Ambitious Mondays with Marley: Fueling a Passion for Pet-Portraits
A couple of weeks ago, I got ambitious. It was the first week of March, it was in the 60's and 70's for quite a few days, and Marley and I had a hard case of Spring Fever. For the first time in months, we woke up and were actually ready to take on the world by 7 a.m. I loaded up my gear, grabbed my morning shake, and we drove off into the sunrise.... only to turn around 2 blocks later because we forgot the CHEESE! (Cheese is key to photographing my maniac Marley.)
When we finally made it to Holmes Lake, the light was golden and perfect, the morning was crisp but nothing was dewy, and for the most part, the park was pretty quiet; at most, there was maybe a couple or two out for their morning walk, and one older man casting a line. In my mind this was perfect; no distractions for Miss Marley Moo.
WRONG! SO VERY WRONG! While I realized we were both energized and ready for the day, I forgot to consider that she would likely need to burn off the majority of her eons of energy before she would have any interest what-so-ever in what I thought was a good use of our sunny Monday morning in March. There were new smells to be smelled, new spots to poop, new bugs to pounce on, and new sounds to scare off. For her, there were zero logical reasons to sit and look at the camera.
Despite her mania, I got shutter happy. I may not have gotten her giant floppy tongue to stay in her mouth, but I definitely captured her personality, rolling around in the grass with crazy in her eyes and all. And as I put together an album that I could use to show off prints of my fur-baby, I realized that this is exactly what I wanted anyway. Moo Sauce being Moo Sauce. This is what I see every single day, and every single day, with out fail, this is what makes me laugh and brings me so much joy. Isn't that a big part of why we love these furry creatures so much, anyway?
When I got my albums back from the lab, I felt like a little kid on Christmas. I was giddy and couldn't help but squeal with puppy-joy. (Marley wasn't nearly as amused). But this got me to thinking, I can't be the only crazy dog-mom who would love to have these amazing keepsake albums of her pup, one to show off at home, and one to take everywhere else - at least I hope I'm not!
My ambitious Monday with Marley ended up igniting a spark and fueling a passion for pet-portraits. Our pets are just as much a part of the family as anyone else, and for us to not capture our fleeting time with them, that's tragic.
So from this little spark, I decided to create an event - Paw 'Prints' at the Park! I hope to do this monthly, and as it grows I would love to get other dog-loving people and businesses involved. I would love for a portion of proceeds to go to the Capital Humane Society, and I would love to learn new ways to support and love on fur kids all around!
Sonnenblume's very first Paw 'Prints' at the Park event will take place on Friday, March 24 at Holmes Lake by the Observatory. There will be 10 sessions available throughout the day, and I am working on getting a portion of the proceeds donated to the Humane Society. Please contact me to reserve your time!
I can't wait to get started and meet all of you dog loving angels!
With Love,
Gabby
Sonnenblume Studios
gabby@sonnenblumestudios.com 402-276-4650