I love my job….. I get to meet the most amazing clients and their fantastic furry family members.

Sometimes you just know right away when you meet someone special. I knew the first time I talked to Margi on the phone that she was one of those people.  She has a huge heart of gold.  She rescued Luz, Victor, and two other Pit Bulls- Dozer and Kaiden from horrific circumstance.  Oh, and not to forget, a cat named Larry.  I had a blast spending time with her, Luz, Victor and her son Johnny.  Luz and Victor, are two older Pit Bulls, but still have the energy of  puppies! They gave us all a workout!

Luz, just recently diagnosed with Leukemia, showing off her high jump!

Victor... sweetheart and a bit of a goofball. Here he is showing off his bling- titanium tooth!

Thank you Margi, Johnny, Luz and Victor for the workout and the fabulous day!  It was so much fun getting to know you!

“Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean. ” ~Ryunosuke Satoro

I love this quote and for one woman named Melissa, the ocean is a well.  Melissa is working hard on a project she started called The 400 Dresses Project.  Melissa’s goal is to raise enough money to drill a water well in Africa. She was assigned a village in Bugari, Uganda which consists of 5,000 adults and 10,300 children. The money raised by sewing and selling 400 dresses, will fund drilling for a water well to provide safe water for the people in this village. A well will mean saving a village of more than 15,000 from common preventable and treatable diseases, like Dysentery, the #3 killer in East Africa.  Currently the village obtains their water from a river 6 kilometers (3.6 miles) away. The river is a source shared with animals and also is used as a swimming pool. The animals contaminate the water, posing serious health hazards.

Many times, the children of the home are responsible for collecting the water, mostly the girls. This forces them to stay home and not attend school. The river is also a place for fishing. Tragically, many of the fishermen corrupt under-aged children as they come to collect water. Not only is this something no child should face, they are often exposed to HIV as well.

A well in Bugiri means disease will go down, the children will be able to attend school and the girls will be safe from the fishermen.  Below are photos from Melissa’s village.

Melissa is selling the dresses on Etsy for $50 and her goal is to raise $10,150 by December 15th.  For each dress purchased, a matching dress will be sent to the village.  So by purchasing a dress you are not only helping to provide clean, safe water, you are providing a fashionable dress to one little girl in the village!

I heard about Melissa from Julie, one of my recent clients.  Julie’s daughter was wearing the cutest little dress and when she told me the story behind it, I just had to share.  Are you that little drop that will help create a well?

Visit Melissa’s blog for more information and you can purchase the dresses through her Etsy store.

Here is Claire (with Penny) in one of the dresses that Melissa created.

Melissa is truly an inspiration!

Oh boy, here comes the sun! The blazing Phoenix heat will be here soon so I suggest you book your sessions now!

We couldn’t have had better weather here in Phoenix last weekend for a shoot. Saturday I had the pleasure of working with Heather and her four furry family members, Ozzy a 2 1/2 yr old Australian Cattle dog, Athena a 1 1/2 yr old Swiss Mountain dog, Bubbles a 10yr old Tortoise Shell cat and Gandalf a 10yr old Russian Blue cat. Ozzy was a fun, ball-obsessed little guy. He loved his ball and he loved to give kisses. He was so sweet and made me laugh as I fell victim to a few of his kissing attacks. Athena was just as sweet and very playful. She was a big bundle of energy. Heather tells me that Athena is a chow hound and I got to witness that first-hand as she munched on a bone and then started chomping on a bush! I guess she decided she needed some greens to go with the bone! Bubbles was a very social cat. She was very playful and loved hanging out. She was the total opposite of Gandalf who likes to hide out under the bed.  It was so great to share the portrait experience with Heather and her awesome, lovable pack!  I had a great time!

I had the extreme pleasure of spending time with Michelle and her family last weekend.  Karma (the Dalmatian) and Loosey (the little mix) (and her name is not spelled like that because she’s easy, she just used to be a little escape artist!), both 12years old and were so sweet.  Karma is a brain cancer survivor and wears her pink proudly…

Alivia and Shane were little angels and I think they really had a blast being in front of the camera!

Michelle, Clay, Alivia, Shane, Karma and Loosey….thank you for such a fun day! I had a great time! Hope you enjoy the photos!

I had an awesome time getting to know Mona, the owner of Mango Hair Salon, and her best friend Diego…… the silly, handsome Chocolate Lab with the googly-eyes.  Thank you Mona and Diego for such a great day! Hope you enjoy the photos!

I received a call from Audrey last week.  She was a little panicked as she told me she had a Persian cat that was very sick and had to be put down.  She wanted to record some memories of Koco and I was happy to help out.  Koco was only six years old and unfortunately her previous humans did not take good care of her.  She is such a beautiful cat as you can see and my heart goes out to Audrey and her fiance.  I know this was a very hard thing for them to do as Koco was their baby.