March 29, 2011

Raleigh Pet Photographer: Fitzgerald

Awww, meet little Fitzgerald. :) He’s 4.5 months old and a rescued stray who is nothing but adorable cuteness! He has a bad case of Stranger Danger like my own cat Buckles and he stayed hidden under tables and shelving units pretty much the whole time (coming out only briefly to take a stab at catching the laser pointer or the feather stick) but he is so so so cute! And during the brief moments when he stopped being incredibly suspicious and concentrated on catching his toys, I was able to get Fitzgerald action shots that capture his loving kitty personality. :)

Fitzgerald was rescued when he was really small by his mom Nikki when he wandered onto her friend’s property. She had to feed him formula since he was so tiny. Now he’s a lot bigger and doing very well in his home. He enjoys playing laser pointer, trying to get on the kitchen table where he’s not allowed, and sitting on the window sill behind the couch. Fitz is such a little sweetheart and had a good time playing away during his shoot. Enjoy!

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March 24, 2011

Raleigh Pet Photographer: Tuck+Levi+Lola (with guest stars Spot+Reese)

Good friends and staunch CSP supports, Mary Ann and Daniel had me come over to photograph their motely crew of furry friends the other day. :) There are three, so I’ll introduce them individually:

Meet Tuk! Tuk was rescued by Mary Ann and Daniel and was sadly abused at his former home. :( He is absolutely precious and very happy in his new one. He’s a husky/shepherd mix and enjoys howling, trying to round up other dogs for pack purposes, and trying to annoying Levi.

Meet Levi! Levi is the feisty one of the bunch despite his small stature. I had been warned many times that Levi probably wouldn’t like me because Levi doesn’t like most people, but I gave him a few treats and we were BFFs. Levi enjoys growling, snarling, and avoiding Tuk.

Meet Lola! Lola is really the lover of the group. She’s a very nice and even-tempered dog who gets along with both Levi and Tuk. Lola enjoys treats, playing with her football, and running around with her doggy friends in the park. Below is a picture of Lola yawning. No, I did not photoshop her mouth. When Geoff saw it, he said that it reminded him of Gina Davis in Beetlejuice, which is totally accurate. We googled to find a picture to post next to it and, ironically, we found the picture on a blog that was comparing Gina Davis to another dog yawning. How weird is that?! Apparently that costume was inspired by fierce dog yawns.

Below is what happens when you have three dogs who don’t all entirely get along and you’re trying to take a family picture. Top left is Levi not cooperating. Top right is Levi growing because he’s now sitting next to Tuk. Tuk looks uncomfortable. Bottom left is Lola yawning (again) and bottom right is the closest semblance of all the dogs getting along.

We took a lot of pictures of Tuk inside because he was not to be joining us outside after his escapades in the morning where he broke through their porch, escaped into the wilderness, and had Mary Ann and Daniel chase him down for an hour. :) It was decided that Tuk was somewhat of a liability at the dog park, so he stayed behind to catch up on some much needed Zzz’s from that morning’s adventures. :)

Now meet Spot and Reese! I think it’s pretty obvious which is which. :) They’re doggy friends with Lola, Levi, and Tuk, and human friends with Daniel and Mary Ann. We met their pups at the dog park to get some action shots of them all playing! Spot and Reese are adorable dogs and so sweet! Spot is HUGE but was so nice and friendly and adorable. And Reese is very patient, quiet, and a good doggy photography subject. :)

All pups remained leashed outside of the park (even for their portraits below) because they are all kind of rambunctious together and a definite flight risk. :) Also, there were several swans in the park that they were all VERY interested in!

Thank you to all the pups (and humans!) for this adorable shoot!

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March 17, 2011

Pittsburgh Pet Photographer: LaSalle Faironaire

Geoff and I went home to Pittsburgh last weekend to celebrate his birthday and do whatever he does that involves his fantasy baseball draft. I also was tasked with the mission of photographing my family’s diva cat, LaSalle Faironaire (affectionately dubbed Sal for short). We’ve had Sal since I was 9 years old. She’ll be 16 in May. We credit her longevity to her voluntary solitary confinement in the basement for the first 13 years of her life… avoiding our two tabby cat hellions, Tang and Button. Tang died three years ago, followed by Button a year later, and finally Sal came out of the basement, happier than ever before. She now fully occupies the house (but mostly the kitchen) and has taken to sitting next to all the heating vents and stuffing her face in my parents’ space heaters. My dad calls her the Head of Maintenance.

Sal is both French and Jewish and in her spare time enjoys reading Anne Rice novels and watching Beyonce music videos. We photographed her in my parents’ kitchen where she spends 99.9% of her time.

Most of her time spent in the kitchen is spent hanging out with my mom, who is technically Sal’s owner. When I was 9 and my sister was 13, we just wanted cats who looked like Garfield and my dad was only interested in fish. So Laura and I got orange cats, my dad got fish, and my mom took home Sal, who was a rescue.