Excuse me while I pick myself off the floor... okay, ready. We photographed 192 dogs over seven Ice Cream Socials for Dogs in August and September. We did it. Yes, it was the most fun you can have with a frozen treat. And it was also exhausting but oh lordy, I got to laugh and meet great people with great dogs. I mean, come on, dogs eating ice cream? It was the best.You know I photographed these for a book, right? And in the next 15 days I get to sort through all of these images and figure out which ones to submit to the publisher. For reals, this is going to be a tough one. There are certain categories the doggies tend to fall in... the chompers, the delicate lickers, the I-can't-believe-I ...

Roger came to his present owners because his previous ones could no longer care for him for their own health reasons. But I'm telling you, Roger hit the jackpot on his second family because he is one loved guy! His dad Adam originally called me in September of last year to see if I could shoot Roger as a surprise birthday present for his wife Katie. Sure, I could do the shoot but I was leaving for London the day after the shoot and anything he ordered wouldn't be ready by her birthday, that Saturday.Instead I recommended he get a gift certificate and his wife could be in the shoot. Sold!But it took a while for the shoot to happen. Both are in the entertainment industry and working on shows, ...

I recently photographed four Savannah cats and a kitten for a client. There were four dogs involved, too, but we won't go there. It's not necessary to talk about them on a Savannah Fight Club post. The First Rule of Savannah Fight Club... you don't talk about dogs.Anyhow, Savannahs are a little wild, you know. They're a cross between an African serval and a domestic cat. They're gorgeous. Long legs, beautifully spotted fur. And they can be a little tough. As one of my friends says, cats play with feather toys. Savannahs destroy them.The whole shoot was on gray seamless paper. To get their attention, we brought out a few feathered toys. The Savannahs liked that. So we ended up getting a lot ...

I am taking a portrait lighting class from the photographer extraordinaire Don Giannatti -- known to his disciples as WizWow -- and this is the first week. We are studying master photographers each week, then doing portraits that we submit for critique and review. Now you know I love me the animals but I also photograph people (what? You didn't know that? Check out the last two galleries on my site, they'll take you right to where the people live).  Our first photographer is the Chicago photographer Victor Skrebneski. His work is interesting, certainly not a lighting style I've ever achieved on purpose. I'm sure he does many different kinds of lighting but the work we are studying is ...