My Blog
In this page, I share stories some of which are simple, unusual, profound and uneventful that I have experienced in my encounters photographing our wonderful companions and their people. Please scroll down and share my epiphanies, joys, sorrows and occasional "aha" moments with me.
1/29/2019
True Beauty
Friday was a regular day, nothing spectacular, no unexpected news, just a regular day.
I was going into my local animal shelter to do some glamour photos for the new arrivals that have come in since the last time I was there so that these forgotten souls could finally find a forever home. We arrived at the shelter to find the usual happy business in taking care of the shelter animals, people cleaning cat boxes, volunteers taking dogs for walks, others cleaning out cages, feeding breakfast and filling water bowls. I went about my business searching for the new cat arrivals, having already set up my camera and lighting equipment. The stage was set, and now all I needed was a shining star to photograph.
Most of the new cat arrivals tend to be withdrawn, afraid of the strange new surroundings and generally need a bit of coaxing out of their cardboard hideaways before we can pose them for their glamour headshot. I trolled the aisles and then came across Eve.
Eve was beautiful, she had a light of intelligence and kindness emanating from her, she was forthright, loving, friendly and purring like crazy. I immediately knew that this was the perfect model but yet I hesitated. Eve was the epitome of a beautiful soul but a hard life had cursed her with the loss of an eye, tattered ears and a rough coat. My heart ached for Eve. Eve needed more than just a glamour shot, she needed a photo that showed the true beauty of her soul….
That “regular” day re-emphasized what we all know but all too often don’t remember…kindness, love, forgiveness and understanding is the real beauty in this world. Let us not pass over love just because it doesn’t look like we think it should.
Good news! Eve was adopted to a forever home one week after posting this blog!! yeah!!!
2/13/2019
"Just Not Feelin' It..."
This week, I was in the local shelter doing a shoot for Valentine's Day, we were ticking along getting kitties in and out for their Glamour shots and feeling quite efficient, and then we got to Howard…..
Howard was a beautiful black and white short hair, he was very friendly and purring like crazy but he was completely unmotivated to become involved in our photo shoot. To be clear, Howard was not really uncooperative but also not really engaged in the process of getting his valentine glamour pictures done. Right then and there, Howard stole my heart….
I completely understood how Howard was feeling, it is one of those days where you just do not feel like doing anything and just cannot get interested in being productive. It is one of those days where you just want to stay on the couch, binge watch your favorite TV programs, eat junk food and be completely unresponsible for anything. I get it Howard…I totally get it, but…… we had a mission to accomplish with the Valentine's Day deadline looming closer.
Howard tried his very best to convince us that today isn’t a good day for a photoshoot. Howard tried the ol’ rag doll maneuver turning his body completely limp, he buried his head into the catnip and all we saw was his tail, he tried to mosey out of camera range and finally he tried imploring us with big kitty eyes.
Oh Howard, I totally get it, but just one or two poses, that’s all Howard, then you can go back to being a couch slug…
Eventually, with much petting, cooing and catnap coaxing, Howard decided that may be giving us one or two poses would not be that hard to do.
Thankyou Howard☺
“Sometimes you have to do what you don't like to get to where you want to be”.
2/26/2019
A Book by it's Cover
Science states that it takes only 7 seconds to make a first impression. Of course science is referring to human first impressions with other people, and although I don’t have science to back up my claim, I think we take the same amount of time formulating a first impressions with the animals that come into our lives.
There is a plethora of information emphasizing the impact of first impressions. As a result, we always try to make that first impression as good as we can…we are on our best behavior, we dress well and we have a smile on our face.
Animals on the other hand don’t have the benefit of understanding the human need of receiving and making a good first impression. Animals are completely transparent and don’t make it a point to be especially nice, to be groomed especially well and to be especially amicable when meeting a new human.
Hence my first encounter with Rocky….
We were at the local shelter doing glamour shots of kitties and we were asked by the volunteers to take a glamour shot of Rocky. The volunteers described a beautiful sweet and loving grey long hair mature cat and we were excited to meet Rocky! The volunteers got Rocky into the camera lights and this is Rocky’s first impression….
There was absolutely no hissing, no clawing during the photoshoot, just lots and lots of purring, and true to his reputation, Rocky was one of the sweetest cats that I have ever met.
This brings to mind the old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. We always relate this saying to humans, but as humans we should remember that judging on a brief first encounter in anything is not always the most accurate perception.
First impressions are always unreliable.
Franz Kafka