Photo of the Day - The Girl's Got It!





As I promised this will be a lighter baby post as opposed to the first two this week. Today and tomorrow's post will feature two amazing artists! One of the first huge opportunities I had as a new photographer was to show my work in the Hayden Burns Library during Downtown Jacksonville's Artwalk. The chance to show in that gallery once a month was so important early on in my photography "career" and it was always a great time (I'd usually get there early enough to set up right across from the free beer and wine area - really adds to the fun and increases viewership as they wait in line). This was an amazing chance for me to display and sell my work but one benefit that I didn't initially realize when i was showing is that it was a GREAT opportunity to meet other talented young artists. One month, just by chance, we set up next to Kristin Stearley and as she was hanging her work my wife and I were so impressed and her work was right down our alley. Kristin paints portraits of your furry loved ones - that's right, your pets. As soon as we saw her work we immediately started planning on commissioning her to paint our two pups, Otis and Kohana. We actually have kept in touch with Kristin since leaving Jacksonville and as it turns out, showing at Artwalk wasn't the only thing we had in common. Kristin was expecting a baby around the same time we were and she had Emily Jane on February 13th (Congrats Kristin!).

So how does she do it you ask? I imagine keeping a pet (especially one as hyped up as Otis) still long enough for a painter to work up a portrait is horribly difficult. Actually I have experience dealing with pet portrait sessions as we put our pets through it for holidays and calendars. Kristin has developed her own system that involves using a photo that you provide to her and she works from that while also adding color and her own artistic flair. Her unique style and touches she adds to the portrait really make it work (notice the rhinestones attached to the painting on Kohana's collar). Once we decided we wanted our pup's portraits done it was time to find just the right photo. Fortunately I am a photographer so I was able to pick our favorite two shots of the dogs and sent them her way. Below are the two photographs she worked off of while creating their portraits:





The results speak for themselves. She is so nice, does such an amazing job, and does the commission work for a very reasonable price. Whether you have pets or not you MUST check out her website and get in touch with her if you'd like to send her a photo of your pet to paint. You will not be disappointed. If you're in the area and don't feel like taking a pic of your pet give me a shout and I'd be happy to work with you and get the perfect shot for Kristin to paint. Either way, please check out this talented artist!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have enjoyed the post and looking at some of Kristin's work. Hope you all have a safe and happy St. Patrick's day and be sure to come back tomorrow for our second guest blogger and it's going to be a great interview with some amazing photos to go with it. Can't miss it so come back tomorrow! See you then!

Photo of the Day - Sis:



Keeping with the theme so far this week I figured I would continue with the portraits and this time around showcase our Shiba Inu Kohana. With Otis's outgoing personality and eagerness to be the center of attention it's easy to end up with more photos of him. Kohana is literally the Yin to Otis's Yang. Shiba Inus are an amazing breed but terriers they are not. If you haven't heard of the breed you're not alone so check out the wiki page. They do look very unique and we get a lot of comments that she "looks like a fox" and even more questions as to what she is. She never barks and is very calm but still very loving in her own way. She is absolutely the perfect fit in our "animal family" since she absolutely loves our cat Milo and does a great job calming and keeping our Rat Terrier Otis in check. She's definitely daddy's girl but loves all of us.

When we got her we had no idea on a name. We did know that we wanted to aim for a Japanese name to keep some of her Japanese heritage here in central Florida and once we knew her mother's name we had it! Her mom's name is Hana which means flower in Japanese. Kohana means little flower and just like that our little flower had her name.

This shot was actually taken in an outdoor portrait session in the yard of our rental house in Jacksonville. She loves to be outside so she has no problem just sitting in the yard taking in all of the sights and smells. She really made it easy for me and I ended up with the above shot.

Thanks for stopping by today for Tuesday's photo of the day. Hope to see you back here tomorrow for Wednesday's photo of the day!

Photo of the Day - Festival of Treats:



Today was a short work day and the rest was filled with some last minute shopping. I'm happy to say hat I am really close to being done and that is a relief. If you received our holiday card this year the above photo will look familiar, but if not, this will be the first of a set of three shots of our "kids" that made the holiday card that we shared with some friends and family. I have always been a huge William Wegmanfan even before I was seriously into photography. A few years ago when my wife and I decided to do holiday cards for the first time I decided to force our Rat Terrier and cat to be the subject of a few frames. Over the years the tradition has been created and has evolved by adding one more dog and tons of props (not to mention the number of treats we go through). I certainly haven't created Wegman like masterpieces but I think I can pass as a "poor man's Wegman." :-) It's always a challenge to think of the background, props, and getting (and keeping) the dogs in position but in the end (and after a few drinks) it always ends up being a lot of fun. This year we decided to broaden our horizons a bit and the above shot is the first of 3 shots that made the cut for the calendar. Hope you like it!

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow for the Christmas Eve edition of the photo of the day!