Shadow

There's something about this image that I love.



P.S. - Don't forget to enter the "Unconditional Love" contest!!!

Siblings Reunited

You may remember my session last year with Liora and Sabra, the Saluki mixes rescued from Israel. If you haven't read their amazing story, you must read it now! It's okay, I'll wait.

Finished? Wasn't that a great story?

Well there's an even better ending, as it seems that there are even more siblings living in the area! Add Snow and Emmy to the mix. They all got together a few weeks ago and it was amazing to see how similar their mannerisms are. I'm so glad they called me back to document their reunion.

I think this is Snow and Liora, but it's so hard to tell them all apart...


They looooove to roughhouse...








I think this was the only shot I got with all four of them!






This one cracks me up!


How could these NOT be siblings?


Snow was tired from all that playing...


In the middle of a scrum... being a dog photographer is dangerous work!

Playing with Video

Don't worry, I'm not going to give up photography for video, but we got a new video camera for Christmas so I thought I would play. Luckily Cooley and Jingles provide us plenty of funny moments to capture. This is Cooley doing his cat-like routine with a rope toy.

"Unconditional Love" Contest for a Free Session!

Since today is Valentine's Day, I thought it would be fun to have a little contest honoring the love we have for our pets. But there's a little twist. I want to hear your best story of unconditional love. Tell me something that your pet has done that drove you absolutely crazy and, of course, why you love them anyway. You must also send a picture of your pet(s).

Entries are due by March 1. Please email your story, picture and contact information to contest@fidojournalism.com. The winner will be announced on this blog Monday, March 3, and will receive a free Ceasar session ($500 value)*!

We have too many stories to count in our house, but here's a few just to give you some ideas:

When Cooley was a puppy, he used the wood baseboards and door frames in our dining room as his personal chew toys. He destroyed them. Several months later, we thought his wood obsession was licked until one day we came home and found all four corners of our coffee table chomped off.

One night we came home to find a stack of books on our coffee table shredded to bits and our sofa practically overturned. These books were on the table for months without incident.

Just recently, Jingles cut his foot requiring emergency surgery and one of those cones to keep the bandaged area clean and dry. Well the cone didn't deter him from, and we tried everything - bitter spray, duct tape, etc. - to keep him from chewing the bandage and licking the wound. We had to make several unplanned visits to the vet for rebandaging (at $50 a pop).

Then they go and do something like this and remind us why they bring so much joy to our lives:



I think our stories are relatively tame, so I can't wait to hear your best stories!

* - session must take place within 60 miles of Takoma Park, MD on a date I have available.

Oh, Jingles...

So we had a fun night over the weekend. Jingles somehow managed to cut his foot on something in our yard, so we made a trip to the emergency 24-hour vet last Saturday night. He sliced into his foot down to the tendons, necessitating immediate surgery. The doctor said he did well ("he's not a sissy" were his exact words), but seeing a groggy Jingles limp out of the surgery room with a cone on his head at 4am was about the saddest thing I've ever seen.

For people in the Maryland-area, the vet is the Metropolitan Animal Clinic on Nebel St. in Rockville. We were very pleased with the service and care of Jingles.

The vets instructed us to keep him calm over the next few days, which is like telling Britney Spears to act like a sane, rational person. Ain't gonna happen. We've already been back to our vet several times to get him rebandaged, and resorted to duct tape, bitter spray and other things to try and keep the wrap on. When Jingles has his mind set on something, there's really very little that can be done to stop him.

Here's our poor boy...

Brotherly Love

Every once in awhile, Jingles and Cooley are so sweet to each other. It's rare, but it does happen. I snapped this the other night as they were both laying on the couch. I love how Jingles wrapped his legs around Cooley and used him as a pillow.

FidoJournalism Profiled!

FidoJournalism was recently profiled by a journalism grad student for a class project. It was an honor to be asked, and while I don't usually like to talk about myself, it was fun giving someone a behind the scenes look at a shoot and my thought processes. I think Kate did a terrific job expressing in words what I do, and, perhaps more importantly, WHY I do it.

Take a few minutes to read the profile [HTML or PDF] and let me know what you think in the comments.