I had a photo shoot last week that was a little out of the ordinary - I was contacted by a close friend of my mom, who happens to be blind, and asked if I would take portraits of her guide dog, Tess. Tess had just turned nine. Now, I love dogs but I’m also a little afraid of them. Especially dogs that I don’t know. You should also know that in my life I’ve had three dogs, none of which ever listened to me - so I was a little nervous about that, too. I’d met Tess before though and she was a real sweetie.
Well, the shoot went great. You could tell that Tess was really uncomfortable being away from her mama - Jeanette was inside the house and Tess kept running back to the house to try to be with her. I got some great shots though and had a lot of fun. Tess was such a good girl.
Yesterday I started editing some of the pictures. I was really pleased with how they turned out. Even though I knew Jeanette wouldn’t be able to see them, something about having portraits of Tess still seemed important, since she was such a big part of their life and family. Little did I know how important. I found out last night that Tess was hit by a car and didn’t make it. Such incredibly sad news, and I am so honored to have been able to capture a little bit of her spirit. Goodbye, sweet girl.
