Raleigh Pet Photographer: Belle

Say hello to Belle! She is a Havanese doggy diva belonging to a wonderful family. When Belle’s mother contacted me to take her picture, I was informed that the 1.5 year old pup is very loved, very spoiled, and very much the center of the household… and indeed she is, and rightfully so. :) She is surrounded in these pictures by her identical twin bothers, John and Christian. Good luck telling them apart – inside their house are several portraits on their wall, and John and Christian can’t even identify themselves! :D The boys and Belle are super adorable, and I had a great time getting to know them. I send Belle’s mom this recommendation for her Halloween costume afterward as I think Belle would demand a costume that would highlight her assertive nature. ;)

Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer: Sarah+Nate

Horray for western Pennsylvania!!

Geoff and I traveled to a wedding in West Virginia this past weekend, but I flew home about a week before it to do a few photoshoots in our hometown of Pittsburgh. :) And it was awesome! The weather was about 75 degrees with low humidity, and I could actually sleep with the windows open. Unheard of! We do a lot of engagement sessions and weddings in Pittsburgh because a lot of our family and friends still reside there and I just love it.

But anyway, I was SOoo so so excited when one of my very good friends from college contacted me a while back to see if I could do a shoot with her and her new husband, Nate. Sarah and Nate were married but did not have a wedding, so they were looking to get photographs taken of them happily married and all that jazz. And I was stoked!! Sarah and I go back to 2004 when we both attended the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, PA. I was there for a semester before I realized I couldn’t handle the one Walmart and field full of cows and opted to transfer to Point Park which was in downtown Pittsburgh. But while I was in Johnstown, Sarah and I were super close and had a ton of really ridiculous times together. A couple semesters later, she too transferred to Point Park from the field of cows and graduated with a degree in Journalism. I made fun of her a lot for living in Pittsburgh but being from Philly, and she took it like a champ. ;)

Years later, we’re not dressing like zombies anymore** (see below) and are all married and grown up and stuff, and here I am taking pictures of her and her wonderful husband Nate whom I had the absolute pleasure of meeting for the first time… along with their adorable son/dog Bennett. SO freaking cute. We had the best time. These were taken at Northmoreland Park near New Kensington, PA (about 45 minutes outside of the ‘Burgh). I used to go fishing there with my dad when I was little. :) So neat to be shooting back there as an adult.

**…not all the time, anyway.

Okay, everyone! Time to breathe a collective, “AWWWWWWWWWWW” over Bennett, world’s most ridiculously cute dog.

Hey hey, western PA vistas! You’re not too bad yourself.

Sarah’s always had the greatest ice blue eyes and has been rocking the Zoolander “Blue Steel” since I’ve known her.

How cute are they? :) So cute. It’s such a lovely idea to do married pictures. Everyone stops taking pictures between the wedding and their kids… but I find it incredibly endearing to take some pictures of yourselves once in a while. You’ll love them later (and now!).

Now for a good walk down memory lane. The latest pictures with Sarah in the purple and myself in the yellow are photo credit of Nate (you rock, Nate!). The zombie picture is credit of… possibly Laurie Bolewitz, but I don’t remember at this point. There were a lot of zombies there that night. Photo credit in bottom left hand corner was totally copyright of Sarah’s mom while we were visiting in Philly. Clearly, our style of dress has matured (love that I had that studded belt… and also, who dresses like a prom zombie anymore? Regular zombie sure. But 80s prom zombie? That was so 2005ish). But we’re still able to rock the karate moves. Love you, Miss Sarah!! Please bring yourself and your lovely man down to visit us in the south sometime!

Raleigh Pet Photographer: Fluffhead+Mukluk

“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!”

Ladies and gentlemen readers of the CSP blog, I present to you a mix of the most hot-mess of a dysfunctional family (pet) portraits I’ve ever done and the cutest pictures ever. It’s a strange combo, I know, but then again – so are Fluffhead and Mukluk. I won’t spend a long time explaining, but long story short, our one and only Alaskan Kate moved a few months ago and acquired a most wonderful roommate named Lindsay. Alaskan Kate moved with her cat Mukluk (my adopted nephew-cat), and Fluffhead is Lindsay’s dog. Little did they know that not only would Kate and Lindsay get along infamously well, but so would their pets. Now the most inseparable odd couple is the cutest pair of furballs on the blog and probably in the world.

So happy birthday, Lindsay! I hope these make you smile! I want to steal your dog, but it’s probably easier just to come over and visit. So without further ado – FLUFF+MUK:

Before I met Fluff, I wasn’t sure where I stood on tiny furry white dogs with tiny little barks. Now I am obsessed. Look at that face.

Little Muk wanted to pose with Kate’s drawing cat. This was the extend of Mukluk’s posing. He is his own cat and does his own thing. He likes you, but sometimes he couldn’t really care less. He’s kinda The Dude of cats.

Mukluk’s face is one of priceless irritability here. I love you, Muk.

1st picture: Fight!

2nd picture: Fight!

3rd picture: What? We are totally innocent.

 

I love you, Fluff and Muk!