Theo

It is LATE but I can't sleep. I'm thinking about sweet Theo.

It had been a while since I had a dog session and when I got to Vanessa and Kevin's house, I instantly remembered why I wanted to photograph dogs in the first place. They train service dogs (I'll get the organization's name this week, if anyone is interested in contributing in any way) and live with two labs on a permanent basis as their SDITs (service dogs in training) go through their training program on their way to working homes with people who work with them side-by-side on a daily basis.

Phlox and Chisum were hilarious, well-trained, astronomically friendly Labs who I would welcome in my home at the drop of a hat. And then there was Theo. Theo is one of those once-in-a-lifetime heart dogs.



Theo lives with hip and elbow dysplasia and is lucky enough to have a mom and dad who are committed to his comfort and happiness as he lives out his golden years in his lifetime home. He has a special harness which makes it comfortable for him to be lifted and carried to his multiple beds (and couches) throughout the house, and to go outside to sit on his favorite hill and grassy spot in the yard so he can soak up the sun.






During our session, I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky Theo is to have had the same loving home for his entire 12 years so far. I missed a few shots due to the tears in my eyes, especially during Theo and his mom's special moments together on the porch. That's why this blog entry is being written at 2 AM--I just can't sleep for thinking about how special this dog-human relationship is.



I know what it's like to love a dog with all your heart; I dread knowing what it's like to know that my best friend won't be with me for much longer. I feel so incredibly honored to have been able to spend the afternoon with Vanessa and Kevin during Theo's twilight.



I hope I did a decent job in capturing how very loved Theo is, and how dedicated his parents are to his well-being.



I don't mean to leave the other dogs out. Chisum was too darling:







And adorable Phlox (do these dogs have great names or what?)





Theo has helped train many service dogs. Old, wise man.










Another one of Phlox, mostly because "Phlox" is such a great name and I want to type it more:



And this is just too funny:



Dad + Theo + Mom:












I've been crying over this image all night. Sweet, handsome Theo and his mommy:



Thank you so, so much, Vanessa and Kevin.

Just One. Or Two. K Three. (Now Four!) Five.

Today I had the unique opportunity to shoot a fellow photographer's wedding photos. Colby and Sarah are getting married in a couple weeks at a super neat art gallery in Denver, but they wanted some outdoors shots before the ceremony.

I've just started going through them, but I wanted to post a couple tonight because I'll most likely not be posting this coming week--I'm headed to NYC with a friend from high school for a few days of eating, taking photos, and taking photos of eating. I'm taking one lens ... the first person to guess which one I'm going to pack wins lots of internet points. :)

I'll post the rest of this set when I get home, but for now, here are a couple of my initial favorites.

Meet the lovely Sarah and Colby:

Stacking

My in-laws have a ranch near Manhattan, Montana.

I've been to some pretty cool places--from southern Greece to northern Sweden--but I can't think of one place in the world that I love nearly as much as these 550 acres in southwestern Montana.



When I moved to Montana back in 2004, I swore I'd never come back to Colorado--at least not to the Boulder area. Through a series of ooopses and wtf's, I find myself right back where I said I'd never be, and it's ok.

I needed Colorado when I moved back last year, and it's been good to get my footing back. I'll be here for a while yet, and I'm trying to be patient with it. But I'm antsy here, and twitchy and strange. Going back to Montana this past week to help out with the cows (if my father-in-law is reading this, he's laughing ... my "helping" was only feeding cows, stacking hay, and holding gates open or shut, but I do insist that I can stack bales of hay better than anyone up there) reminded me of how good I feel there. It's the one place I belong. Even though I lived in Montana for only a few years, it's the first place I could call home.

With Uncle Tim out of commission due to a broken pelvis, and with breeding season in full swing, my FIL needed some extra hands around to help out with AI-ing cows. Justin went up a couple weeks ago and dove right into a job he was sure he'd never do. I think most farm kids go through an "oh HEY-ull no" stage when it comes to following in their father's footsteps, but then they come around. :)



Anyway, all this talky talk is unusual for my blog, so let's just hit the photos, shall we? Most of them will speak for themselves if you are familiar with farming at all. I think a lot of people put a romantic spin on ranch life, and admittedly I inadvertently did that here for the most part, I think. That is to say: these photos were all taken during a relatively easy time, compared with waking up at 2 AM to check on calving cows during a blizzard with 32-below temps in the howling wind.

I'm still talking.













Farm boys.











And they have big toys.















Meow



Ok fine: Just for fun, I'll add one of me that was taken with my 5D on the green box (!) to prove that I did some work while I was there.