Get to know me a little better
For the first few years of my life, I barely knew what my grandfather’s face looked like because he always had a camera in front of it. He loved photography, owned a vast array of cameras and his own darkroom, and I remember sitting quietly while he worked, giddily waiting to see the result when he hung the prints up to dry. That’s where my interest in photography began.
For as long as I can remember, animals have been a part of my life, and my first job as a teenager was at an animal shelter. When I started taking photographs of the dogs we cared for, I discovered very quickly that a good photograph made a real difference to whether the dog was adopted. A great picture, even in a cheaply printed newsletter, allowed people to connect with the dog at once, to see the spirit inside and the soul behind the eyes. Even now, where so much adoption is done through websites, a good photograph can immediately create a connection between person and dog long before they ever meet.
For a few years my photography had to take a back seat to a busy work and family life, but eventually, I couldn’t ignore the itch in my shutter finger any longer. As I studied and practiced photography more seriously—taking classes at Lone Star College, Rice University and the Houston Center for Photography—and developing my portfolio, I grew to understand that what I wanted to specialize in was portraits of animals and the people who love them—or perhaps that should be ‘portraits of people and the animals who love them’.
I’ve often noticed that people are kinder to themselves when they are photographed with their pet. The animal allows them to relax into the session, even to enjoy it, and they can smile and laugh naturally, not just because they know they ought to. The same goes for family groups, since the pet gives the whole family a single focus, which helps calm any nerves of being in front of a camera, and makes it easy for me to take the sort of beautiful, life-affirming photographs that I know my clients will treasure.
I live in the beautiful countryside north of Houston, Texas, sharing my life with my husband, four kids, four dogs, one cat and few farm animals we can talk in detail about later! I’m a foster mom for dogs rescued by the Lone Star Animal Welfare League. I also specialize in offering end-of-life photographs of elderly pets through my A Dog’s Purpose project.
Let me take your photograph, together with the people or animals that you love, and I know that you will treasure forever the beautiful moments that we capture.
Yours,
Ananda