Cover Shoot!
July 21, 2010
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Orvis Dog Book – Fall 2010
I am so excited I can finally announce, that my photograph won the cover of the Fall 2010 Orvis Dog Book!
I took this photograph of Jake, my sister’s darling Spinoine Italiano (Yes I know it sounds like an ice cream flavor), when he was just 3 months old. I sent the photograph into Orvis a few months ago and was told in late May that Jake and I had gotten the cover!
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I am just thrilled and honored to be a part of the Orvis Dog Book. Scoring the cover of a magazine or catalogue is a photographers’ dream. I am just beyond excited. Jake on the other hand had become a total diva 
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This is Jake at Christmas, sitting on my 6-foot tall husband’s lap. As you can see, he has grown quite a bit since his puppy days and really is such a good boy.
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We are going to have a little celebration her in Boston in the coming weeks as the catalogue hits stores and mailboxes, so stay tuned. Celebrating with Jake, my mom and my sister tonight! Hurrah.
Sarah,
This is FANTASTIC news! Congratulations! The photograph is amazing. Not that I’m surprised, my friend. Put me on the celebration list. I’m going to raise my wine glass to you later today
Cheers!
Chrissy
So glad you submitted this picture! Jake’s a beauty. Congratulations!
James Hathaway
The Orvis Company
HEY!!! That’s my charge!! I’m Jake’s dog walker on Wednesdays. How very, VERY cool!!!
I SO love those puppy photos of him!! He is a special boy!! Congrats!!!! That is such an honor for you! And The Jakester!!
Cheers! Amy
Sarah, this is fabulous!! so amazing and you should be soo proud and excited and be celebrating up a storm!! Def let us know when the Boston celebration happens.. Congrats and quit your day job
xoxo di & rob
YAY FOR YOU!!!!!
We are sooo proud of you! Great to have your talent finally recognized!!!
I just fell in love with the photo of Jake on the cover of Orvis. I immediately wanted to know what kind of dog that was so I could get one. Now that I see his picture with your husband and how BIG he is….I think I might have to find another breed. LOL. Do you know, if there such a thing as miniature Spinoine Italiano?
Haha. Have not seen a miniature Spinone and yes he is enormous. People often think he is a wiredhair Griffon or a Irish Wolf hound beaver of his size but he is a sweetie and so mellow.
i love your picture! my son has a dog that looks exactly like that. his name is cleveland and he weighs 90 lbs. now. he is the most laid back dog and is my best friend!! i would love to send you a picture of him. the markings are the same as your dog. actually i entered him in the contest so you can look at him on their website.
nancy
We own a 2yr old spinone named serafina in DC, and a neighbor this morning told me about a spinone named jake on the orvis catalog cover. I looked it up, and found your blog. How very VERY cool to have your dog featured. Great photo too. At first, I was embarrassed, because Jake’s eyes are so visible (I haven’t seen sera’s eyes in over a year – she doesn’t like me to strip her “fan” or eyebrows). what a poor groomer I am, etc. But then I saw the photo of jake lounging on the couch with your husband, and I felt better – grizzled, shaggy and languorous – the dog I mean. Anyway, enjoy the spotlight. Jill Thorpe
[...] wonderful husband enough. Last night he threw me a fabulous party in celebration of the Orvis Dog Book Cover and to raise a little money for NEADS (Dogs For Deaf and Disabled Americans). So many friends and [...]
Oh My! I also own a very large sweet male Spinone puppy named Leo. I was thrilled to see the photos of Jake. Spinones are so amazing to capture on film, such personality! LEO is 9 months now, check out some of his puppy pics on my FB page. They look so much alike!
After a hectic week I was going through the pile of mail on my kitchen counter. At the very bottom I discovered the new Orvis dog book with Jake’s picture on the cover. It as so beautiful I was almost brought to tears. I wanted to give that dog a hug. I even e-mailed Orvis and asked to see additional photos of Jake.
The responded in a cold and robotic way:
Thank you for your e-mail. I am happy to help you today. I am sorry, but additional photos of Jake are not available. My apologies for the disappointment and, also, for any inconvenience this may have caused.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to click here and chat with me now or reply back to this e-mail.
Sincerely,
Ashley R.
Orvis Customer Service
Anyway, congrats to you and Jake. I’m thinking of framing the Orvis cover.
