In the middle of the search for Jeddah, I was asked to do some photos for a lady whose dog is dying of colon cancer.

She wanted photos of that dog and another.

While there, she showed me photos taken before they put down one of their other dogs and it was pretty much all I could do to "keep it together."

I'm sure the portraits came out fine, but I find myself being extremely picky in what I present as proofs.

Does this kind of session ever get any easier?

I sure can relate to that lady. We are very close to having to make the decision with our 14 year old Brittany. I cry a lot and when I think of losing her I think I can't bear it. My husband and I are retired and have no children so she is very special to us. Tell her that we are sorry for her loss and that we understand the heart ache.
I know your job has to be very difficult, but so necessary for the healing process.

For me, it never gets easier. I can most times hold it together until I work on the images. I am including an image I shot last week. He had a cough and it turns out his heart is surrounded with fluid and he is in heart failure. You would not know it when he came in the studio but he tired very quickly. He still seems to be okay but he really has a short time left.

It always feels like you want to get everything delivered to the client before they loose the pet.


Jim, I too wish it would get easier, but then maybe we would not care as much.

Thanks Peggysue,

I really love what you did with this one.

Hey Jim,

Unfortunately, it seems that many folks don't decide to do photos unless the pet is a puppy, on the senior list or suddenly sick. I dare say that a large number of pets on my website (outside of my own) are seniors that the family decided to have taken before it was 'too late.'

I like doing senior photos though. I think of what I am doing as being a great service to families. I know how important the photos are to me. The reason why I started shooting pets was after one of my own passed away (Roger - a beautiful orange long hair cat). After he died, I was very upset to find that I had no nice pictures of him. I have made a point to do lots of photos of my fur-family since...

It is sad when you are dealing with grieving parents and a dieing pet - but it really is a very valuable service that you are providing. The families are generally very thankful for the work you are doing.

Cheers
James

No, I do not think it will ever get any easier.

Peggy Sue; I love the design you did, I usually shy away from any photoshop alterations (other than normal corrections) but I really like this.

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

Beautifully said Jim, and this one brought tears to my eyes.

Thanks everyone.