Yesterday started out in a whirlwind of yuck, but ended up turning out okay.

I spent the first few hours of my day scouring for a location for this weekends shoot.  We were happy to find something that I think will turn out great.  I just can’t believe how much work it is to find a place to shoot a group of people.  Family sessions are way easier!

Speaking of which; I had a family come last night for a photo session.  I hadn’t seen them in a few years; but we have been talking about a session for over a year!  It’s amazing how time gets away from us, I swear!

The main goal was to get the dog in the picture.  He’s now 14 years old – a weimaraner, and his name is Lance.  He is such a precious dog, I couldn’t wait to see him again!   The last time I photographed him with the family, he was in his prime.  The session was about the family and getting the dog in there as well.

If you have ever photographed dogs; they are just like children.  No attention span, they do what they want, because they don’t get or care why they are there.  They are on their terms.  And as a result both parents and photographer work very hard to get ‘the’ shot.

Well, this time around, Lance came in and he is much older.  This session was more for him than anything else.  He has aching joints, doesn’t walk as well as he used to, and scoured the place for smells and a good location to park himself.  But his energy wouldn’t let him rest, so he kept getting up.

It was important not to stress Lance, so we let him wander about and as he did, I would take pictures of the kids and the parents and everything in between.  And when Lance found a little bit of peace, we worked around him completely.  This was an homage to this wonderful dog and the love of and respect of the family.

We finally got Lance in a few pictures.  I wanted him with just the kids; who are now 10 and 12 (or 13).   The kids were perfect models, but getting Lances attention was a bit of a struggle.  So mom, stood over my shoulder making all sort of sounds and gestures to get his attention and trying to get him to look over at me.  I started laughing at one point, because I told the mom that this was so reminiscent of a 2 year old session.  Yet here she is cooing and jumping around for her beloved pet.

It was such a great moment.

In the end, we worked around Lance.  We put him on the couch, where he was very comfortable and I maneuvered the family in different positions to get the shot.  In some instances Jaeden (the 10 year old) was practically doing Yoga to make sure she was close enough, but not squashing the dog.  I was so loving this session.  I have never seen a family work so hard for the shot.

But it was all about Lance.

Years ago, he was there as part of the family and the kids were climbing on him like a horse.  And this time around, they respected him as if he were their elder.  I got choked up more than once during this session.

Once again, I am honored to document life.  I’m so thankful to my loyal clients who come back and let me grow with them.  Last night was an honor.

Thank you to the Beimer family.  Love you guys!!!

And Lance.  The Hero of the night!!