Winter time in Charlotte might not be your first choice for having a photo session. it is my slowest time of year.

Since most of my photo sessions are outside, I have to great creative when I have a session planned in January and February.

When clients schedule a shoot for winter in Charlotte it’s usually because they have a new puppy and want photos taken to capture him while he’s young or they have a senior dog and they want to make sure they get photos while they can.

Here are my 3 recommendations when you schedule a photo session in the winter in Charlotte:

1. Watch the weather and be flexible if you need to adjust. If it is going to be freezing outside, rescheduling may be best. Really young dogs, small breeds, short haired, or senior dogs may not tolerate extreme cold very well.

2. Schedule the session for late in the afternoon or early evening when the temperatures tend to be the warmest.

3. Ask your photographer for recommendations on where to do the shoot. We know the best places in the winter when all of the trees around here look dead.

I enjoy doing photos in the colder weather. There isn’t any humidity (yay!!) and it challenges me to be creative.

I always say I live in the land of the trees and when the trees aren’t looking their best, I find other ways to make the background look pretty.

The above photo was taken in January. We were leaving and I noticed these yellow flowers. I asked Harley to pose for a few more photos and I’m glad I did. I love what the yellow color adds to this photo of her.

When the decision isn’t easy, it could be because there is a more obvious “best” choice but many times I prefer a less obvious choice so then I get in my head and have a debate with myself about which one I really prefer. That’s the case with the photos from the puppies on the beach.

Sometimes it’s a hard choice because the dog is an excellent model and there are several really good ones.

Here are the BARKography 2025 Year in Photos favorites in no particular order.

Do you have a favorite?

Thank you to all of my clients. I appreciate every one of you.

I look forward to photographing more dogs in 2026!

I love to do it but I’m not very good at taking photos when I do. Because I don’t have dogs that are expertly trained, I don’t have a lot of photos of mine dressed up because I generally need someone else to help me with dog wrangling and I generally don’t have anyone helping me.

For those of you who do it yourself without anyone helping you, my hat is off to you. It’s hard!

Here is proof. I recently took these of mine wearing Zoosnoods. Keep reading and I promise there are dogs who cooperated when wearing hats.

This might be the cutest baby bull I’ve ever seen. Check out this blog post to read more about this golden retriever puppy photo shoot and to see more photos.

I do love Zoosnoods and other knitted hats. Here are a few more photos I’ve taken.

Which is your favorite?

Happy Halloween and thanks to all the dogs who dress up and bring joy to all of us. Dogs are the best!

This will come as no surprise but one of my favorite things to do as a dog photographer is photographing puppies.

As a dog lover, I LOVE PUPPIES.

As a photographer, I LOVE PUPPIES.

Photographing them is so much fun too. They’re curious, entertaining, and adorable. That’s a fun combination for this photographer.

I have a friend Courtney Higgins who is a golden retriever breeder and I photograph her Trek Goldens litters.

It’s a tough job, I know. Someone has to do it though, right?

Her most recent litter had a cow theme so when she reached out to schedule the photo shoot, she mentioned she wanted to do it at her next door neighbor’s farm because they have cows.

I mean… a cow themed litter of golden retriever puppies and real cows! How could it get any better?

Well it did because I happened to have a Zoosnood bull knitted hat and I brought it along.

Going in, I thought I’d photograph each individual puppy with the cows in the back of the pasture. I’d photograph each of the 5 puppies and then photoshop them all into one photo.

Of course our #1 goal was to keep the puppies safe and the cows comfortable. I didn’t want the cows to feel like we were encroaching on their territory. Although they were curious!

When we got to the farm, we saw a Honda recreational vehicle. Once we saw it, we knew what we wanted to do: a photo with the puppies in the Honda, dog mom Lemon beside it and the cows in the background.

The first photo above is actually a combination of 5 photos. It took me about 5 hours to create it.

Here are a few other favorites from this shoot.

The photo shoot lasted about 45 minutes and yes I wish it had lasted longer. I mean of course I wanted to photograph the puppies longer. Wouldn’t you??

Photographing puppies is So Much Fun!

