Lost Pet Tracking.Maine Pet Photographer Minor Moments

You know that old saying...the more you give the more you get?  For me, this post is so much about that and more.

I post regularly about my monthly portrait winners from The Dog Wash located here in Portland.  If you are new to my blog, let me give a quick recap.  If you take your dirty dog to the self service Dog Wash you can enter your dogs name into a monthly drawing to get their portrait taken.  If your dogs name is chosen, I will contact you to set up a time to take the photos.  Technically, we can usually accomplish this in 15 minutes or less, but we usually need at least 30 minutes to give your dog a chance to do what dogs do when they arrive somewhere to have their photo taken!  A few weeks after the photo shoot, I choose my favorite, have it Artiplaq'd and bring it to the Dog Wash where it hangs for a year.  After a year, you the dogs owner can purchase the Artiplaq'd for a donation made out to the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.  There is no obligation to purchase anything, however, I do post the photos to an online gallery and you do have the opportunity to purchase photos if you wish.

What do I get out of all of this?  I get to meet great people who own great dogs!  I get to hang a beautiful portrait of your dog in the Dog Wash, where all the Dog Wash customers view the photos and hopefully enter for their chance to get their dog photographed...and I get exposure for my business, doing what I love to do, photographing dogs!  Do I hope you will love your photos and purchase some?  Absolutely! 

When I contacted Lisa to let her know her name (and her four dogs) had been chosen as a monthly winner I was clear to her that I would need her help in getting FOUR dogs to cooperate nicely for a portrait together.  Lisa was very excited that I was willing to do all four, both individually and together, we then both pulled out our busy calendars and scheduled a place and time to meet.  Lisa had told me her dogs were search and rescue dogs, and that she had been getting a bit of press lately and was excited at the opportunity of getting some great photos taken.  WOW, did I have my "work" cut out for me.  All four of Lisa's dogs are pretty big, and strong!  Be sure to note how tiny Lisa is...but there is never a doubt she is in control!

All four dogs have their own unique personalities, but one thing they all had in common was the immediate need to check out their surroundings...and staying together for a group portrait was definitely not on today's radar!  (We scheduled this for Shaw Park in Gorham which has paths, fields, and water!)  Once I felt I had gotten what I needed for photos we headed back up to our cars to leave.  Lisa gave me a hug and thanked me for what I do.  It's not everyday I get a hug after a pet portrait session, but I'm all for it!  As I drove home I thought about what Lisa's dogs do, and how the situations are not always happy ones...like today...taking photos.  Her dogs search for missing pets!  The bond she makes with a client is intense!  Now I understood the hug...both heartfelt and compassionate! 

When I got home I immediately searched out Lisa's website.  Again, I was blown away by what I read.  How a person changes their career, literally overnight, because of a personal experience.  The courage to follow a passion, get the necessary training needed to provide a much needed service, and just "do it" is a quality I can't help but admire and aspire too.  I can share Lisa's story, but I think it best that you read it directly from her here.  (get out your glasses...her font is small...and you may need a tissue too!)
http://lostpettrackingdogs.com/k9team/Home.html

I see a little of myself in Lisa.  I too changed careers after a life altering experience...mine cancer...but...there were other stars that lined up too.  I'm not sure I would have been able to make the "leap of faith" to photography without a bit of a push "out" from the job I currently held.  I'm not big on risk taking.  There...I've said it!  And I've come to realize it is a quality that I greatly admire in other people!  It is my ongoing goal (and challenge) to open myself up more to risk!  Anyone want to help me with that?

Please read Lisa's story.
As I said in the beginning of this post, the day I photographed Lisa's dogs was one of those days when I got so much more than I gave. I got to meet someone great!
 

 Bella -  Labrador Retriever

 Dante - Belgian Malenois

 Mason - Boxer/Hound Mix

 Vita - Bloodhound

   

Eric & Amanda a Maine Wedding.Photographer

It's always a great pleasure and honor for me to introduce a wedding couple to you on my blog.  Today I introduce Eric and Amanda who wedded on July 8th, at the Woodlands Club in Falmouth Maine.  I first met Amanda and her mom Sheryl this past April when they were referred to me by another bride I will be photographing next month.  I love referrals!  Thank you for trusting me with these very important memories!
As a reminder, I do offer a free engagement shoot as a way to spend a little bit of time with each other before the big day.  In Eric and Amanda's case, for various reasons, we schedule the engagement shoot the day before the wedding, before the rehearsal...but it worked out great in the end.
I'm featuring a few of my favorite photos below, and I've also included a quick slideshow with more highlights.  The photos in the slideshow tell the story so much better than my words can.  The fun, the love, the beautiful day, it's all summed up in the photos...but I do want to share one other thing in words.

Since 1982 my favorite movie has been "An Officer and a Gentleman" and it's all because of this scene at the end of the movie...even The Simpsons had their own rendition in this scene...so when Eric and Amanda walked back "down the aisle" after being pronounced man and wife, and Eric scooped up Amanda in his arms, it is without a doubt, for me, the most romantic gesture I have ever witnessed at a wedding.  Every wedding is unique, and there is always a moment at each and every one that warms my heart..."way to go Eric, way to go!"

