Rescue Photography

Education in the Twin Cities

My life has gone through many changes in the last two years. Two summers ago, my (then 13) niece, Lynden, moved in with us. It was a whirlwind last-minute transition that none of us planned. We welcomed her happily into our home, but as new parents of a teenager, we were in for some quick hard parenting changes.

Like most things though, as life changes quickly, we must adjust, and adjust fast. My business took a hard hit, I quit picking up my camera almost entirely. It was a shell shock.

A year later, however, I picked it back up and started photographing the Color Guard, that Lynden had joined. Doing so re-sparked me, and helped me feel normal after the year of chaos had started to calm.

Then, out of nowhere, I saw a random post in one of the many photography groups I am involved in on Facebook. Something new was happening. The first-time event of its type, a photography conference geared towards ANIMAL photography, Animal Image Makers.

I had to be a part of it.

Then as things progressed, I became more excited, I had purchased my ticket with no real idea what I was going to do there. I’ve only ever taken a class from Nick Fancher on lighting, and a film class in school to learn to develop film and am basically self-taught on everything else.

Boy was I in for the ride of my professional life.

I planned to arrive two days early just so i could get a feel for Minneapolis. I have never traveled alone so this would be a tiny vacation for me.
The weather had other plans though and a freak blizzard tried to attack the city, leaving it under many inches of unexpected snow. I made do and traipsed around the immediate area I was visiting, Bloomington.

What a wonderful little town. I found some amazing food and something else inspired me while I was there.

Ive wanted to honor Lola, my business namesake, and finally decided on an idea for a tattoo. I did some brief searching on the airplane ride and fell in love with Sarah from Minneapolis Tattoo She made a beautiful rendition of Lola’s ears and crinkled forehead. I am in love with it.

The first evening, I quickly made a group of friends, we all sat down and had drinks and got to know each other personally, instead of just the work we know of each other from online. This would be the core group of people I hung out with the entire time.

I even met the AMAZING and POWERFUL and INSPIRATIONAL Kaylee Greer of Dog Breath Photography. She was, in fact, our Keynote speaker, and stayed for the whole conference, and took classes alongside us.

She changed me. Her words were just so much, and her stories, and her struggles, and her rewards were so educational.

I wish I could write all the amazing things I learned there in one blog post, but it’s just so much. So I’ll leave you with what inspired me the most from Kaylee.

“Light yourself on fire and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”

My flame has been lit.

Why do I rescue?

I have always had rescue animals. I grew up with dogs that we saved from certain situations that were not safe or were not in the best housing conditions.

When I was 19, my first dog made her appearance to me as a 6-week old beagle puppy running down the street at 3am in downtown Dayton. I tried to find her owners or mom of her litter, but ultimately Mazey lived with me to the ripe old age of 15.

At 21, I adopted Lola. Lola as this fat round almost all black with floppy ears. The moment I met her, I knew she was my dog. She came home with me and Mazey. She was my dog-soulmate. She grew into this faithful dog, who did whatever I wanted happily. She was dramatic though. She hated car rides, which as an auto enthusiast, who loves road trips, was the bane. She would barf, and cry and whine… and eventually, cave into calmness.

She was brave though. She was happy. She wasn’t always the brightest. She lived to the very old age of 17. My life was forever changed by her.

Mazey and Lola made my life better. They were with me through thick and thin, and caused chaos and love. They were my rescues that started it all.

When Mazey passed away, Lola was very sad. They had been together since her whole life, and I knew I would want another dog. Fostering wasn’t in the plans for us, but I knew working with a rescue would be the best way for me to find our next dog, and thus began my next path as a photographer.

I have been working with PetPromise since 2013. I have photographed cats and dogs with them, as well as eventually fostering a couple of dogs.

How can I help your rescue?

My goal is to work with 501(3)c organizations who are fostering dogs in the Central Ohio area. My studio is in Franklinton, Ohio. I offer group sessions for multiple foster pets in a single day or one on one sessions with advanced scheduling.

Rescues should contact me directly, to discuss the needs that will benefit the animals in their rescue.

All Animals that enter my studio must be vaccinated, and be on flea and tick prevention.