Most of the NC and SC beaches are a 3.5 hour drive from Charlotte. If you’ve thought of having your dog photographed at the beach, reach out. Let’s make it happen!

These are photos of my dogs on the beach in Hilton Head SC. My husband traveled weekly in his professional career and now that he’s retired, he has no desire to get on an airplane.

His idea of vacation is loading the dogs in the car and going to Hilton Head. I am totally on board with this plan.

Our last trip to Hilton Head was in October 2024 for Don’s birthday.

Here are some of my favorites from the trip.

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As I photographer, I love partly cloudy skies. When shooting at the beach under big skies, blue skies are beautiful but they can be boring in photos.

Here’s the other reason why I love cloudy skies. The light is the prettiest when the sun is close to the horizon so if there aren’t any clouds, that means there is about a 10 minute window of time with pretty light. The sun quickly becomes really harsh and bright without any clouds. I don’t prefer that kind of light in my photos.

10 minutes isn’t a very long time. I prefer to have longer to try and create photos I’m going to like.

In October 2024, we were blessed with decent skies. I am hoping for the same in November 2025.

As a side note, if I didn’t back up my photos I would’ve lost all of these. If that would’ve happened I would have been crushed. These are some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken of Jeff and Molly.

I started having computer problems right after this trip to Hilton Head. Here’s a link to that story: Computer Problems and Crashing External Hard Drives

I will be in Hilton Head mid November 2025. If you’re in the area or want to meet up so you’ll have photos of your dog at the beach that you can cherish forever, reach out.

If you’d like for me to meet you at another beach at another time, let me know what you’re thinking. Let’s talk about it and make it happen.

Stay tuned for more beach photos with 2 different clients who’d been talking to me for a couple of years about beach photos. We made it happen in August and it was so much fun!!

That’s probably because I have a lot more photos of just dogs and not nearly as many photos of people with their pets.

I always ask my clients if they want to be in some of the photos. I always hope they say yes.

I think it’s important to have your photo taken with your dog. Even if you never share them. Just so you have them.

I know I don’t love to have my photo taken. I’d much rather be the one taking the photo.

But I can tell you, the photos I’ve had taken of me with my first dog Sloan, with my 2nd heart dog Buddy, and with Moose are some of my favorite photos.

It’s not because I love me in the photos, it’s because the photos show our love. They remind me of how much I loved that dog. And of how much he or she loved me.

Some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken are of people and their pets.

They are my favorite because the photos show how much dog moms and dog dads love their dogs.

Here are some of my favorites.

Some of these were taken this year. Some were taken several years ago.

Some of these dogs aren’t with us any more and I know for sure that my clients cherish these photos.

Do you have a favorite of these?

Have you had your photo taken with your dog? Reach out if you’d like details.

As you can tell, I don’t do a lot of traditional, family posed shots. We will do some but I tend to prefer the more candid moments.

The ones that show the emotion. The ones that show the happiness and the love.

We are so lucky to have dogs in our lives.

July 10th is National Kitten Day!

This day was created to raise awareness about adopting kittens and cats from shelters and rescue organizations.

I don’t get many requests for cat photography.

I guess with a name like BARKography, it’s not an obvious choice.

I do occasionally get asked though and it is fun. It’s totally different from photographing dogs but it is fun.

Here are 3 tips for photographing cats:

1. Be very patient. Most cats don’t know commands so you may have to follow the cat around to get photos of him.

2. Get low to the ground. Have the camera/phone near the ground so it’s down at his level.

3. Use a cat toy to peak his interest. This could be a ball or one of those fishing pole type toys. (I have no idea what they’re really called but you know what I mean, right?) Using one of these can help create some action photos of your cat.

For all of the cat lovers out there, enjoy National Kitten Day!

Spring is my favorite season. I love the pop of color that flowers give to the back of my photos.

I love that it usually isn’t hot and humid yet.

In May I had a photo shoot at Freedom Park with 2 dogs, Casey and Sid. Their mom drove 2.5 hours to meet up with me at 8:30am for their photos.

I so appreciate my clients wanting me to photograph their dogs so much that they’ll get up at o-dark-thirty and drive 2.5 hours to Charlotte for our photo session.

