Several weekends ago I attended a workshop by one of my favorite photographers, Shannon Sewell, whose style has always been an inspiration to me.  The subjects we photograph and the way we photograph couldn’t be more different but I believe it’s important to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and try new things – I am constantly pushing myself to learn and grow as a photographer.  Shannon photographs stylized and posed children, which is a 180 degree difference from candid pet photography, but I have loved her work for years and holy cow did I learn a lot from her.

I met lots of great local children’s photographers and the most amazing thing happened.  While watching the other children photographers attending the workshop, I saw just how passionate they were about what they do.  You see, I’ve always loved pets, I’ve always known I want to photograph pets and pets with their people.  But this drove home for me that I really am doing what I love because watching the other photographer’s faces light up when they spoke about what they do – I know I feel the exact same way about what I photograph.

At the shoot I was taking photos and watching Shannon work with the models, but out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but see the cute doggies that kept walking by us on the trail.  Then I saw a baby goose by the lake, so I decided to step away from the workshop for a few minutes to photograph the baby goose.  And in that moment, I knew my heart is in the right place and that I am exactly where I need to be photography-wise, niche-wise and career-wise.  This by far is not my best image of the day, but it sure is my favorite.

Tot made it through a massive cyst removal surgery earlier this week and it’s been really tough on her but she’s doing extremely well.  The cyst was larger than they had thought and had eaten through so much bone in her mouth that her jaw was nearly broken, it will be as fragile as a “wine glass” for the next 6 months or so.  When the vet first told us how fragile her jaw was/is, these horrific images flashed in my mind of Tot getting too excited and accidentally slamming into the wall last week – or launching her body to stop airborne toys about 300 times a day and crashing into things – you get the picture…  She’s our rough and tumble little girl but she’s going to have to learn to take things down a notch until the bone graft starts to heal.  Something tells me this won’t be easy!

She’s been a real trooper throughout!  However, she was pissed when she was finally cognitive enough to notice that all of her toys were suddenly M.I.A.  I wonder if she thinks she woke up in some alternate universe where toys don’t exist!  Rest assured, her toys will find their way back to her in a week and a half.  Until then, they remain in a super top secret hiding location (luckily Tot hasn’t sniffed them out yet!)

I took the rest of the week and this weekend off to care for her and help her recover (I’ll still be answering e-mails though).

Dental Specialist extraordinaire, Dr. Chamberlain and his staff Michele and Jenn went so far above and beyond – we are eternally grateful for their expertise, compassion and kindness.  They genuinely care about each pet and that is a very rare thing.  For someone who loves their pets as much as I do, it means the world to me.

I was so excited when Bev Hollis contacted me about taking some lifestyle photographs of her with her dogs, Lily and Niles!  I eagerly accepted and then realized I had just agreed to photograph an amazing pet photographer with her dogs.  The pressure slooooowly started to sink in.  Oh boy!

Bev lives down the road from me here in Leesburg, VA and we have been friends for a while but this was the first time that I got to meet her sweet doggies Lily and Niles, and they couldn’t have been more wonderful!  They had me laughing the entire time – Lily was full of sweet kisses and Niles kept striking poses like a professional model, I suppose that is what happens when your mom is a professional photographer!  Mother Nature blessed us with the most perfect, west coast-esque, non-humid weather – we were ecstatic!  We had a fun time strolling around old town Leesburg, which was filled with so many colors, textures and the most beautiful light!  We chatted about life, photography and how much we love our dogs.  By the end I wanted to bring Lily, Niles AND Bev home with me!

I am still working on editing Bev’s photos but I wanted to share a few early favorites!  More to come soon!

Thanks again Bev – you guys rocked it!