Your average dog portrait session takes a back seat in the summer months, when everyone’s schedules are mixed up, it’s hot, and dogs aren’t allowed on the Cape beaches. I’ve been filling my time, though, by photographing many of my upcoming wedding couples WITH their dogs!

I’m about to do a bit of traveling through Denver and Banff, AB for the month of August, but will be sharing some adorable dogs with you along the way. In the meantime, I’ve been playing with film so much in my personal work, and here are a few shots of our own lab/hound mix Brewer!

Fuji Pro400H, 35 mm

Things have been slow here around the Cold Nose Photo blog lately, but I have excuses!  One is the fact that the website was hacked, and still not entirely put back together again. The other excuse is that I’ve been shooting film for the last couple of months and FINALLY packaged up a handful of rolls to send to the lab. Not quite as instant as digital, but I’ve been looooving the change of pace!

More sessions are on the way! The grasses are turning green, flowers blooming, and frankly, my wonderful clients are more willing to play in the warmer weather. Can’t wait to meet a whole new season full of lovable mutts!

Okay, so I might have cheated a bit by going to a nearby peninsula of a beach and tossing the Chuck-It as far and as often as I could, but a tired pup makes for a much more efficient work day at home!

The foreground of this photo is actually the ice-covered sand, but it kind of looks like all ocean! (like an infinity pool… in a soothing resort… in a warm tropical country…. er, FOCUS!)

I always love beach grasses more this time of year…

Thanks for the walk, buddy! My mornings wouldn’t be the same without you.

Meet our nieces and nephew, McKenna, Emily and Jake!

Brewer got to lounge by a real fireplace allll weekend.

He fetched sticks in the front yard, while neighbors lined the street with luminaries so that Santa could find his way.

Brewer’s favorite part was reading “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve.

And the next morning, such excitement to see that Santa Claus had arrived!

He helped open presents…

Helped to try on new boots…

Even welcomed a new furry toy with his own special toothy kiss!

After a big fancy meal, Brewer came to the park with us to walk off those holiday pounds!

And at the end of a busy day, he got to kick back and relax with a tummy rub or two.

Thanks so much to McKenna, Emily and Jake for being the bestest cousins Brewer could ever ask for! What a very merry Christmas!

(note: Brewer is a rescue from Tennessee, a lab/hound mix. Please consider adopting when you’re ready to share your own Christmas with a new furry friend!)

I hope you are enjoying this festive time of year with good family, lots of laughter, and the snuggles of your furry pals!

I brought Brewer’s Orange Thing along on a recent trip to the dog park (ie. conservation land, walking around a pond – we have about a bagillion within 2 square miles of my house, so I just generally call this “the dog park”. We’re really original in the Hedman household, right?). It was old and had been fetched for, snuggled with and dragged around for months. Unfortunately, it therefore had a tear in it.

So I’m tossing The Orange Thing in the pond and Brewer’s paddling his heart out. This continues successfully for a while, because Brewer’s faster than the hole is large, but eventually I throw The Orange Thing too far. Water rushes in, and he’s paddling and paddling, but it’s too late. The Orange Thing sinks.

Panic. Brewer is circling, and our house guest Ben (who likes to swim for fun, not even chasing things) decides to help him circle. I look down at my clothes… I’m wearing running clothes, which means quick-dry and minimal. That’s it – I’m in the water. I can see orange, after all, and this is what every good mother does for their child, right? I dive down and grab The Orange Thing, and make it safely up to the surface despite the eight splash-happy paws above me. SAVED.

You know what I did as soon as we got home, right? Pulled up the Cabela’s website and bought six more Orange Things of course!

Got any good stories to share about your dog’s favorite toy? Use the comment section below!

Ben is a rescued lab who has spent most of his 9 years in the beautiful home of our friends in Connecticut. They are currently off to California to spend time with their son and his growing family, and we were all too eager to welcome him to Cape Cod while they’re gone!

These photos are from one recent visit to the pond – the boys were soaked, exhausted and very very happy after chasing sticks into the water! Brewer just doesn’t have an “off” button when a stick is involved.

I hope you’re all enjoying this never-ending sunshine!

We proceeded to get some other tasks accomplished around here today, namely me on the hunt for the perfect wedding/event-photography shoes. I’m assisting in my first wedding tomorrow, the first of five this year (three assisting, two on my own). I don’t yet know how I feel about the difference between dogs and brides, but I know I want to focus on the down-to-earth weddings that involve some outdoor adventure… mountaintops, camps, farms, boats… anything active and “real”, which is how I feel about dogs.

I caught myself smiling a lot today, and bouncing along to the tunes of Citizen Cope and Tripping Lily. It was a sweet day, and I find it very fitting that I just came across this photo of my niece tossing a ball to Brewer. Sweetness indeed.

Photographer: Grandma

Holder of squeaky fishy: Grandpa

Adopted 12 years ago in Vermont, Bromley has been by my side through life in Vermont, Boston and Cape Cod. His stunning good looks turned heads everywhere he went, but his sweet personality also melted every single heart he came across. I’d like to say he was the best dog ever on earth, but I also enjoy that we all feel that way about our own dogs. They’re so easy to love.

Twelve days ago, Bromley was rushed into surgery for a ruptured tumor on his spleen. The spleen was removed, but more cancerous tumors were found on his liver. At his age and having lost so much blood, our only option was to close him back up and help him heal. At this point, Bromley had been the most healthiest of dogs, and we felt whacked with too sudden of a change in fate.