Best regards,
Peter
Love hearing all the Spinone stories. What a wonderful, beautiful loveing breed they are.
Peter…so glad you found my blog. Here we have a full on love fest for Jake with lots of photos.
He has the most human eyes and the best demeanor. Welcome! I am happy to send you a higher resolution image of the photo if you would like it for framing.
Cheers,
Sarah
Hi Sarah—
Yes, I would love a hi-res image of the photo. Can you e-mail it to me? By the way, what is Jake laying on? It looks like wet seaweed.
Thanks,
Peter
what a great Breed~ Our Kirby is the exact same color. They could be twins. Where did you get yours? We got ours through a breeder in Windsor Canada. We live in Mississippi~
They are a fabulous, calm breed and the most human (eyes, demeanor, etc), of any of the breeds. They are a great Therapy dog~ Glad you are enjoying Jake!
Saw the Orvis cover, and as fellow spinone owners (of the handsome brown roan boy, Luigi), we had to celebrate. Terrific photo. They are the best dogs. We were glad to see them get some attention, but on the other hand, these pups are the best kept secrets, aren’t they?
I know, I have gotten so many inquiries about the breed since the cover came out.
Hi, like the others, just wanted to drop a quick note to congratulate you on what a beautiful dog Jake has grown into. I was in Orvis this past weekend buying a car hammock and throw for my 8 week old Spinone when I saw Jake’s cover. My puppy, Dutch, is the SPITTING image of him and because it’s such a rarely seen breed, I almost wet myself with excitement…hopefully the close call will imbue me with greater empathy when he has his accidents!
Anyway, gorgeous dog and congrats.
Hi Sarah, Congrat’s on the Orivs Cover, and I see you’ve discovered what kind of attention and commotion a Spinone Italiano can produce (in their own subtle way).. even as a pup , even from just one picture … Jake is beautiful, Spinone lovers can’t help but get excited again about what they’ve known for years .. yet notice the reaction from people who don’t know the breed? … somehow those soulful eyes touch a place deep inside us all … and they are by far the best versatile hunter/bird dogs, slow and methodical, and a joy to spend the day a field with, or just a romp on the beach … I have two gorgeous ones, both 3 years old, Gabby, a white and orange female (the serious one), and Rufus, (the goofball) a brown/roan like Jake … I will guess that Jakes cover shot will bring you much deserved attention for years to come … I even bought a new Nikon (not a photog) just to capture Rufus’s many varied brown highlights and hues
Hi again Sarah, saw your shots from the Louvre in Paris, you have a keen eye, and yes, those dogs in the tapestries and Renaissance paintings (both Italian and french) are similar to Jake (genetically)… the French Wire Haired Pointing Griffon .. some call the Spinone the “Italian Griffon” or the “Italian wire haired griffon” … those other dogs you saw there also may be relatives, perhaps (see/google) Bracco’s Italianos or earlier version of the similar smooth coated hunting/pointing breeds, also many scenes in old French Toile (fabric/wall paper) show these wired hair dogs in hunting/village scenes … since you have a good eye, and an eye for art … the Italian-Medici’s (1430”s) from Tuscany/Lombardy regions where big lovers of the Spinone and Bracco’s .. see/google “Italian Renaissance paintings(with dogs)” basicly only the elite/royalty owned, and prized them dearly
Love it! And I love how a pup is never to big for a cuddle
Congrats on the cover!
We own 3. They are your average, everyday, lap dog!
Really exciting, and definitely worthy of a catalog cover. We just entered our girls (two greyhounds) for the 2012 contest, and have our fingers crossed.
Belated congrats!
Good luck! It was such a thrill to see Jake’s face all over Orvis
Would be fun to see more non-Labs on the cover too 
that is a lovely shot, capturing the moment. our dog, Tazwell, won the popular vote in 2010, raising over $5,000 for the Morris Animal Foundation (and this was doubled by matching funds). he died of cancer in 2009. this year we have entered our golden “Moose” title of photo is “Mica & Moose”. we lost our beloved Moose to cancer yesterday and Mica is a two time cancer survivor. please encourage your friends and family to vote in the contest, raise funds for MAF and raise awareness of canine cancer. we have owned 6 Goldens, 5 have died of cancer and Mica’s is under control after chemo. thanks.
Sydney,
Thank you so much for you comment. I am so sorry on your loss. I will absolutely do another post about this years winners to promote raising more funds. Thank you.