One Saturday afternoon, I decided I wanted to experiment with lighting. “Daisy wanna go play with me?!” She could sense the excitement in my voice and smell the treats in my pocket. She was at my heels before I could finish the question. Off we went, to the studio! She sat patiently while I played with buttons and adjusted the lights. Flash after flash, treat after treat, eventually, she got bored.

I looked through the images and nothing was all that great until I got to this one. I saved it and showed a few people on Facebook. I got a few likes and I was happy. Eventually, the image scrolled off everyone’s screens and would soon be collecting ‘digital dust’.

That summer, my wife and I went on vacation. Before we left, my wife noticed that something didn’t seem right with Daisy. She was just a bit more lethargic than normal. (At the time, we had another Basset, Roscoe, who would sleep 15-18 hours a day! No joke!) Daisy did not, she would nap but was generally awake when we were.

When we came home from our vacation, Daisy and Roscoe were both there to greet us, thankfully. After getting in the door and spending a few minutes at home, we realized something was definitely wrong with Daisy. She had no strength and wouldn’t eat or drink a thing, not even treats. Now we KNEW something was wrong. My wife and I took her to the emergency vet, not knowing what to do or what was wrong. We were still on a “high” from vacation. We figured a shot of some magic potion and some antibiotics and she’d be good as new.

Miss Daisy did not come home with us. It was one of the most devastating nights of our lives.

I am SO grateful to have spent even a short time with her and I think of her daily. Her poster-sized canvas hangs in our bedroom. To me, it’s priceless. You don’t have enough money to buy that from me. Only pet lovers know how strong this emotional connection is. Prior to this, I had never given much thought to taking my own pets’ portraits.

That’s when it hit me. I want to give as many people as I can, the same feeling I have every time I see her beautiful portrait. It was at this point in my photography career that I decided to focus my business on pet photography. Let me help you save those precious moments. Sadly, one day the memories will be all we have.