Bromley received so much love and care for the next week. We are incredibly grateful to be bestest friends with our vets, and to have their support, love and knowledge through every stage. The entire staff at Hyannis Animal Hospital was amazing with us and with Bromley. We were also so amazed to have one of the staff offer her Mastiff as our double blood donor during Bromley’s surgery – we’ll forever be grateful, and I hope you soon meet her and her dogs here on my site.

Bromley’s transfusion started to wear off a week later, and his body wasn’t catching up in regenerating its own blood. He grew tired and weak, but with encouraging test results, we decided to give his body more time by tracking down another matching blood donor – thanks so much to my parents and their golden retriever, Rigley!

We had the most amazing weekend. It was Bromley’s 12th birthday and he was full of spunk. We laid in the grass and sunshine for hours each day – Bromley’s favorite passtime. I sniffed his fur, and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. He enjoyed steak and chicken, and even a little birthday ice cream. We lounged with neighbors who stopped for a belly rub, and we captured some family photos of ourselves with my parents’ help. We soaked up your wonderful comments via Facebook and Twitter. Our young pup, Brewer, remained delicate and loving with his big brother.

And then it was Monday. Bromley was quickly giving out again, and we knew that we wouldn’t push any further. Our goal was to keep him comfortable and let him go in peace. A few more friends surrounded us, our vets even bringing a bottle of Llama-brand wine – Bromley’s most common nickname (short for the elongated “Bramallama”)! We toasted, shared memories and let this incredible chapter in our lives come to a close.

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I wanted to share a couple of things. One, you shouldn’t be afraid to read books about dogs because of the eventual subject of death. I credit Merle’s Door and The Art of Racing in the Rain as HUGELY helpful in getting me through this time. If you want to borrow one of my copies, just let me know.

Two, the next time you go in for a vet appointment, please consider asking about your local blood donor list. I assumed this kind of thing was taken care of by big city hospitals, but when it comes down to a dog on the operating table, your vet often relies on a local list to find a matching blood donor. Bromley’s second transfusion – thankfully not an emergency – came a day late because we could not find a match and the emergency facilities were out of stock. This is a free test if you are willing to be a donor.

Thank you so much for your love, energy and thoughts. It has been wonderful to be part of such a supportive dog-loving community at a time like this.

XO

We went into this weekend knowing it was going to be 110% relaxation. I cancelled a shoot in Vermont to be by the side of our eldest pup, Bromley, who was rushed into emergency surgery last week. More on that to come, but right now we’re just enjoying long, lazy afternoons, laying in the grass and soaking up the sun. Bromley’s favorite things :-)

You can bet there will be more photos to come, as I employed my lovely mom to give a hand with our family portraits. But for today I thought I’d share a couple of Brewer, the little brother who is having a wee bit of a hard time relaxing as much as the rest of us. He has been pacing around the yard, picking up sticks, munching on grass, securing the perimeter… Thank goodness for the occasional squeaky fish.

Can you find the egg? I honestly did not remember one bit that I planted a bunch of crocus bulbs last year… such a fun surprise!

To give credit where credit is due, these beautiful children are the wonderment of my brother-in-law Eric and his wife Jill.

Uncle Gary (he’s with me) gave quite a show – lots of digging, wheel-barrelling, and even pulling out a real live chain saw! With all the dirt-digging and excitement, each of the kids filed in for an outdoor shower before the long drive home!

I hope you had a beautiful spring holiday, and that you’re enjoying this early warmth and blooming!

My week in Boston – where I was able to walk to the park, the stores, my office, and to friends’ apartments – left me feeling like I really wanted to be closer to a city. I’ve been frustrated with the fact that we have to literally drive to every place we need to go on Cape Cod. The grocery store is down the street from the Post Office, the dog food is 20 minutes away, and the dry-cleaner is in another direction. Nevermind a cup of coffee. I love Portsmouth, NH, in particular, for its community and closeness. But as soon as I returned from Boston that weekend, I went for a long run on quiet roads and cranberry bogs (no traffic lights!). I tossed a toy for our dogs in our big back yard. And we romped the beach the next morning. I’ve realized that I really do love it here, but for our next home (soon) we’ll be looking to be no more than a mile outside of one of the Cape’s adorable village centers. Maybe even with an outbuilding for my studio!

Now that I’m officially home to a regular schedule, I was happy to seal the deal with a weekend of sunshine for our annual pilgrimage out to Chequessett Neck in Wellfleet. We gathered up a total of nine people and five dogs for the trek, so you can imagine there will be many more dog photos to come! But in the meantime, a little slideshow of the gorgeous scenery we got to partake in!

Welcome SPRING! (it’s a good thing I bought a new raincoat last week…)

On our way in from the three-hour hike (one hour each way, plus one hour to bunker down against the dunes, basking in sunshine and snacking on some wine and cheese), we tipped our hats to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) rescue team that was heading out to a stranded dolphin. Unfortunately, we alerted them to a second stranded dolphin that was still breathing at the farthest-most point of Chequessett Neck. News of these strandings in Wellfleet has been in our papers and television reports for the past week, and teams of amazing folks like IFAW are doing all they can to help in the most natural way.

IFAW is an incredible worldwide organization that is headquartered right here on Cape Cod. I’ve been following them since I was a teen, and I consider it such a great honor to be able to personally greet and thank members of their rescue team. You can follow them on Twitter at @action4ifaw.