Jim,
this hits closer to home than is comfortable but I've been asked to photograph a number of dogs in their final days. For me, since they are usually dogs I know quite well, it's an opportunity to give love and comfort to the dog as well as the owner. I try to create images that show the dog the way I'd like them to be remembered.

Last week, I fought the urge to take some new shots of Annie because I didn't like the way she looked. She was still there -- all of her. But she had lost weight and was a little disoriented and I had some very nice images I had taken a few weeks earlier that captured her the way I'll always remember her. But I take a lot of images of my dogs.

For people who don't, they usually think of a portrait when things are getting close to the end and the dog or other animal isn't looking the way I'd like them to look for a portrait. So I use all the effects at my disposal to create an idealized image of that loved pet. Lighting effects, background effects, collages . . . Whatever will help me help them remember the animal the way it once was.

The emotional part never gets easier. Nor should it. The day I don't feel anything for the pet or the people, I'll know that I'm getting close to my "end of life" portrait.

Jim