Casey is the bigger white dog and Sidney is the dachshund.

I got home and looked at their photos and loved them so much, I took Jeff to Freedom Park the next morning so I could photograph him with the same colorful flowers in the background.

I had a goal to photograph my own dogs more this year.

I’m not doing so well… this was Jeff’s 2nd photo shoot this year.

I need to do better but I did get more cute photos of him and I’m very happy to have them.

Spring photo session in Charlotte make me happy. I do love the pop of color.

These photos were all taken during early morning sessions.

This time of year, I schedule more morning sessions than evenings because it tends to be cooler and there is less chance of thunderstorms causing us to reschedule.

Fill out the contact form if you’d like to learn more about my photo sessions and I’ll email you a welcome packet.

Summer is officially here in North Carolina.

If you live in the south or where you have to deal with the heat and humidity during the summer, here are:

5 Tips to Keep Your Pets Safe This Summer:

1. Make sure they don’t overheat. If you have a high energy dog that needs exercise, do it early in the morning when it’s typically cooler. Know when to stop. Your dog may want to keep playing or keep running or whatever you’re doing, but know when to stop. I know someone who was running with her dog in the August heat. He collapsed and died of heat stroke.

2. Play puzzle games or other games that stimulate your dog’s brain when it’s hot outside. Instead of playing fetch, make him use his mind.

3. Make sure they have plenty of fresh water.

4. Make sure their paws don’t burn on hot surfaces: black asphalt, sand, etc. If it’s too hot for the back of your hand, it’s too hot for their paws.

5. Many pets are afraid of fireworks. Don’t take your dog to a fireworks celebration. If you know your dog will be anxious, look into ways to help him stay calm now so you’re ready when July 4th is here.

6. Be wary of snakes and where they might be. As a dog walker, this is my biggest fear during the summer.

7. Be wary of other pests like fleas, ticks, and mosquitos. Make sure your pets are on preventative.

I hope these tips help some of you. If you can think of any others, let me know and I’ll add them to the list!

Keep your pets safe this summer!

Recently I was contacted by the owners of 3B’s Inn, a dog friendly bed and breakfast located in Gerton NC.

3B’s Inn is located about 25 minutes outside of Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

According to their website, they were founded by the original owners to create a haven for dog lovers and pet parents who travel with their dogs. You can stay with other like-minded travelers who believe that dogs make the experience better.

The current owners Brandon and Mackenzie were looking forward to their first fall seasion in 2024 but Hurricane Helene had other plans.

On September 27, 2024 this area was changed forever.

Since then they’ve been working on recovering. They are open now and they reached out to me to invite me to stay with them and schedule photo session on their property.

The dates are Friday June 20, Saturday June 21 and Sunday June 22.

1. Book a 1-2 night stay at 3B’s on Friday June 20 and/or Saturday June 21. Included in your booking is a 20 minute photo session with me and your 3 favorite photos.
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2. Can’t spend the night but want to book a shoot with me at 3B’s Inn? Sessions are $75 each and include your 3 favorite images. No booking with 3B’s is necessary. Contact me directly for this option.
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3. Want to just come and have fun and not book a photo session? Purchase a “Paw Pass” from 3B’s.
1 hour pass: $15
2 hour pass: $25
3 hour pass: $30
Full day pass: $40 (10am-6pm)
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Go to 3bsinn.com to book your overnight stay or to purchase a Paw Pass. If you don’t see the Paw Pass option, email 3bsinn@gmail.com. If you can’t make it the weekend I’m there, please consider booking with them at another time.
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Ohhhhh and I’m bringing Jeff with me!! 🐶👏 My boy and I are going on our first adventure together. 🚗#roadtripwithdogs
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There are limited overnight bookings. First come first serve. Book now to reserve your spot.

Let’s help our neighbors in western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene.

Today is the 9th anniversary of BARKography.

I’ve come a long way since I started.

I was so naive. I thought I could buy a nice camera and I’d be a decent photographer. That’s like saying if I buy nice cookware, I’ll be an excellent chef. I can tell you that is not true!!

Here are my Top 9 thoughts about the last 9 years:

1. Through photography I discovered my why. I truly believe I am here to provide dog moms and dog dads with photos of their beloved pets that they can cherish forever.

