She’ll be 17 on June 15th, 2024. Her name is Maggie and she is one of the lucky ones. She was adopted as a puppy and has known love her entire life. She is her mom’s world and the realization is setting in that their time together is coming to an end. Her mom reached out so I could photograph them together and capture their sweet bond. Here is their story and a few of the heartfelt photos I captured. Maggie’s mom shared this with me before our photo shoot: A few weeks before my grandfather passed away, he went to Walmart and took a photo of himself. When he gave it to me he told me that he w ..read more

Side light is directional light falling on the subject from either the left or the right. Side light can be unflattering and many photographers avoid it because it can produce harsh shadows. But when used correctly it can create dramatic images. The second theme for Empower in Unleashed Education’s 6 month dog photography challenge is On the Side. We are to side light an image that creates a dynamic or dramatic image. I wouldn’t call my style dramatic. My images tend to have a softness to them. My thought process for this challenge was to create a more dramatic image than my typical style. My ..read more

I’m a member of Unleashed Education, the online mecca for pet photography education developed by Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock. If you’re a photographer and would like to improve your knowledge, I highly recommend this group. If you’re a client and you’re reading this, I am a member of this group so that I can continue to grow and learn. I always want to improve my photography skills. I am participating in their third pet photography challenge called Empower. For the next 6 months, we will be given a topic every 2 weeks and we have to create our vision using a pet and whatever the ..read more

Jeff having fun at the dog park This Tuesday February 20th is Love Your Pet Day. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you are thinking to yourself, every day at your house is Love Your Pet Day. Am I right? I know I am. I would bet money that most everyone reading this had that thought. Every day at our house is Love Your Pet Day but what can you do to make your dog’s day? What really makes your dog happy? Whatever that is, do that with your dog. This day is all about giving your pet extra attention on this day. Giving him your undivided attention. Here are 5 things you can do to make the day ..read more

This could be a “How To Take Picture Perfect Valentine’s Day Photos of your Dog” and also “What Not To Do!” My dog model is Jeff, our new dog. We adopted him in October. He’s still figuring out this model thing and I’m still figuring out how to best work with him. 5 Tips for Taking Photos of your Dog: Be ready. Have your camera or phone ready to snap the photo. If you’re lucky, your dog will hold his pose. A lot of dogs won’t so you need to be ready. You may only have a quick second when he’s looking directly at you and his ears are perked up. Use treats. If your dog is treat motivated ..read more

Why are Toe Beans so Cute? I never even knew they were called toe beans until I posted the photo at the top of the page on my Instagram back in 2019 with the caption: I can’t even. Someone commented about these cute toe beans and that’s how I learned that they actually have a name. The photo has almost 400 likes (for my account, that’s a lot.) Detail shots are some of my favorite types of images. At my photo sessions, I can get a lot of candid toe bean photos when dogs are running and playing. Here are some that I’ve taken recently. Puppy Toe BeansI mean, who doesn’t think puppy toe beans are ..read more

In October we adopted a new dog. His name is Jeff. We know that it takes time for dogs to settle in when they’re newly adopted and we want to do everything we can to make this transition smooth for him. This is what we’ve done to help him. He is a work in progress and we are going to need to continue to work with him. LEARN ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND Because he’s a rescue, we don’t know much about his background. I always try to learn as much as I can. Here’s what we know: He was picked up in a rural part of North Carolina and taken to a high kill shelter. He was pulled by the Charlotte SPCA, a loc ..read more

This traveling dog photographer needs snow destination recommendations. I love to travel. I love the look of photos taken in the snow and photographing dogs in the snow is fun. I have done it before but it’s been a long time because it doesn’t snow with any regularity in Charlotte NC. AND I don’t drive in the snow. The thought terrifies me. I also have a rear wheel drive car that I don’t want to crash. I attended a workshop in Breckenridge Colorado in 2017 in May and it snowed over a foot while we were there. It was awesome. We were in a beautiful house. We had dog models lined up to photogra ..read more

One of my 2024 goals is to photograph our new dog Jeff, adopted in October 2023. I am going to set some goals for myself for 2024. I’ve never been much of a goal setter but this year I am writing down the things I want to work on. 2024 Top 10 Goals Better Work Life Balance I am not good at this. I am a morning person so I’m usually up working at my computer every day, 7 days a week by 5am. I am also a creature of habit so this has become my routine. I need to break this one. Photograph My Own Dogs Molly is 10 years old. She doesn’t love being a model but I do want to take more photos of h ..read more

Happy New Year! It’s time for my 2023 Pet Photography Year in Review. I started this tradition two years ago. I choose my favorite photos from each photo shoot I photographed during the year. As always, I am so grateful to all of my clients who entrust me to photograph their pets. I am 7 years into this career and I still can’t believe that this is my job! When I think back on 2023, here are the things that immediately come to my mind: Epic travel and fun adventures with my fellow dog photographer bff Audrey Cox of Sunsets Unleashed Sweet senior dogs Tiny, tiny puppies Dog moms and dog ..read more