My most popular image, Buddy’s Magic Window, came about after many years of strictly photographing wildlife, landscapes, and nature. At the time, I appeared in art shows all over the country, and on many occasions, people asked me to photograph their dogs. My schedule was hectic and I’d never really considered photographing dogs … which was strange because I’ve had retrievers my whole life. I was open to photographing them, and said so when asked, but no one ever followed up.
A then “new”, and now “great”, friend told me she had a litter of Golden Retriever puppies and asked if I would photograph them. Not giving it much thought, I agreed. I didn’t expect to hear from her. Traci called and she told me that her puppies were going to their forever homes in just a few weeks. Uh oh! I was in a panic. I had not photographed many puppies at that point. One thing to know about me; I NEVER want to embarrass myself, so off I went on a quest.
I went searching every morning and each evening when the natural light was just right, in an effort to find a great location to use when photographing the pups. It had to be great. I never settle for average. I drove all over the place and finally found a beautiful location – right around the corner. From the road, I could see an old barn and its window.
I drove by the property each day to examine how the light not only hit the barn and window, but to find out what else it revealed. As the sun moved west, it would lit up a log pile and a rockpile, also on the property. I knew that I could time the photo shoot so a puppy would be in great light for about 90 minutes. One problem. I didn’t have access to the area or know who owned it. I called Traci and told her about my find. Serendipity? She not only knew the owners of the property, but they were one of the families getting a puppy from her current litter.
By 8AM that Saturday morning, it had all been set. Traci arrived with her husband, her son, and of course, puppies. Donna, the property owner, and her daughters were on site and eager to help. We had a blast. And more connections were made, such as with Donna’s’ mother being in the same church choir as my own. It seemed each of us had just one degree of separation. I’m always amazed at how often, and how deeply, dogs bring people together.
The photo shoot went effortlessly, though I had been concerned about a potential problem… How in the world would I be able to utilize the barn window to fit a puppy in? Turns out, the glass window pain was broken and had been removed, something I did not, and could not, see from the road. All I had to do was ask someone to kneel down behind the window frame and prop up a puppy.
Though several puppies were involved, my main character was the now-famous Buddy, the very puppy Donna ended up taking. I had no way of knowing any of this beforehand and I don’t believe in coincidences. It was something meant to be and it was awesome. But at the time, I had no expectations or ideas about photographing dogs. I simply figured I’d help a friend and try to get a few decent photos.
I was using slide-film then and when I got the photos back, I looked them over, thought they were quite cute, and then turned my attention back to wildlife and travel. I placed a printed photo of the now named “Buddy’s Window” in my portfolio, a book of developed prints that I carried around with me back then. When showing the portfolio to others, I was surprised at the reactions that the “puppy in the window” image got. People totally freaked out. They would smile, point, laugh, sometimes even cry, because the cute little pup reminded them of a puppy they once had. Buddy brought back strong memories. The emotional responses were hard to ignore, so I printed up some enlargements, framed a few, and brought them to my art shows. And that’s when my eyes were open…
The response was overwhelming. At one show, as I was running out of that particular print, two women almost came to blows. I was astonished. One woman was staring at the framed print in awe and the other, seeing her gazing at it, almost knocked her over to pull it off the wall. “It’s mine.” the forceful woman told the one who’d been admiring it. Fortunately, I had some backups kept behind my booth. Disaster averted! And now, Buddy is being featured in a children’s book about a puppy who finds a magic window that takes him on a wonderful adventure!
For those who like a little technical background, this image was shot using a Minolta 35mm camera back in the days of film. Though I used Velvia or Provia Pro slide film for my images, being that it was a photoshoot for a friend, one I considered a fun side project while not considering that the resulting images might sell, I shot everything with mostly Kodak print film, which worked out well, as creating prints from the image using a high quality slide scanners made it easier to share this beautiful photo.
So, what did I learn from all this?
- Be open to everything. You never know what opportunities will present themselves.
- Step out of your comfort zone. Granted, this was not very far out of my comfort zone… I raised retrievers, I love dogs, and puppies are so darn cute. My love of all animals made this very easy for me.
- Incorporate outdoor natural elements is a style I developed from this experience, as nature is what I was photographing then.
- Though I didn’t learn this lesson, it’s one that bears stating: Just go out and help, or do good by people. I never expected anything from this experience other than the good that comes from doing someone a favor. Dog Photography has turned into a whole career for me.
- Surround yourself with good people. I’ve remained friends with so many people after doing photo shoots. A true blessing. Dog, animal, and nature lovers tend to have great souls and they share a really great bond.
