Part of the family.

I love meeting new people and capturing meaningful photos. Everyone is different and has a special story to tell. It is great when you can catch these stories in photos to look back on after life changes. Life always moves on, no matter how much we'd often like things to stay exactly as they are.
Pet owners know their loved ones, dogs or cats, will not be around forever. I have experienced this loss first hand and it is really tough. I know I wish I had better photos of our late dog, Keira, before she passed as she was so young. We had no idea she would leave us so early...

I had the pleasure of doing some "dog family" portraits for a great couple in Nanaimo this past week. Their German Shepard, Bear, is getting on and has some mobility problems. He gets around in a really cool cart and is super active, going out for trail runs and playing at the beach. Bear is a super friendly dog that you just want to give a big hug. I love dogs like this. So doing photos was really meaningful for me. I have another big Lab/cross dog now but the pain of the loss of our first dog reminds me how important a role these animals play in our lives.

Shooting photos of dogs is very rewarding to me but is sure is a challenge! While Bear has limited mobility, his two younger buddies have no problem zooming around. Getting a group shot was a challenge but we pulled it off. Ad to the excited dogs, the weather was very dark and grey so the natural light wasn't going to be enough. I had to use a (remote) flash to get the images I was looking for. This meant moving the flash along the beach as we strolled along, watching the dogs play in the waves.

I have said this before, but for me getting the image right is worth the extra work.

It was a privilege to take photos of the much loved Bear.