Bart – Posh Pets Heritage™ Session | Cat Photographer in Toronto

Bart – Posh Pets Heritage™ Session | Cat Photographer in Toronto

Oct 5, 2015

Celebrating the life, love and legacy of your pet.™

As a pet photographer, I get quite a number of requests for sessions with cats. I love our kitty friends – their quiet and calm demeanor, the grace with which they carry themselves and the nuances of their individual personalities. My sessions with them are always a joy.

I met Bart on a quiet summer afternoon in August. Those perfect days when it is not too hot, the sun is shining and no one is running tools to disturb the quiet peace of the neighbourhood. Bart was a 15 1/2 year old black beauty with a kind and gentle nature. He had been adopted by his humans when already full grown (I love it when people fall in love with the adult adoptables!) and had lived a wonderful life with his feline brother, Toby, and his human family.

When his mom first contacted me, she told me worriedly that Bart was a black cat and very difficult to photograph. He was exclusively an indoor cat, so he needed to be photographed inside. Additionally, he had recently been diagnosed with cancer and she really wanted some beautiful images that would highlight his gorgeous eyes and ensure that they had tangible, physical memories to hold onto when the time came to say good-bye.

We spent a couple of hours that afternoon photographing Bart in all of his favourite spots in the home. He was quite happy and was engaged for his photo session. I am always amazed by pets who ‘seem to know’ and therefore muster up the energy to give their families this last gift of photographs. As I was leaving his home, I gave him one quiet cuddle and told him to be a brave boy and let his family know when the time came.

Four weeks later, Bart said his final good-bye at home, surrounded by his loving family.

As I delivered Bart’s final artwork, we talked about what a great life he had, how hard the past couple of weeks had been on everyone, but how right the decision had been to have him photographed professionally. As always, I left the meeting with tears in my eyes.

“Bart, you have left a huge hole in the hearts and lives of those who loved you. I was privileged to have met you and to photograph you. I will remember you with fondness, always.”

POSH PETS HERITAGE™ SESSIONS

Celebrating the life, love and legacy of your pet.™

  • High-priority sessions reserved for pets that become ill or are simply elderly. We make every effort to schedule these on short notice.
  • An opportunity to take time out of your busy schedule to spend some quality time togehter, celebrate the life you have shared and create images you will treasure forever.
  • Please note: The Creative Fee covers time and talent to photograph a maximum of four (4) subjects, which can be any combination of people and up to two (2) pets who live within the same household. Additional subjects may be photographed for a small additional fee.
  • Examples of portraits from Posh Pets Heritage™ Sessions can be found here.
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Project 52 – In The Kitchen… | Toronto Pet Photography

Project 52 – In The Kitchen… | Toronto Pet Photography

Nov 8, 2013

For this week’s theme we were encouraged to capture “the kitchen” as it was our pet’s “favourite place” because they know “delicious food will be served there”.  Images of them eagerly waiting their meals were encouraged.  So, here is a behind the scenes look at how dinner is served in the Posh Pets‘ household.

As most of our blog readers would know by now, we have two cats.  Lady Jane is 16.5 years old and rules the roost. Baxter is a laid-back 3 year old who views Lady Jane as his entire world. Through this relationship, they have taught each other things. One of the pieces of knowledge that Lady Jane has imparted is that we do not drink in the kitchen. This is a tradition that began with Ripley who, in his later years, loved water. So, we ended up putting an extra bowl in the home office which brought him such joy! In fact, he would rarely drink out of the very full, very fresh water provided in a lovely bowl in the kitchen. After he passed, Lady Jane quickly took up Ripley’s legacy and pretty much only drinks from the water bowl in the office as well. She has since taught Baxter this behaviour, and we now have a water bowl in the kitchen that rarely gets used in favour of the one down the hall.

Unfortunately, Lady Jane was very recently diagnosed with renal failure. We are trying to make changes to her diet and she is reluctantly taking her medications. As a result, she has recently also decided that we rarely eat our breakfast, lunch and dinner in the kitchen. We now will consider them in the office. Given her condition and the fact that we need to ensure she gets enough calories (she has lost quite a bit of weight), we have acquiesced. So, here is Lady Jane patiently waiting for her supper to be delivered to her (not in the kitchen…see her water bowl there).

grey and white cat in long hallway with water bowl

grey and white cat waiting for dinner

Because of Lady Jane’s condition and the fact that she is a very picky eater, she is getting fed multiple times a day. Baxter, on the other hand is still being fed only at breakfast and supper. He is being a very patient, somewhat obedient boy, and he never pushes her away while she is eating. He is, however, a little confused as to when he will actually get fed. So, now when I prepare any type of kitty food in the kitchen, he tries to figure out if it is his turn as well. Which means he needs a better look at what is happening on the kitchen counter. He knows he is not allowed on the kitchen counter, so he simply hops up on the piano just outside the kitchen wall and peers around to watch me rather intently. If he sees me preparing two bowls and things generally look good, he will hop down and eat his meal (which was always just outside the kitchen anyway).

silver tabby cat looking around the corner

So, there you have it! Our kitties waiting for their dinners…none of which actually happens inside the kitchen! So, we sort of completed this weeks assignment.   😉

This is the Beautiful Beasties blog circle, so there are lots more behind the scene’s antics to be had. Please start with this link to Petlense Photography’s Lina Tay and see what goes on in her house!