2. I am so grateful that I discovered photography. This is my 3rd career. I spent 20 years working as Recruiter (which was about 10 years too long.) I was decent at it but I got really burned out. In 2009, I started my own dog walking business See Spot Run Charlotte and that’s what led me to eventually launch BARKography.

3. Working with dogs has been the best decision of my life and I’ve been fortunate to do it full time for the last 16 years.

4. Photography feeds my soul. I love being creative. For someone who is very analytical, scored way higher on her math SAT than verbal, and went to college as a math major, this is revolutionary. ha!

5. Because of my job, I get to fall in love with the dogs I meet all the time.

6. I love many dogs I’ve never met in person but follow them on Instagram. I’ve been fortunately enough to meet some of them in person!

7. I’ve met some awesome people because of photography. One of them has become a best friend and she is my travel buddy. Many of you might know Audrey / Sunsets Unleashed.

8. Because of photography, I’ve had a reason to travel the US, Canada and Europe photographing dogs. I love to travel, not as much as I love dogs but it’s a close 2nd.

9. I’m grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way. My family, my friends and all of my clients. I appreciate every single one of you.

Happy Anniversary to BARKography!

I love senior dogs.

They are so special to me. I think because I know how much love they’ve given their entire lives.

This is Sophie and her mom reached out to me when she’d been diagnosed with cancer.

Sophie was headed for surgery the following week so her dog mom wanted to know if I had any availability in my schedule to photograph her before the appointment.

Of course, I made room in my schedule.

I will do everything in my power to make these sessions happen.

For those of you who don’t know, when I got out of school and got my first dog it was 1996. Sloan lived to be 12.5. She died in 2008. I became a photographer in 2016. I don’t have any decent photos of her and it’s one of my biggest regrets.

I don’t want anyone else to have these same regrets so when I’m contacted and a dog mom or dad has a situation like this, I’ll do whatever I can to photographer their dog.

I am always super attentive to the dog in these situations. I don’t want to do anything to stress the dog. I don’t want to tire the dog out.

I’ve worked full-time with dogs since 2009 and think all that experience has really helped me understand dog behavior.

Sophie was super sweet. When she wanted to lay down, we let her lay down.

I am always honored to photograph these sessions.

I’ve been a professional dog photographer since 2016.

When I started I knew nothing. I thought I could buy a nice camera and I’d be a photographer. I thought all it took was the nice camera. (For all of the photographers I’ve offended with this statement, I am sorry.)

I wanted to be a great photographer but I wasn’t. I wasn’t even good.

I was so naive. I had no idea how complicated photography is.

Photography doesn’t come easy to me. Learning how to use my camera, how to edit, and how to see light are all learned skills for me. They don’t come naturally.

So I’ve worked really hard at it.

But I still have so much self-doubt.

But please don’t get me wrong. I love it. Like LOVE it.

But I want to be better.

I learn best through practice so I’ve attended several dog photography workshops. The ones hosted by the best dog photographers in the world.

Because of those workshops, I’ve met Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock. They run Unleashed Education and they’re the ones who host the photography challenges I’ve participated in.

The Unleashed Challenges are a great way for me to get out with my camera, take photos, and get feedback from Charlotte and Craig on the photo I submit. Their feedback is invaluable as is the feedback on the other submitted images.

The most recent challenge was “Four on the Floor.”

My goal was to get my dog Jeff out and take photos of him. But for that I need a dog handler and I just didn’t make it happen.

I did however host studio mini sessions recently and I had several photos that could be submitted for the challenge.

Here’s where all this photographer’s self-doubt crept in: I rarely do studio photography. Using flash and then editing the background is totally different than taking photos outdoors.

I am totally fine to do this work for my clients but to submit one of these photos to have it judged? I was totally doubting that.

Guess what?

My photo made the Top 10. I was astonished. I still am as I am typing this.

I also figured I am not the only one who totally second guesses her photography skills.

So I’m putting this out here. I know I am an okay photographer. Maybe even decent. But I want to be better.

