Blank Slate

A fresh start to the decade living our dream on the farm with new dog Henry

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in the 52 Week Pet Photographer’s blog circle. I had to put my participation on hold last year so I could focus on completing my very first self-published fundraising book, “Teeny Tiny Dogs and Their Stories”. I launched the book on 7 December 2019 at the Sutherland Shire Council Animal Shelter Open Day and was a sell-out! The entire Collector’s Edition of 125 books was sold with the Second Edition now available for those who missed out. So I thought the first week of not just a new year, but a new decade was a great place to jump back into the circle.

SETTING THE SCENE OF THE THEME

The theme this week is “Blank Slate”, so I’m going to focus on my path ahead for my family and my business, and our newest furry family member.

We bought our dream farm last year. The sale settled in March which was also the beginning of my six-month shooting time for my book. I travelled up to our farm from Sydney every second weekend with our three little dogs (the #3dogkateers). When the shooting finished in late August, I relocated to our farm where I wrote and designed the book. Having this time in a peaceful environment enabled me to complete the project and launch the book by my deadline of pre-Christmas 2019.

This was a huge project for me, with 59 dogs and their stories featured in the book over 156 pages. 50% of the $90 registration fee to be included in the book was donated by me to “Paws for Thought” Rescue, and I’ll also soon be donating 10% of the net profit from the sale of the book.

So with this project now behind me, I have a blank slate to take me into 2020 and beyond. I’m in the midst of planning my year ahead, which is incredibly exciting as everything I do will be a complete change to how I operated in Sydney. Along with building a small studio on our farm, I am also planning another book for this year so stay tuned!

WHERE AM I NOW?

Our farm is located 2.5km from the tiny village of Wootton on the mid-north coast of NSW, in a beautiful area known as The Great Lakes. We have over 44 acres of undulating pasture and bushland, along with a creek and a river.

We have the most amazing beaches just 40 minutes drive away, and the photos I’m sharing with you in this blog were taken at my favourite beach. As for the dog, well let me introduce you.

OUR NEWEST PACK MEMBER

His name is Henry and I put my hand up to foster him when he was listed on Facebook with a local rescue, Sweet Pea Animal Hospital and Rescue. They put out a plea for a foster carer as this lovely dog was next on the euthanasia list at the local country pound. Well, we foster failed… we fell in love with him and adopted him a few weeks later. He loves us and our three little dogs, and we all adore him. So for young Henry, he has a new life full of love and happiness, I guess he now has a blank slate to start afresh. Although it really does feel now like he’s been with us forever.

I hope you enjoy these photos of Henry’s first visit to the beach.

ALL AROUND THE CIRCLE

Thank you for reading!  Head on over to check out Pawparazzi Pet and Animal Photography presented by Shae Pepper Photography for Shae’s take on this topic. Continue clicking the link at the bottom of each post until you end up right back here.

TEENY TINY DOGS AND THEIR STORIES – OUT NOW!

Teeny Tiny Dogs and their Stories Collector’s Edition sold out at the book launch, however, don’t despair, the second edition is now available!

2020 sessions and pricing will soon be available so make sure you join my pack to be informed when this information is released.