This is Eli...we met at the rehearsal..he didn't really warm up to me...

incase your device doesn't show the slideshow below, here's the link.
http://video214.com/play/4T2udIO2Ttr10NOkyxVzLg/s/dark

   

Fifty Shades Relaxed Unplugged A Maine Photographer

Here is my final blog post about camping unplugged...at least for last weeks trip.  Most of our time away we played on our new boat.  (not new...but new to us!)  We used to boat, back in our early married years...and I had gotten pretty good at setting anchor with a pregnant belly and one baby on board, but as soon as Josh came around I was too much of a Nervous Nelly to be out on a boat with two babies...I really didn't want anything to do with boating, and reluctantly we traded in our "Minor Priority I" for a purple mini van.  Now, fast forward about 15 years and we are now the proud owners of the "Minor Priority II"  It's both smaller and older than the original...but it still provides us with family time on the water.  Yes, I am still a Nervous Nelly.  I am blessed with a husband who believes in practicing safe boating and we hope to teach these great skills to both of our boys, who have obviously fallen in love with this summer pastime already.

I brought out my husbands point and shoot camera, (cause Nelly wasn't ready to bring her real camera one on board)...(hey...I guess Nelly is my subconscious, with the half moon glasses...) anyways, we were doing alot of bouncing and my aim wasn't always the best.  As you can see by the photos, the view was breathtaking, the lake as smooth as glass, and very quiet for a holiday weekday:)  The boys did a bunch of tubing, and Nick perfected dropping a water ski within a few tries...and proceeded to show off the rest of the week.

As far as fifty shades goes...here's my latest.  I've done a bit of research on Ana's ben wa balls.  Seems a person like myself could possibly benefit from owning a pair...I'm not against self-improvement.  This is what Wikipedia had to say

Ben Wa balls may also be used to simply increase the strength of the pelvic floor muscles...Similar to Kegel exercises, Ben Wa balls...are recommended by gynecologists and obstetricians to increase bladder control... Mild urinary incontinence, such as that which occurs while coughing, laughing, or sneezing and occurs more often as women grow older, can be treated with Ben Wa balls...
:)

Fifty Shades Shadier.Unplugged. A Maine Photographer

Volume two of our family camping trip to Mount Blue State Park.  One day was set aside to hike Tumbledown Mountain.  Matt and I had hiked this mountain years ago with friends but had never made it to the top...not for lack of trying...we had just gotten a late start and losing daylight was an issue...so with that in mind we planned our day to hike up in the AM.  We met lots of other hikers on the way, many on their way down with great words of encouragement..."you're almost there", and "the view is so worth it" and "there's a great breeze up there"...no worries...we were all determined to make it.  Although we never doubted that the view would be worth the hike, we were still surprised by the beautiful great big pond on the top of the mountain and the breezy breathtaking view.  Matt and Josh did a bit of fishing...just for fun, and Nick, Chloe and I just rested and relaxed.  You know how the return destination always seems to go quicker than the initial leg?  Not for any of us.  We all couldn't believe how long the hike out seemed compared to the hike in.

We returned to our camp site with plenty of daylight left for a boat ride.  Everyone pitched in to get dinner going in the dutch oven, and the boys gave me a night off of stress by allowing me to stay behind and read my "sex book".  When I say "the night off of stress" I mean that in a way only a mother can understand.  As I explained in volume one, having both my boys (or my eggs...as I call them) following behind us towing a boat is not exactly stress free.  In addition, watching them launch a boat several times a day is not stress free.  (one bummer about the campground, no boat docks to leave your boat at...we had to put it in and take it out every time we wanted to use it...bummer in one way...but great practice for the boys)...and lastly...watching your eggs gripping onto a tube as it flies through the air like a kite...not without maternal stress...

So yes...let me stay here and read my sex book. 
But do I really deserve this reaction? 
"Are you seriously going to the bathrooms to plug in your kindle so you can read that thing?"...(he says...as his mouth forms a hard line...I roll my eyes and bite my lower lip...which brings me to one more thought...maybe he'd be OK with all of this reading if I purchased myself a set of those brass balls Ana likes so much...good thing eBay's not an option today...unplugged...definitely not the book to be reading on a camping trip...in a pop up...with the family...)

one of many water breaks on the way up

That's Matt and Josh in the distance fishing...

Fifty Shades Unplugged. A Maine Photographer

OK, lots and lots to say today, I will be posting to my blog in three parts, let's just call it this months trilogy.
Where to start?  My husband planned this small camping trip for us at Mount Blue State Park.  It had everything we could want in a campground, a great lake to boat in, dogs allowed so we could bring our dear Chloebutt, and no electricity...guaranteeing some uninterrupted quiet family time.
Let's start here.  Matt (the husband) had been working non stop lately, going away for days at a time.  To get him away from his phone and laptop seemed like it was too good to be true.  Nick (oldest son) recently completed a life guarding course and earned certification to teach swimming lessons and secured his first job ever as a life guard for the town of South Portland...so we also had to work in his schedule...and me...well...this is about my busiest weekend of the summer...two weddings, an engagement session, and four dogs to photograph in 4 days...so again...taking some unplugged time off wasn't going to happen without some careful planning.
So, where does the fifty shades come in? I'm fully aware it doesn't belong here...but...seeing that I only read for pleasure when I'm on vacation...it really wasn't an option for me but to take along my fully charged kindle and the first book of the trilogy. (another Mom I spoke with last night said her adult son called the book "mommy porn"...love it...as my disheveled inner goddess rolls her eyes...)
So...here are a few photos from day 1. (our unplugged camping trip...more later on fifty shades...)
I would say the hardest part of day one for me was realizing that on our first camping trip 13 summers ago, both my boys were in the back seat safely strapped into car seats...but today they were following behind us in their own vehicle, towing the boat while hubby and I towed the camper.