Here are some of the reasons why I had all this self-doubt:

1. I was photographing in a studio I’d never seen before.

2. There were windows on 2 of the 4 walls in the studio casting shadows in the room.

3. The floor was high gloss (which I LOVE but this was the first time I’d photographed on floors like this.) I used the spot healing tool a ton on the floor to clean it up.

4. Look at the space between the rolling backdrop and the floor. Fixing that was going to be a task. Thank God for Generative Fill in Photoshop.

5. I also used 2 lights directed at the dog. I was concerned that my larger soft box wasn’t big enough to light the entire scene so I used 2… I’m still not sure if that was really right or not.

To anyone reading this whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned photographer, I think as a creative self-doubt is normal. Some of us just experience it more than others. And some of us need to learn to not be so hard on ourselves.

For me it is a tool that helps me get better. It usually motivates me to work more and try to do better.

It does at times feel overwhelming and defeating but I try really hard to keep it in perspective and use it as a tool to help me.

Perhaps this is silly to some but I really believe I found “my why” when I discovered photography. It means that much to me.

Want to read about how I found my why? Here are a few blogs I’ve written about why I became a dog photographer and what photographing my clients’ dogs means to me.

1. Why I Got Into Dog Photography

2. How This Dog Walker became a Dog Photographer

3. Barkarica Day One Suprises

Now do I want to sign up for Embark and start a new 6 month challenge? That is the question (and I think the answer is yes!)

Happy Easter or maybe more appropriately Hoppy Easter from Bailey and Benji.

This is the 2nd time I’ve photographed these two.

Their dogmom has scheduled a photo shoot for them every year around their birthdays and this year she wanted studio photos.

She also brought a few items for them to wear and can I just tell you, I LOVE a dog that’ll let us put something on his head and he just happily poses for me.

That is Baxter.

Benji on the other hand is like most dogs I meet. He was like “no, thank you I will pass on you putting something on my head.”

In my head Benji is very polite but I know some dogs that would be tossing the 4-letter words at me if I tried to make them wear something. haha

I am grateful to Baxter, Benji and their mom. I also appreciate the help their human sister and friend contributed during our session.

Extra sets of hands especially when photographing multiple dogs is helpful even when the dogs are as well trained as these two.

They are a pleasure to photograph!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

National Pet Day is today April 11, 2025. This day celebrates our pets and strives to bring attention to pet adoptions.

This day was started by Collen Page in 2006. She’s a devoted animal lover and rescue advocate.

Here are 5 rescues in the Charlotte NC area that have pets available for adoption:

1. The Humane Society of Charlotte - I adopted my yellow lab Sam from them in 1997.

2. Greater Charlotte ASPCA - this where we got Jeff

3. Char-Meck Animal Care & Control - look into their “staycation” and “day cation” programs

4. North Meck Animal Rescue

5. Great Dane Friends - my friend Amy does a ton of work with them

Each rescue will have their own adoption process. Keep in mind too that many of the rescues are run by volunteers who may work full time jobs so there may be a delay in their response time.

If you are thinking about adopting a pet, please give this decision careful consideration. Pets are a lifetime commitment.

They need love, shelter, food and medical attention.

They are a financial commitment too so ask yourself if you have the funds to support a pet.

Do you have time in your schedule for a pet. If you’re adopting a dog, do you have time to give him exercise. Will you need to hire a dog walker to let him out during the day if you work long hours. Do you have that in your budget.

When you go on vacation or if you travel for work, who will take care of your pet. Be sure and find someone you can trust. Consider hiring a pet sitter.

If you already have a pet and aren’t considering adding another one to your family, spend some extra time with yours today to celebrate his day.

But we all know that every day is really National Pet Day, right? Mine are certainly treated that way!

1. Know where the light is. If you’re outside, the light is the sun. The dog should be facing the sun so the light is in his face.

2. Learn about light. What kind of light is there? Is it bright sunlight? Is it cloudy? This matters a lot with all photography but especially with a black dog.

3. On a sunny day, shoot earlier in the day or later in the evening when the sun is closer to the ground. The light is prettier then. Place the dog in some shade. In Charlotte we have trees everywhere so place the dog under a tree, close to the edge of the shade. Don’t place the dog all the way under the tree right by the trunk. He needs to be closer to where the shade ends and the sun begins. This will allow some light to hit his face.

