Brutus, Caesar and Diesel

It's a horrible feeling thinking something is going to happen to your beloved pet. Trust me...I just went through a scare with my cat, Teton. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I was pretty sure he was heading down the road to Rainbow Bridge. Thankfully, with the help of the AMAZING staff at Independence Veterinary Clinic, Teton was better and back to his old self by Monday. Wow. It was a really long and tear-filled weekend. That same relief is, I'm sure, what Brutus' mom felt after he got the all-clear from his liver shunt surgery. You see, Brutus was born with a congenital birth defect which allows some blood coming from his stomach to bypass the liver. Those nasty toxins go straight into his bloodstream which is a recipe for disaster. This condition is very rare in cats and it manifested itself as blindness after Brutus was neutered (the blindness thankfully went away).

Brutus had surgery on August 26th. It was very risky with not a ton of success in cats. We, of course, immediately scheduled a session should the unthinkable occur. Brutus also had his Abyssinian brother, Caesar, join in.

Thankfully, after much observation and many tests, Brutus has gotten the all-clear and the liver shunt has been corrected. I couldn't be more happy for this seriously sweet and wonderful family. What a huge sigh of relief we all felt. With the good news, they even added on a third kitten after our original session! The little guy is named Diesel and we decided to have a fun little session with him in the studio!

I hope you enjoy some of the images from these kitty sessions. Virtual hugs to this entire family!!!!

Because these guys are hard to tell apart, I'll start off with the main focus of the shoot...Brutus! I'm head over heals about these kitties on this animal print goodness!!!

This curious guy is Caesar. He definitely did his best to steal the spotlight. He kinda did. ;)Love between mom and Brutus...On to the crazy boy Diesel!!! I mean, he's an adorable kitten let loose in a studio full of toys. This is awesomeness!His jig...The absolute favorite pastime of Diesel's is to attack the cowhide rug. So of course we had to include that! OMG!Thanks again to this fab kitty family. I'm so glad everyone is happy and healthy! I hope you enjoy your wall art and album for years and years!!!! :)

Wall Art

I love seeing gorgeous artwork on the walls of clients' homes and businesses. One of the most fun parts of the process is the design phase. I use a fun, little program on my iPad that allows me to show my clients what their images will look like on their wall, to scale. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of the decision making. Right now I'm working on a couple statement pieces for the West Ballantyne Animal Hospital. Here's a little preview of some options I sent over. Stay tuned to find out what they decide to go with!!!

Hogan and Lola

Over the past couple weeks, I've been posting some super fun sessions done for the vets at Brawley Animal Hospital. Well, when one of the vets adopted a new pup just after our original session, we had no choice but to get pictures of her to hang in the office along with the other pets! And wouldn't you know, along with the new Frenchie pup, Lola, we also got to photograph one of the vet's cats, Hogan. Yep, that's right, Hogan came out on-location with us! Certainly a first and probably an only! :)

I introduce you to Mr. Hogan...

As you can see, Hogan is a cute little tripod. He came to the vet school with severe nerve damage to his leg after a possible run in with a car. He was basically dragging the leg along. :( When they figured out it wasn't fixable, his mom decided to amputate it and keep him for herself. The rest is history and he is now one happy camper!It was so cute to see Hogan hanging out at a brand new location. He was astonishingly good! He tried to hop away a couple times to check out the nearby barn but, for the most part, he just hung out and posed for the camera!What a seriously gorgeous face! I swear he's smiling here...Oh, and the classic cat nap. However, Hogan was certainly still very aware of the people hanging out in the parking lot (no doubt very curious about the cat being photographed in the field) and the mountain bikers going by.After we photographed Hogan, we got to spend some time with the new Frenchie of the family, Lola. Lola was rescued from a breeder after suffering a prolapsed uterus. At 2 years of age, there's no telling how many puppies she's had and she is very small and skinny. However, she is FULL of personality and was a giggle maker! She is going to be a well-balanced healthy girl in no time at all!

This is Lola's Gremlin face...She soooooo tried to smile for the camera! The funniest part of her session? She wasn't interested in squeakies, balls, or dog toys. Nope! But pull out a cat toy and she's all over it! We used Hogan's goodies the entire time we worked with Lola. Silly girl!

I can't wait to share the final artwork with you all!!! :)

Mountain Weekend

The weekend after my beach trip, I headed up in elevation and spent a couple days in the mountains of West Jefferson, NC. I was lucky enough to hang out with a couple other NC pet photographers...Mary Curry (www.marycurryphotography.com), Amy Choate (www.amychoate.com), and Nunthany Johnson (www.nunthanyjohnson.com). We rented a cute little cabin named the Rustic Retreat. The name is misleading, however, as this cabin was perfect for our little get-together!

What are a group of pet photographers going to do when they get together. Yep! Photograph pets. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring our own furbabies. Cabin rules. So went went on a hunt for some cute pups to be our stand-in models.

Luckily, we ran into some neighbors that happened to be out walking their dogs while we were driving down off the mountain. They were more than accommodating and let us have an impromptu session right there in the street (no worries...it was just a neighborhood gravel drive). Not only did these neighbors own two dogs, they also had 4 cats - one of which took it upon herself to be included in the nightly walk. She was more than curious when it came to the camera and quickly warmed up to the idea of a photo shoot. While the other girls photographed the dogs, I made the kitty my model. Meet my new friend, Rosie...

Rosie was so curious about the camera...So, so curious...The wind was really blowing this evening and leaves were flying everywhere. One caught Rosie's eye...Score! Of course I had to get a shot of her sisters. This is Trixie... And Sable...And one last one of my sweet Rosie. I really feel in love with this cat. Just look at her cute little smile and those gorgeous eyes. I heart you.