Oops!

Bag O’ Love is back! Join us on Friday, May 14th, 2010.  Your contributions will benefit Contented Critters Animal Shelter.

Two years ago I held my first “Bag O Love” charity event for pets.  It was inspired by the desire to give in the spirit of my recently deceased dog named “Rascal”.  Like most pet owners, I feel such gratitude and respect for the unconditional and profound love that comes from our pets.  Isn’t it amazing that pets inspire us humans!  My dog Rascal was certainly that way and now I have my new Border Collie named Molly and she too inspires me through her keen, puppy-love energy.

So if you feel inspired to give, join us on Friday, May 14th, 2010 at Deborah Sussex Photography portrait studio.  Our goal is two fold.  1) To amass a HUGE PILE of dog/cat food to donate to Contented Critters Animal Shelter (last time we collected over ONE TON of food which was donated to the Mesabi Humane Society).  2) Provide each pet owner with fantastic and loving pet portraits of their pet…created by Deborah Sussex.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:   In exchange for a large bag O’ pet food, we will offer a FREE “mini” portrait session with your dog or cat, PLUS a low rez digital file of your favorite image from the session!   Specially priced packages are available from this event with 10% of all sales being donated to Contented Critters animal shelter.  We want to include as many eager donors as possible therefore, each mini session is 15 minutes long and limited to ONE pet per owner.  Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.  We will provide a pet friendly and safe environment.  However, we do ask that if your pet is unreliable around other animals or has any aggressive tendencies, please consider a pet portrait session alone at another date and feel free to contribute a bag of food at that time.

RESERVATIONS ARE MANDATORY and space is limited so CALL NOW; 218-365-3077.

Here are some images of the 2008 Bag O’ Love event.  We had over 30 pet participants!  Thats a Ton O’ Love!

Bag O' Love 2008

“Closeness, friendship, affection- keeping your own horse means all these things.” Bertrand Leclair

I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph a beloved pet the other day.  This one a horse.  A beautiful horse I might add.  Now I don’t know a ton about horses, but I am learning.  They are such intriguing animals.  Such big animals with big personalities too match!

Cancion and Colleen

Concion is Colleen’s horse and she and I have been wanting to do a pet portrait session for some time now.  Colleen would find any of her pets special (she loves animals) but this horse has a unique story to go with it.  Cancion used to be owned by a very good friend of Colleen’s.  Sadly, this friend passed away from breast cancer and Colleen became the new guardian for Cancion.  Colleen brought Cancion all the way from the state of Virginia to the far reaches of northeastern Minnesota and she now has a new, loving and happy home in Embarrass, MN at Morning Thorp horse farm.  You know about Embarrass right?  It boasts some of the coldest temperatures on the continent and is about 1/2 hour from Ely.

Cancion

So, on one of Colleen’s many trips to visit her horse, we arranged a location portrait session.  Initially Colleen didn’t want or expect to be in any of the images.  But how could I resist!  I mean, one of the most precious things about horses is their relationship to their owners.  Truly, it is a labor of love to care for a horse and understand their unique personalities.  I so enjoyed the opportunity to create these images!  I also enjoyed Colleen and Cancion’s patience when I suggested we put the wreath around Cancion’s neck!  Both were such a good sport!

Cancion rises to the occasion with a wreath around her neck

Sometimes you need to wait a long time for dreams to come true

Such has been the case for the owner of “Par” an 18 year old Gelding, 16 hands high.    According to Sue’s husband Ken, “she has wanted a horse since she was a young girl”.   The dream finally came true after Sue took an early retirement and moved to Ely.  Now she can enjoy the daily rituals of hanging out and caring for “Par” who is boarding at the convenient location of “Robich’s” Farm (now owned by the Stocks family)  just outside of Ely, MN.

The photo session of “Par” came about from Sue being the highest bidder on the  Pet Portrait session which I donated to the Ely Community Resource Art Auction this past spring.  It was with great pleasure that I had the opportunity to contribute, once again, to this charity event AND to create some imagery of “Par” as lasting keepsakes for Sue.

"Par" in real life

"Par" saying yehaw!

"Par" in action

This weekend is the annual “Dock Dogs” event in Ely’s Whiteside Park.  Looks like we are going to have some nice weather for this fun and entertaining event.  I will have my booth set up in the park all day on Saturday, June 6th as part of the Dock Dogs Expo.  I  will be sharing information about my Pet Portraits and associated artistic products.   So come and take advantage of a great opportunity because I will be handing out coupons for $25 off  your Pet Portraits.  You will be able to see samples of my work, ask tons of questions about my sessions, and realize why coming to me for your pet photography is the best way to go! Enter a drawing to win a FREE Pet Portrait session!

Jackie the acrobat retriever

Here are some more details on what the event will hold.  The Ely Chamber of Commerce will kick off the summer season with a new event, Ely’s Pet and Wildlife Expo, featuring DockDogs® June 5-7 in Whiteside Park. Ely will team up with the Dock Dogs Northern Stars, an affiliate club of DockDogs®, to bring the exciting and energetic sport of dock jumping to our back yard. This event will consist of competitions in three disciplines: Big Air, Speed Retrieve, and Extreme Vertical. Big Air features dogs running down a 40 foot dock and jumping into a pool of water after an object, in which they are judged on the length of their jump. Speed Retrieve consists of dogs being clocked to see how fast they can run down the dock, jump into the water, and swim to the end of the pool to retrieve a dead fowl held by a modified extender arm. The final category is Extreme Vertical which is a “high jump” for dogs in that they lunge up to snag a “bumper” suspended in the air.

Below are some portraits of Jackie, a wonderfully talented labrador retriever who I recently had the honor to photograph!  Enjoy!

Waiting for the command

Molly is her name. We are so happy to have this sweet little puppy in our lives! Molly is a full blooded Border Collie from a ranch in the Sandhills of western Nebraska.   She came to Minnesota at Christmas time, only 10 weeks old and with no real sign of separation anxiety!  The frigid temps and deep snow have posed not problems to our little bundle of energy.  She just charges around and explores her outside world with gusto then loves to lye in front of the wood stove for puppy naps.

I will keep you updated on Molly as I am sure to have many a portrait session with her!  Photographing pets is always a treat for me.  I have a deep appreciation for how important our furry companions are in our lives.  Because they are with us for such a short time (compared to humans) it is all the more reason to capture their personality and zest in professional portraits.  Feel free to visit my Pet Gallery on my website and don’t forget to visit the Session Options section where I outline my Pet Collections.

Molly the Border Collie at 4 months

Deb and Molly enjoying a winter walk

Molly the flying Border Collie