Sam the white Doberman's shoot at Disney Hall.

Are you ready to schedule your own "I Love L.A." photo shoot in front of iconic Los Angeles landmarks? Give me a call at 818.481.5214. I'm Diana Lundin and I want to be your pet photographer.