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I just wrapped up my final project for the Dane Campaign: designing a hard cover book full with the photos I did of all the various rescues. I am really excited to see the book in person; there is something so thrilling about having a physical representation of your work. The book will be sold through the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue and in various bookstores in the region. (I’ll post a link when it becomes available).
This is a brief interruption in regular programming here at Rouxby Blog because it seems like a good time to let everyone know that I will be out of town for the month of June. I got a serious case of the travel bug after the Scotland trip and started scheming about possible adventures to embark on this summer. I actually feel some sense of responsibility (to myself) to take advantage of this era of my life, while I am relatively free (no kids, no monthly mortgage or weekly book club I can’t miss), and while I have the ability to put my job on hold while I sneak off to Europe for a month. After much deliberation I decided to spend my time in Mediterranean Europe, including Southern France, Italy and Greece. (With a brief stop in and out of London to see family).
If you haven’t already seen this, watch it. It’s really lovely. And it definitely reaffirms my desire to explore the world a little bit more.
So, for those of you who are clients, Monday, May 25 is the last day to place any orders you want to receive before July. And for potential clients out there: May is pretty much totally booked at this point, but I am booking July so don’t hesitate to contact me if that fits in with your timeline. As always if you have extenuating circumstances and need to try to get something scheduled in May, let me know and we will sort that out.
For those of you who are not clients but are readers of this blog: I am going to try my darndest not to disappear for that whole month. I am bringing my laptop and my camera (obvi), and am planning to try to post every now and again.
So I am ramping it up this month, working like a dog (ha!), which is good for all y’all because it means lots of new stuff to post.
And because I may as well throw in a few photos of my puppers, here are some shots of Roux + Kinley this morning. We went to some open space nearby at sunrise for another project and while I was there I figured I may as well do some shooting.
This is the last post of the Dane Campaign collection. It’s bittersweet. I’ve loved meeting everyone of these Danes and am so lucky to have had the chance to photograph them all. But it has been a lot of work and it feels like it’s time to move on, too. We have a few projects in the works that will be really exciting, but the photos are a done deal at this point.
One of the things I came away with was this really strong belief that every dog deserves to be photographed. I know what you’re thinking: maybe we should make sure every dog has food and a water, healthcare and a good home first. (Or that every person does, for that matter. And while we’re on the topic of how the world should be, have I mentioned my belief that every bar + pub should allow dogs?) All true. But having your portrait taken is partly a luxury, partly a sign of respect, partly a way to leave your story behind when you go. I think that is all valuable.
During this shoot it was Diesel that reminded me of how strongly I believe this. Diesel is a permanent foster, meaning he has health issues too severe to be placed in an adoption situation. He is truly lovely. He has none of the distrust that is so understandably common among many rescue dogs, and instead immediately opens his heart to everyone he meets, which is nothing short of amazing considering his original family dumped him at a shelter in the middle of the night with a note on his collar. He is happy, though, living out his last days with a good family in a good house with a big yard. He is loved. And he had his portrait taken.
These are adopted rescues Avy + Bronc (sports fans, anyone?)
Avy:
Bronc:
We have a busy weekend chock full of shoots, which means next week will be lots of fun. Photoshop and I will be resuming our monogamous relationship come Sunday night, a relationship of which both my dogs and boyfriends are probably jealous, we spend so much time together.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
I’m happy to report that Kinley is just about back to her old self. More accurately, she thinks she already is back to her old self, but her body isn’t quite back to normal. The first night was rough; we had a hard time getting her to stop throwing up and had to go back to the vet’s office late that night to pick up more anti-vomiting medication. I spent the whole night with my senses on high alert listening for any vomiting sounds and waking up periodically to let her have little sips of water. But today , aside from her bandaged paw and sutured tummy, you’d never know she wasn’t totally healthy. Dogs have an amazing bounceback. Then again, they don’t have to wake up at 7am to report for work, so they have less incentive to drag out their recuperation.
Now that she’s happy as a clam, I can laugh about just how hilarious she was the first day or two. She just seemed so confused about what was going on. I imagine if she could have talked, it would have gone something like this:
(That, by the way, is absolutely one of my all-time favorite internet videos. His concern is just so genuine at the end when he asks, “Is this gonna be forever??”).
Here she is yesterday, appropriating our living room chair as her recovery spot.
Poor little belly.
Roux has been good, all in all, if you don’t take into account the fact that she murdered a squirrel yesterday. Actually, worse than killing it herself, she mortally wounded it so that when I found it it was unconscious but still breathing. Which is far, far worse than finding a dead squirrel, because then I felt like it was my responsibility to make sure he wasn’t suffering. And because I am physically incpable of harming a little furry creature, it then became Alex’s responsbility to finish the job as humanely as posible. I will spare you the photo of our fallen friend as well as the gory details, but suffice it to say I am really hoping the catch was a total fluke and that Roux is not in fact capable of actually catching anything else.
She spent the afternoon with me yesterday lying quitely by my feet on the patio of a coffee shop while I worked, so quietly in fact that it dawned on me that she is growing up. She’ll be two this summer, which, yes is still a puppy by most accounts, but it is the lead-in to middle age, right? There are all kinds of little tiny signs that she’s maturing into a real dog instead of a silly puppy. And that is both unbelievably exciting and sad.
But mostly exciting.
This is the second to last post for the wonderful Dane Campaign. It’s been a lot of work, but holy cow has it been rewarding.
Thor + Jack belong to the treasurer of the Rocky Mountain Dane Rescue, and Stella is a permanent foster (with cancer). They are all lovely; Thor + Jack are imposing at first, but utterly handsome, and Stella is as sweet as can be. In short, they are all fabulous.
(Thor on the right):
Jack:
Stella:
We are heading out this morning for a wedding in Philly–I have spent literally every weekend this month in another state and it’s starting to take it’s toll on me. I’m looking forward to being around all of May. So is Roux; she’s quickly learned that when the suitcases come out, it means I’m leaving her and she turns into a velcro dog.
Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!
