As a dog photographer, I’m so fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue my passion for working with dogs. It also guarantees I work with people who feel the same way about their dogs.

When working with dogs and their owners, I love to experience their relationship, watch their verbal and non-verbal communication, and see the joy in their shared companionship.

Why do we love our dogs so much? For many of us, they provide that unconditional, non-judgemental love – they are so generous in how much love they give. As humans, we can be judgemental about other people. Dogs are not like that – it doesn’t matter what we look like, what kind of car we drive, or how much money is in our bank account; they accept us for who we are without prejudice.

Dogs can be in tune with our feelings and sense when we are happy or sad. While they can’t tell us in words, they are good at using their body language to convey they feel we can do the same for them. I’ve read that petting, playing, and cuddling a dog releases oxytocin, a hormone associated with bonding and affection, in both the human and the dog. I believe this as I know how it makes me feel!

When photographing dogs with their humans, I want to capture images reflecting this profound connection and the joy people share with their canine companions.

Preserving those cherished memories for them with beautiful artwork they will treasure forever is a privilege.

As a dog photographer, I’m always looking for perfect settings, considering factors like light and scenery. However, a unique circumstance arose when photographing an elderly dog with limited mobility. Despite initially planning to shoot in their yard, it didn’t meet my vision. I drove to the back parking lot of a medical building across the street. Drawn by glimpses of ornamental grasses and some beautiful light I hoped we could make that location work. The owners agreed to drive the dog across the street.

I had to quickly come up with a plan and ended up doing a speedy session in the parking lot’s island area with small evergreen trees and mulched ground. I was concerned about the outcome as I wanted to provide the owners with images they’d love. And it worked out; the charm of the senior dog and some Photoshop creativity turned the parking lot into a convincing forest setting, resulting in some beautiful artwork for the owners.

I had another photo session at our local university – I love shooting there. I had images I was pleased with, but I was still missing one, commonly called the “Soul Searcher”. This is a photo where you have the dog look straight into the camera and focus on their eyes. It’s nice to do a shot like this surrounded by flowers or greenery. I was initially going to photograph this sweetie in a bed of tulips, but she was so small, and the flowers were too tall.

We were heading out of the parking lot when I noticed some pretty purple flowers planted around the parking attendant’s booth. We put her in there, and by working my angles, I created an adorable photo that her mom loved. You’d never guess she was sitting in a tiny patch of flowers in the middle of a parking lot.

In both sessions, the situations were different from what I had in mind, and the location could have been better, but it’s amazing what you can achieve in a less-than-perfect setting when you open your mind to the possibilities.

We had a a great turn-out for our festive season photoshoot and were able to raise over $1000 for Happy’s Place!

Many thanks to my friend Linda who volunteered to help for the day – both Happy’s Place and I appreciated all of her hard work!

I’ve volunteered for Wienerfest for many, many years! This year I was asked if I could be in charge of doing photos of dogs in the Wienermobile – how could I possibly say no!

I decided to do things a little differently and I moved inside the building so I could control the light, I created a cute but simple setting to best show-case the Wienermobile.

It was a big success and I ended up photographing about 60 dogs and raised $600 for Wienerfest. Many thanks to everyone who came out and supported the cause. And many thanks to the sweet pups who allowed themselves to be placed into the Wienermobile and smiled for my camera!

It was great fun to get out to Wienerfest 2022 this year! I’ve been doing event photography for them since 2016! I can’t believe how fast time has gone!

Growing up, we always had wiener dogs, so I have a soft spot for them! It’s been so much fun going out year after year to take photos of these little comedians!

I couldn’t be there for the whole day due to work conflicts this year, but I already have it marked on my calendar for next year!