4. On a cloudy day, figure out where the sun is and make sure the dog’s face it pointed toward the sun. If it’s really cloudy, he could still look pretty dark. Totally cloudy, overcast days wouldn’t be ideal for photographing a black dog unless you’re going for a really moody look.

5. Be patient. Keep in mind most dogs don’t understand what you’re asking them to do. Reward him with treats when he does well.

The last of the 5 tips wasn’t black dog specific but is really important so I thought I should mention it.

Taking wall-worthy photos isn’t easy. Photography can be difficult to learn but these 5 tips can definitely help you have better luck when photographing black dogs.

I actually love photographing black dogs.

This is Jack and he was my first photoshoot of 2025. And I broke all of the rules I told you in my 5 tips.

The light was really pretty, it was a little breezy, and I knew it would frame him beautifully. It did.

This is called backlighting because the light source (the sun) is at the subject’s back. In the right conditions, backlighting will also create rim light which is the light around his edges that is framing him.

These photos were all taken in January when the trees are bare. But the light was pretty and I have some lenses that allow me to really blur the background so you can’t really see the trees in the background.

You just see the cute dog and the pretty light.

This last photo is of Jack and his mom. This was a candid moment. So far it’s one of my favorite photos I’ve taken so far this year. I think it is very sweet.

I hope these tips help. If you have a black dog you’d like for me to photograph, please reach out.

16 years ago today on April 4th, 2009 I started See Spot Run Charlotte, my dog walking and pet sitting company.

I’d spent 20 years in corporate America. I lost my job in November 2008 when the banking industry (Wachovia Bank) crashed. I was in recruiting and the US was headed into a recession. I didn’t want to weather that storm. 20 years was enough.

After many conversations with my family and friends, I took the leap and started my own dog walking businesses.

When I first started, I took almost every job even if it meant driving 20-25 minutes to get to there.

My background was in recruiting. I had the skills to market the business and it took off.

By my 3rd year of See Spot Run, I was working 7 days a week nonstop. I worked every holiday. I was getting too busy and I knew I needed to make some changes.

Over the years I’ve scaled back the business. I only take new clients if they’re within a 1.5 mile radius from my house.

I don’t do much pet sitting anymore because I don’t want to work late nights, every weekend, and every holiday.

But I do have a few of overnight pet sitting clients. These clients hire me to spend the night at their house when they’re out of town. For me, it’s like going on vacation with dogs! I love it.

And of course because of See Spot Run, I started BARKography in 2016.

I am so grateful to all of my clients and to the city of Charlotte for supporting me!

Happy 16th Anniversary! Now it’s time to go walk some dogs.

Furfect City sells dog apparel and other products targeted for smaller breed dogs. My job was to photograph three sets of harnesses, leashes, and poop bag containers in different colors.

We talked about what she wanted captured and I started the search for dog models.

I needed to find shorter-haired dogs so the harness could be seen in the photos. I needed to find owners who were okay with being photographed too, or at least having their hands or legs in the photos.

When I have needs like this, I reach out to my previous clients first. The reasons why are because I know the owners and I know the dogs. I want to be as certain as possible that the dogs will perform as expected.

The client brought her own dog Leo so I needed to find 2 more. Leo modeled the light blue products.

Ozzy’s mom had booked me twice in the past year for photos. I knew she wanted to get him into modeling so I thought of them immediately.

Lighter colored dogs also tend to do well with product photos so I immediately thought of Mia too (pictured on the right.) She brought along her new sister too.

The client happened to have two pink harnesses with her, one small and one medium so I was thrilled when she suggested using Mia’s newly adopted puppy sister Maple in the photos too.

That was a good call, right?

The items were perfectly color coordinated. The client surprised the dog moms and gifted them each with the harnesses and they also received two digital photos from me for their time.

I always show all of the photos to the dog moms in case they’d like to purchase more.

I’ve worked with small, start up local businesses and large multi-million dollar companies. I am grateful for each one of them.

I’m grateful to the dog moms for helping me out too. The dogs were all great.

This was a fun day!