Published and awarded pet photographer serving the Charleston SC area with seasonal appointments in Northern Virginia.

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March 2020 Monthly Selections

Wow. So much going on in the world this month! I hope you all are staying well! Rather than harp on the anxiety that surrounds this pandemic, I’d like to take you all away from that for a few minutes. It’s in our faces all day, every day lately. So let’s step away from it for a bit, shall we?

March gave me wonderful photo opps. One of my favorites was the chance to work with a girl named Ripley, formerly known as Meringue, from Dorchester Paws. I had met her initially during one of our adoptable photo sessions and she is the kind of girl you can’t stop thinking about – unfortunately, in the same post where I learned she had been adopted, I also found out she had just received a difficult diagnosis. So I linked up with her humans and we met at a local park. Don’t be sad for her. She has it made right now and that’s all that matters – dogs live in the present. She is loved, she is happy.

You can pop over to see her story and more photos here if you like.

I also met up with a lovely lady and her boy, Riley. We had a great time in spite of the fact that our session was right around when the world was starting to collapse! Their relationship was meant to be – so many signs from the very beginning. She has actually known him since he was born! And now, thirteen years later, the connection is still palpable. That evening, I received the sweetest text -- when I get notes like this, it reminds me this is important work!

I was able to squeak in a couple of sessions under my Dog Mom’s Mother’s Day offer too! I have a couple of spaces left under this offer so if you are interested, please reach out sooner than later as it terminates once the allotment is reserved.

There was a birthday session that had been scheduled for months but the pup’s actual first birthday isn’t for a couple of weeks so I’ll wait until April to share it! But here is one of his "regular" photos from our session, as he held his own personal press conference :).

I had a few minutes at Charleston Animal Society to meet and photo the heartwrenching dog, Harvey, a beautiful pittie who had sustained burns over half his body. When I first read his story, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I wanted to help him somehow and Kay Hyman, local Do-Good-er and Outreach for CAS, said just come take photos. So I did (and maybe I brought him a stuffed llama and some treats). His wounds made me a little queasy but his spirit was so loving toward his handlers and his eyes were so forgiving.  I will spare you the graphic photos and leave you with just one here with his critical care staff member with the hope it may touch your heart and remind you to keep supporting organizations that fight the good fight everyday and try to protect the innocents from abuse.

I went with my Dorchester Paws handler friend to meet up with the amazing trainer-gals from Wonder Dog University (pictured below) to help a hearing-impaired adoptable dog named Bam-Bam.  I made a quick video from our time and you can read about that adventure and queue up the video here.

The pandemic and safety measures across varying groups definitely cramped my adoptable photo sessions but I still was able to shoot 51 dogs and cats in March for Charleston Animal Society, Dorchester Paws and Berkeley Animal Center. That brings the YTD total through 3/31 to 205. I imagine that will slow down now since shelters have basically suspended volunteer activities to keep people safe.  

Roux and Gracie will surely be tired of me soon. We go into the studio A LOT to shoot something … anything! We did some additional treat toss photos (they love working at those!) and then, to further keep myself from going bananas, I decided to create different “versions” of the images, just for fun. And then I liked it enough to turn it into a rescue fundraiser – this way I am still volunteering while I’m sequestered and the rescues and shelters receive much-needed donations!  You can find details pinned to Facebook– this fundraiser will run through April 30, ANYONE from ANYWHERE can participate and *YOU* get to choose to which shelter or rescue your donation goes! If you don't want to check it out on Facebook, shoot me a message and I can send you the details.

COMING SOON: The third annual Cover Dog Contest at Charleston Animal Society is in the final planning stages and should go live in early May (paws crossed!), with sessions being held in June for the top fundraisers. Please stay tuned and follow for more information. With all the event cancellations, CAS had to postpone its biggest annual fundraiser to October 23, so we need to really make this year’s Cover Dog campaign a success! Are you with me?

I was definitely disappointed to have to cancel my spring trip to Northern VA two weeks before I was set to travel, but I’ll see you all when the coast is clear!

Last, but not least, I'd like to give a public shout out to sweet Alexis. You have seen her flood my Tuesday feed for about the last year, starring in some of the adoptable photos. Sadly, she has now gone on to other opportunities. I will miss her but here is a quick video of some favorites from our time together.

I've been making a point to give some daily love to local micro and small businesses I know that could benefit from additinal exposure (posts are on Facebook for both CHS and Northern VA area). Please, definitely try to support local during these times -- the micros and small businesses will need it more than you can imagine.

In all seriousness, this is a weird and crazy time and I hope you are all being smart and staying safely indoors as much as possible so this thing goes away sooner than later. Enjoy the additional time at home with your pets – I know they are all happy about you being there. Well, maybe not the cats… but the dogs sure are!

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2020 UPCOMING EVENTS & SCHEDULING NOTES

May 2, 2020 | FidoFest, Mount Pleasant Towne Centre.

May, 2020 | Cover Dog Contest to benefit Charleston Animal Society.

August, 2020 | Artist Display, City of Goose Creek.

November 21, 2020 | CAS 20th Annual Chili Cook-Off.

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