Mittens and Latte July 2020 - A cat with the key to the city.

I was so lucky to recently photograph celebrity cat Mittens and his brother Latte.

I have to admit I was feeling the pressure of capturing the personalities of such well known felines - Mitten’s has over 51 thousand followers on his facebook page and has been given a key to Wellington City AND his own exhibition!

I needn’t have worried however. Both proved to be expert models, striking several poses around the room and throwing over the shoulder “blue steel” my way.

Mittens even graced me with a few minutes of outdoor photography before he was over the fence with a flick of his tail and one last glance in my direction.

Loved every minute of hanging with these cool cats.

Thanks so much to Silvio and his beautiful family for having me in their home xx

Mocha and Whiskey

It was a bit of a grey day in the Wairarapa when I went to photograph Mocha and Whiskey. It started raining as I drove through Featherston and I thought we were going to have to postpone the shoot - but Mother Nature was kind and kept the rain away from our location.

Even though it was June, the colours of Autumn were still going strong and autumnal landscapes are some of my favourite to photograph in.

Mocha and Whiskey with their beautiful colourings looked amazing in the fall tones. They are such good wee pups too - doing perfect sit and stays. They also had fun exploring the shelter belts for any hiding rabbits and chasing pinecones.

Joining us ( much to my delight) were cats Luna, Stumpy and Shadow who graced us with their presence at varying points during the shoot.

For me, it was a pretty awesome way to spend an afternoon xx

Syrus the Greyhound

I recently photographed the very handsome and elegant Syrus and his human Dad Daniel.

I have met both Syrus and Daniel several times through their amazing work with Greyhounds As Pets NZ Sadly this time we were not taking photos because of the Great Global Greyhound Walk or for the GAP annual appeal - this was a special sitting to create beautiful images of Syrus as he is gravely ill and his time with his family is drawing to a close.

Daniel explained that Syrus has “Cushing's disease with a pituitary macrotumour. Vast majority of Cushing's dogs have microtumours, but Syrus has a macro which is causing neurological issues like seizures, facial paralysis and stumbling on top of the wastage created by Cushing's”

During the sitting Syrus was pretty wobbly on his feet and looked to Daniel often for reassurance. He was still able to enjoy his time in a new outdoor environment though, watching people, birds and catching the different scents on the breeze.

It is heartbreaking to have a member of your family suffer such an awful illness - especially when in the prime of their life.

Over the years I have had several people contact me to say that their pet had passed away and that the images I captured years/months/weeks before were of great comfort to them. I hope these images will bring some happiness to Daniel and his family.

Syrus will also leave a legacy of being a champion for Greyhounds As Pets - encouraging others to consider adopting one of these gentle giants. Watch his video here



Falkland and Thatcher

So earlier this year I got to photograph a very cute little puppy called Falkland. We did the sitting in his backyard as he hadn’t had all his vaccinations at the time of the shoot. I was pretty excited to photograph him as he was a Swedish Vallhund puppy and the photos I had seen of him were ridiculously cute.

Unbeknown to me Falkland had a sister called Thatcher the Mouse Catcher.

When I arrived I immediately melted into a puddle at the unbelievable cuteness of Falkland. I mean seriously - the cute factor was off the charts. BUT as we moved outside I noticed a gorgeous black cat. Falkland’s human mum told me that the cat (Thatcher) was unlikely to come over as she was a bit shy.

Thatcher however was not letting her brother steal all the limelight and before I had even taken one photo of the crazy cute Falkland, Thatcher was sashaying down the fence demanding the camera’s gaze.

So pretty much I was in heaven - stunning black cat exuding cattitude and the sweetest little puppy who could make your heart explode.


Gus and Luka

So starting my 2020 pet blog in April during the lock down. Better late than never right?

Two beautiful pups to begin with - Gus and Luka. I met these two on a HUHA dog walk in 2019. It was so lovely to have a photo session with just the two of them, without the distraction of lots of other dogs around.

These two were such good pups and sat nicely together - but mostly they wanted to run!