My first e-mail from Quentin just said, “I warn you… I look like Shrek. But my wife is an angel so we balance each other out.” His questionnaire said stuff like, “Some place that makes me look like Brad Pitt” in response to where they wanted their pictures taken and, “We do NOT like to do naked photography” as their basic vision for the shoot. For anything else that they might want us to know about them, they wrote: “It is very important to know that we are awesome. I take that back, we are VERY awesome. Strike that… we are the most awesomeest. And our dogs don’t suck.”

Thus has been our relationship with Quentin and Lady. Us laughing and nodding and me being naive and asking for clarification as to when Quentin is joking and when he’s not. Note: he is always joking. Well, except for the fact that they are actually awesome, their dogs don’t suck, and Lady is an angel. We had a super fun time running around with these guys and their adorable pups (Betty is skinny, Madeline is a little bit fatter and has the turned down ears). Madeline was horribly abused in her previous household and is now spoiled rotten with Beggin’ Strips (Quentin says they don’t taste very good) and living the high life in Raleigh with her new sister and parents (who like food and baseball and indie music and are awesome). Guys – we hope there’s at least one picture that you don’t hate. ;)

This is one of the happiest-looking dogs in the entire universe. Zeva, a little long-haired Chihuahua and furry daughter of long-time CSP supporters Stephan and Sean, had a session with us at a child’s playground in Raleigh. She was very excited, as you can tell by her little adorable expressions. She was also a big hit with the kids of the playground whom we were skillfully avoiding but kept following us around. :) Zeva enjoys Stephan, following Stephan around, and being with Stephan. She also likes her little stuffed bear and cat treats. :)

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Below is the absolute quintessential portrait of doggy joy and it makes me smile every time.

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I believe the toddler that strolled past in the picture below and to the right called Zeva a kitty… but it’s not too far off. She does eat cat treats.

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Towards the end of the session… getting a little tired now. Posing with her little stuffed bear. :)

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Royal is a 2 year old Brittany Spaniel who came into my life via his parents’ relationship with the parents of Hermine the Cat. And I could not be more thankful. He was such a grounded and polite subject and his name describes him perfectly. He would sit, stay, lay down, and even fake sneeze. That’s right. They taught him how to fake sneeze. They’d say “Achoo!” and he’d make a sneezing sound on command. Then, when he realized sneezing equaled treats, he’d sit there and sneeze and look at us like, “Hello! Here I am! I am sneezing! Where is my treat, please?” In his spare time, Royal enjoys chasing his toy pheasant, sitting on blankets (he dislikes hardwood floors), and playing with his soccer ball.

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