Preserving Your Most Cherished Memories
When someone desires an “end of life” portrait session for their beloved companion, my heart takes me back to the days of my youth, when I was a teenager and the health of my childhood dog Butchie was failing. Butchie was a black and white mid-sized, mixed breed pup that my mom gave to me for my birthday. Though he only lived eleven years, I loved this dog fiercely and when I realized that there was no hope for successful treatment, I wanted to have a nice portrait of him. I was a kid with a Kodak 110 snap camera. The film came in a small cartridge that, when spent, was popped into a mailing envelope and sent to some unknown processing center for development. In a couple of weeks, the prints and the thin negative strips were returned by mail. Back then the Kodak 110 roughly captured people and places, events and vacation memories. It wasn’t a tool for creating a fine portrait print.
Department stores in the local mall offered family photography. I asked, actually I begged, the photographer to take a photo of Butchie. This was my beloved childhood companion and I was desperate to have a portrait to remember him by. I pleaded with the photographer to let me bring the dog into the store and set him up on the studio booster that normally was reserved for babies and small children. Finally, he agreed to bend the rules, because at that time, dogs were just not photographed at Sears. I cherished that 8X10 photo, which is now packed away in a keepsake box in my attic. Looking back on it, I was so grateful that the Sears photographer allowed Butchie’s picture to be taken, that I didn’t notice that the photo of my beloved Butchie wasn’t good. It captured my dog with his mouth open in a rushed way because the day we took that shot, it was rushed and the dog was excited. Get the dog in. Snap the picture. Get the dog out. I’m not fond of the image, but it was all I had.
As a photographer, I am reminded of that experience and so I make every effort to create the images that I would want to have. I try to capture the kind of portrait my younger self wanted for Butchie, but that I didn’t get. The kind of images that portray the personality and deep emotional connection of the animal I’m photographing. Pet portraiture is not a rushed experience. Even when I’m doing a promotional dog photo booth at an event or photographing dogs with Santa one right after the other, I strive to capture what makes each one special to his owner and capture the love that needs no words to express.
As we dog owners know, each relationship with each beloved dog is unique, no matter how many dogs come into our lives. I’ve photographed dogs of all sizes and breeds, young pups and sugar-faced senior dogs. I want to make sure that each pup I photograph has their image preserved in a way that portrays this distinctive bond. I’m offering photography services that will help to tell their stories and preserve your special memories for years to come.
