The love of a Dog

It's been approximately 8 months since the passing of my baby girl Birdie. It's still incredibly painful to think about. I'm sharing images of her below. I think about her daily and miss her. She was an incredible friend; sweet, intelligent, a teacher. She loved to hike, walk and just be with me in my office daily as I worked. I rescued her from Tennessee at the age of 4 months. She was 13 when she passed. She was fine in June when we went gallivanting in the lupine fields and within 3 months she was gone. I know she was considered a "senior dog" but I never expected things to escalate so quickly.

When I adopted her, I wasn't a pet photographer, but I still grabbed loads of cell phone photos. They weren't very good but I adore them and am so happy to have them. Later as I got proficient in capturing pet photos, she was often called upon to model for me. She really never cared for being in front of my lens and her face always told me how much she disliked it, but I managed to capture plenty of images of her happy. I treasure these images, they hang in my home. I see them every day. They make me smile, they sometimes make me sad, but I absolutely love them. I also had professional photos done by a pet photographer because I wanted to have images of me with her. These of course are my most treasured of all.

It's amazing to me how connected we become to animals in our lives. For many of us, that connection is stronger than our connection with most people. My dogs greet me at the door every day. They are so happy to see me and they are just happy to spend time with us. They never complain (usually:). It's no wonder when they leave us, it is so painful. We miss hearing their footsteps, or their dog tag jangling, but mostly we miss their unconditional love.

The image above center was taken by Pet Photographer: Alicja Zmyslowska

We always think we have plenty of time, until we wish we had more. A pet's life with us is so short; it is truly the worst thing about having a pet. One day they are a puppy chewing up everything in your house and the next they have a greying muzzle and you wonder what happened. Where did the time go. Even under the best of circumstances we get an average of 10-13 years of love.

Why am I sharing this with you; because you should do the things. Take them on adventures; go hiking or swimming. Bring them to see their friends. Compete with them; do agility, canicross, scent work. Connect with them every chance you get because there may not be many chances left. You'll never regret spending time with your pet and building a strong connection.

This is why I do what I do. I want to capture that connection, that love you have for your pet so you can have that connection live on forever. I'm sure, like me, your camera roll is full of images of your pets, and you share them regularly on social media, but do you have photos of you WITH your pet, other than that awkward selfie? Photos are meant to be looked at repeatedly and enjoyed and displayed in your home. You will never regret celebrating the love of your pet through a pet photography session. Someday, these images will be priceless.

Please don't wait to schedule the photography session. I had a client just this week who scheduled a session for their 14 year old dog and she just let me know she needed to cancel because her dog passed away. I also had a client that contacted me in January talking about booking a session in the spring; when it was time to schedule her session, her dog had unexpectedly passed away. I'm crushed that their dogs passed but I'm also crushed that we missed the opportunity for her to get some gorgeous images of their best friend.

Pets are very different than humans, there aren't milestones in their life that make you consider doing a photo session. They don't graduate from kindergarten, or high school or college. They don't get engaged or get married. They don't get pregnant and want maternity photos. Those milestones don't exist. The best time is now when you're thinking about it. Tomorrow isn't promised.

The image above right was taken by Pet Photographer: Alicja Zmyslowska

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The image above was taken by Pet Photographer: Alicja Zmyslowska

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The love of a Dog

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