A year or so after my wife and I got married, we decided that we wanted a dog. Both of us grew up with dogs, and we were excited to add a new fuzzy family member to the mix. We were interested in adopting, and after what felt like weeks of searching local rescues, we stumbled upon Penny.

Penny was a two-year-old rottie-lab mix; the rescue told us that since she was part Rottie, she was no longer welcome in the building where her previous owners lived. For us, it was love at first sight. Shortly after our interview, she was allowed to come and live with us. Two babies, two cats, and two moves, she was there for it all. I cannot count the number of times she was waiting at the door for us when we got home.

One day, she had noticeable issues going down the stairs chasing my son into our backyard. When I crouched down to scratch her ears, I think it was the first time that I noticed all of the grays in her muzzle. Time had played its cruel trick. Looking back, that was the unconscious trigger that made me urgently want to get my camera out and capture her while she was still there. She hung on for another year of belly scratches before passing at the age of 14.

Penny is the inspiration for this page and for offering pet portraits; she is the reason why all pets and four-legged companions are welcome at all of my shoots. At the end of the day, our pets are our family members; they deserve to be celebrated and memorialized while they are still here, and after.