Lovely Lady

Isn't Lady the cutest? Something about dogs with two differently-colored eyes really gets me.  She was the runt of her litter, pretty much deaf and such a sweetie.  Her owners--who are also quite lovely--adore her and we had a great shot around their beautiful home in Old Town, Va. 

I got a dog!

His name is Poncho, he is a 1 year old Lucky Dog rescue of terrier origins, and I love him madly!  I can't get over his cuteness or his sweet personality.  After 5 years of waiting to get a dog due to a group house living situation, I was so excited to adopt with my boyfriend.   After 6 months of living together, we thought we were ready to commit to the right dog.  As soon as we saw Poncho's photograph on the website, I had this feeling that he was our one.  Animal control picked him up wandering the backroads of southern Virginia without a chip or collar and Lucky Dog brought him here. The second I saw him, he jumped up on me, licked my face and I was sold.  We could sense something about his little vagabond spirit that craved both excitement and relaxation.  He's been a dream to live with so far (except for him getting very car sick this morning while driving Adam to work), and basically I feel like I hit the dog jackpot.  Although I grew up around dogs, this is the first one of my adult life.  The bond feels so strong between us and I have felt my heart grow two sizes bigger.  Truly, it makes me understand my clients and their pets that much more.  I created this business because I find the relationships between humans and animals to be inspiring and important and now I am finding all of that out first hand.  It's definitely a learning process, but a very wonderful, fun one.  I'll keep you updated on how it goes and until then, Poncho says hi!

In order to help Lucky Dog make more of these great matches, I am going to do benefit photo shoot for them in February.  Please stay tuned for an exact date and get your own special dog photographed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful for friendship of all kinds!

Back to DC and a fall afternoon with Bert

Hello everyone! I am back from Peru and happy to report that it was a wonderful trip that feed my spirit and made me remember how much I love that country. Thank you to Adam for helping Houndstooth  run in my absence and to everyone's patience. You guys are the best! Upon my return, I spent the weekend doing back-to-back mini-portrait sessions at Wagtime and Wylie Wagg on Saturday and Sunday. Thank you to everyone who came out! We took so many awesome photographs which I am excited to post here soon.

In the meantime, I took these photographs of Bert and his lovely owners, whom I met last year at Wagtime, one week before I left for Peru. The forecast called for rain so we carefully watched the forecast all morning.  Luckily the sun stayed out and we met at Rock Creek Park for the most beautiful and unexpected fall afternoon.  Bert, who is a complete sweetheart, has great energy so we were lucky to find a horse corral at the edge of the park where he could run his heart out. It was one of those days that made me feel so happy to live in Washington DC and get to do the work that I do.  Thanks for that Bert!

Holiday pet store shoots and traveling

Happy October everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying this great fall weather with lots of trips to the dog park and time to roll around in the leaves.  

This fall will be a traveling one for me as I'm getting ready to embark on a trip to Peru tomorrow.  For those who don't know, I did the Peace Corps there from 2005-07, working as a youth development volunteer in a small Andean town.  I haven't been back for two years, and I am so excited to reconnect with the wonderful people that I lived with for two really important years in my life.  This time next week, I'll be stuffing myself full of potatoes and milking cows and wishing there were a way to more successfully bring these two worlds of mine together.

Before I go, I want to invite you all to schedule a holiday photography session. This my fourth year doing these sessions at Wylie Wagg in Tysons, VA and Wagtime in Washington, DC.  They are my absolute favorite pet stores, run by wonderful people who truly honor the immense bond between owner and pet.  They helped me to start Houndstooth Photography and supported me as it's flourished over the years.  For this, I have nothing but appreciation for all that they do.

So I'd love for you guys to sign up! I am holding portrait sessions at Wagtime in Washington, DC on Saturday, November 10th and at  Wylie Wagg in Tysons, VA on Sunday, November 11th (both from 12-5pm). Sessions are $65 ($15 for each additional pet) and include photographs with owners for free and $25 toward purchasing prints or two of the high-resolution digital images from the shoot. At both locations I am donating a portion of my proceeds to pet rescue in the DC metro area. I am starting to fill my schedule out so let me know soon if you are interested.

Also, I wanted to introduce you all to Adam.  He is my wonderful boyfriend/partner-in-crime/fellow animal lover (I think this picture says it all :).  He works by day in international diplomacy, and for the next month by night he will be answering the email for Houndstooth Photography and helping you all schedule sessions and find out pricing, order prints and gift certificates.  I've given him a good training, but please be patient with him as he figures out the ropes.  

I'll be back on November 7th and ready for some great holiday photo shoots!  I'm already excited to see you guys. 

The many faces of Ophelia

I've known dear Ophelia since my friends Adam and Cassandra rescued her two years ago.  I knew she was sweet, calm, and loved to have her belly rubbed, but I had no idea how photogenic she would be!  Looking through them, I joked with my boyfriend about "the many faces of Ophelia."  Within minutes she is playful, wise, demure, joyful, and of course, always quite assured of how much we all love her.    

Fabulous pig intelligence