Remembering Pongo

Posted on May 24, 2010

One month ago today I lost my best friend. It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been a whole month…it seems like just yesterday I held him in my arms while he took his last breath. Where does the time go?

Since Pongo’s passing, I’ve been working on a few special photography projects. When he first started having health problems early last fall, I found it difficult to do much with any of his images. I just couldn’t look at them without thinking that they might be some of the last photographs that I would ever have of him…and at the time, that was not something that I wanted to accept.

But now that he’s gone, I just can’t stop looking at his photographs. It’s not that I need a picture to help me remember him, but every image sparks a memory of our time together. Ah, the power of photography. It’s been so therapeutic to finally be able to go back and work on some of his images from the past several months.

I hope to share some of my projects soon, but in the meantime I thought I’d share some photos from Pongo’s trip to Venice dog beach last November. Pongo absolutely *loved* the beach…I remember he used to make the strangest noises on the car ride there - I think it was a cross between a whine/cry/moan, and it made us laugh every time! This was our last trip to the beach together and I’m so glad that I have these images to help remember such a happy time.

Love and miss you Pongo!

My Valentines

Posted on February 14, 2010

My three spotty valentines would like to wish all of our friends a very sweet Valentine’s Day!

Generally I’m not a big fan of using props in my photographs, but I do make an occasional exception when I come across cute items around the holidays. And since my three dogs are all seasoned models, they generally don’t mind too much! Peyton gives his best “sad spotty dog” pose…

As usual, Indy was less than amused, but at least she loves me….I think.

And Pongo wonders whose brilliant idea it was to make candy hearts that *can’t* be eaten!

Payback for Peyton

Posted on January 11, 2010

Let this be a warning for cute little spotty dogs that decide to steal my Colt’s hat and parade around the house with it…

If you want to play with my hat, that’s okay, but it’s going to end up on your head. And, of course, that means I’ll have to take pictures.

Poor Peyton. Lucky for him, he’s extremely cute (and very charming) - I’ve never met a Dalmatian that didn’t use both of those traits to their advantage! I will say, no matter how many thousands of pictures I take of Peyton, I will never tire of his expressions. I’m so lucky to have such fun and animated dogs - they are such a great source of inspiration for my work.

Happy Holidays

Posted on December 24, 2009

We wish you all joy and happiness this holiday season!

Kim, Pongo, Peyton & Indy
Simply Spotted Photography

Giving Thanks

Posted on November 26, 2009

The Holidays are very sneaky…one day it’s the middle of summer and the next thing you know, it’s Thanksgiving! I don’t know about you, but it’s seems as though I have misplaced the months of September and October. It just doesn’t seem possible that December is almost here and pretty soon, we’ll be welcoming in the New Year.

A few nights ago I was dwelling on this realization and found myself feeling very overwhelmed - I’m not ready for the Holidays! I started thinking about my “to-do” list that is miles long, the events I have coming up, and all of the other little things that come along this time of year. It’s not that I don’t love the Holidays - it’s just that well, every year they seem to come a little faster than the previous.

Just as the panic was starting to set in, I checked my voicemail and listened to one of the nicest, most complementary, and sincere messages I have ever received from one of my clients. And although it made me a little teary, it absolutely made my day. It was a nice little reminder of just how fortunate I am to be able to do something that I love and through my work, I can hopefully bring some joy to others.

And since today is Thanksgiving (I’m really not in denial), I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my clients - past, present, and future - for allowing me the opportunity to meet and photograph your pets. I truly do understand how special they all are and I’m sincerely grateful for the time I get to spend with each and every one of them. I have the best job ever - and it’s because of you.

I’m also thankful for my wonderful family, my friends, and my three crazy (but awesome) spotty dogs who manage to inspire me every single day. This Thanksgiving I’m especially thankful that Pongo (my senior Dalmatian) is still here with us. He had a few rough weeks back in the summer and I wasn’t sure that he was going to make it to his 15th birthday. And while thankfully he seems to be feeling pretty good these days, it’s certainly been a reminder that every day is a gift - and not just with our senior dogs, but with *all* of our loved ones.

So here’s to not dwelling on the “to-do” lists and instead taking the time to enjoy the Holidays with those you love - Happy Thanksgiving!

Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay

Posted on November 21, 2009

Today I stopped by the Canine Christmas event at Bishop Animal Shelter in Bradenton to meet and photograph this young spotty boy for Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay. Howie J is just 4 1/2 years old and is a Dalmatian/Pointer mix. He is very sweet and I understand that he just adores children!  For more information on Howie J and other nice dogs available for adoption, please click here to visit Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay online.

Traveling Spotty

Posted on July 16, 2009

Peyton and I are still trying to recover from our last two weekends of agility trialing, but I thought I would share a few pictures of my spotty boy, who has decided that staying in a hotel is great fun! We stayed at the Microtel in Perry Georgia and I have to say this was a wonderful hotel - the rooms were a little on the small side, but clean and very modern. And best of all, they had fresh chocolate chip cookies every night!

If you are interested in seeing some of our runs, they can be viewed on my YouTube channel. Peyton and I both agree that traveling is downright exhausting!

Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay - Hunter

Posted on June 21, 2009

Hunter is an one year old Dalmatian who is currently being fostered by Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay. For more information on Hunter, and other dogs available for adoption, please visit DRTB’s website. You can also see more pictures of Hunter and Oreo on my training blog!

Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay - Oreo

Posted on June 21, 2009

At this weekend’s agility trial I took a few pictures of Oreo, a very sweet guy who is currently being fostered by Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay. For more information on Oreo, and other dogs available for adoption, please visit  DRTB’s website.

Twitter Fame

Posted on June 18, 2009

A few months ago I decided to join Twitter…I was a little skeptical at first, but thought it might be a fun way to send quick little updates about my spotty dogs, especially while we are away at agility trials. Well, I found out quickly how addicting ”tweeting” can be and have since formed little friendships with other “tweeters” here in Florida and all over the world.  Well, in addition to being a cool way to connect with like-minded ”tweeps”, there’s also an abundance of fun little contests you can enter. I think I’ve only entered one so far, but it’s by far the coolest one I’ve come across  - Pet portrait artist Aimée Hoover in Southern California is having a monthly contest where you can enter to win a free custom portrait of your dog. And keeping with the Twitter theme of 140 characters or less, she’s doing these portraits in 140 minutes - and they are absolutely beautiful!

This month I decided to enter two of Pongo’s pictures in her contest. Not because I don’t have a ton of  Indy and Peyton pictures that I love just as much, but since Pongo is my original spotty dog, I think he’s probably the most deserving of a custom portrait. And well, to make this long story short(er), he didn’t win, but he did get first runner up! Aimée really likes his picture, but apparently painting a (good) spotted dog portrait in 140 minutes would be extremely difficult. Sigh, leave it to a Dalmatian to be impossible in more ways than one!

Anyway, I am just excited that we made the honorable mention list…and I think it’s very cool that Pongo is getting some attention. Poor guy has to put up with Peyton and Indy being in the spotlight most of the time! I’ve included a black and white version of my entry below, but please go check out Aimée’s blog to see it in color and be sure to check out her galleries - she does awesome work (and she might just have me convinced to have this portrait done some day)!

If you happen to be on twitter, you can follow Aimée (aka DogArteest) here and you can follow me (aka Agilespots) here. Who knows, maybe you could be her next custom portrait winner!

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