I’ve been dog sitting some dogs after they had a litter of puppies. I figured that I don’t have any dog and puppy pictures in my collection yet, so I might as well use this experience as a reason to pull out my camera and shoot. The father, Kodiak is the large St. Bernard while the mother, Tamaya, is both a St. Bernard and English Mastiff. The puppies were born on Christmas day and there are eight of them. I find it easy enough to find interesting photographic opportunities with adult dogs, but the puppies tend to do one of two things at this early stage; they’re either sleeping or nursing. The puppies are now starting to move around and open their eyes though, so I figure that I’ll have some more creative opportunities in the near future.

I find that many people try to shoot animals from what I’d call a human perspective. People tend to stand when they compose and inevitably look down at the animal or use a telephoto lens to take photos from a distance. I try to shoot animals by getting down to their level, so to speak, and usually use a wide angle lens. If you think about how a dog or a cat sees the world from where they stand, then it is obviously very different from our own perspective. The dog or cat will be closer to tables, chairs and other furniture that may be in the shot, sometimes with the furniture towering over them. The question is then, as a human, what sort of photo are we taking when we’re towering even over the furniture, let alone the animal? Most of these dog photos were taken either while on my knees or laying on my stomach. I think it’s important to remember that composition isn’t just something seen through the viewfinder of the camera, but also depends on where you, the photographer, choose to be. Zooming out with a telephoto lens will make a photo feel distant due to depth compression and the fact that the photos are usually composed head on, but getting up close to the subject allows for some creative perspectives and a closeness that is simply not otherwise possible.

There’s nothing more tragic than losing the ones you love. I love animals; I always have and always will. I’ll always have some sort of pet in my life since I know that many animals suffer and deserve a good home and caretaker, but also because I obviously like having my non-human friends around to share life with. This entry will be a personal entry. Its some words about the death of my old friend Virgil and the adoption of a new friend named Aviva. I can already sense that it’ll be a difficult entry for me to complete, but I’ll try my best.

My cat, Virgil, died at around 1:30 am on Sunday morning. He had been perfectly healthy throughout the day with the exception of throwing up a hair ball earlier in the evening. Now, that’s nothing to be alarmed about, since as a long hair cat he gets hair balls on a consistent basis even with regular brushings — probably around one every month or two months — so as far as I am aware he was an otherwise healthy cat. He was relaxing in my room for the evening and night with me, but wandered into the living room shortly after 1:00 am. It was around 1:25 am when I heard a thud coming from the living room and upon quick investigation I noticed that Virgil was laying next to the sofa. I could instantly tell that something was wrong with him since he was laying in a very abnormal position, as if he had just fallen, and when I came to his aid he weakly looked up at me with a look of fear in his eyes and gave a weak meow. I picked him up and he was limp. I was careful while carrying him, consoling him while I tried to figure out what I could do for him. His breath was ragged. He died in my arms. It took around two to three minutes for it to all occur. I laid his body on the floor to close his eyes, but then picked him up and placed him in his favourite sleeping box. I couldn’t sleep that night.

Virgil has since been cremated, his ashes are going to be spread around the Ancaster Pet Cemetery. I’ll never know what caused his death, since I did not have an autopsy done, but from the people I’ve spoken to the consensus is that it was most likely a heart attack. I had Virgil since he was a small kitten and we were very close. He’d wake me up in the morning and I’ve become accustomed to that. I sleep with my door closed and I’d leave him out of my bedroom in order to allow him to have access to his food, water and litter box during the night, but he’d paw and meow at my door in the morning to be let in. He’d also follow me around and when I wasn’t home I was told he’d check my room and meow for me. I could always depend on Virgil to cheer me up when I needed cheering up. He wasn’t the most gregarious cat in the world since he met most people with indifference, but he was different with me. I was the only person who he’d let hold him, for example, and he always wanted my attention. I suppose I’m lucky because I managed to capture some wonderful photographs of him. He was very photogenic and seemed to enjoy the camera. The very first photo I ever took was of Virgil and it can be seen within this entry’s gallery, the fifth photo in the series. I tried to always give him the best life I could give him and I hope I succeeded in that. I know he was afraid at the end, but I hope I made his last moments easier by being there with him. He’ll always be in my heart.

I get teary eyed when I see something that reminds me of him or I have to describe his last moments to somebody. Virgil’s absence in the house could be felt right away as it’s just not the same without him. This is one of the reasons why I adopted a cat from the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA on Monday, named Aviva. She is 13 months old and was once a stray cat brought in by the city of Hamilton. I was initially looking at different cats up for adoption and she caught my eye, mainly because she is a beautiful cat, but also because she had been in the SPCA’s kennels since October. I figure she’d been there that long because she wasn’t a kitten. We all know kittens will no doubt find new homes quickly, since the majority of people looking for a cat prefer them to adults. I would actually rather skip the kitten phase entirely if I can since kittens are, well, jerks and adult cats need good homes too. The SPCA employee cautioned me that she can be wary with new people and might require some time to warm up to me, but the first thing Aviva did once brought into the visitation room was to jump on my lap (while I was filling out paperwork) and rub against me. She’s a very affectionate cat and not as vocal as Virgil was. She’s already made herself at home and is well behaved, which I like to chalk up to the fact that I have skipped her mischievous kitten phase with her being over a year old. I know I have a lifelong friend with Aviva, but she will never replace Virgil — no cat can ever replace Virgil for me — however, she doesn’t have to replace him. I thankfully have a heart big enough for both a Virgil and an Aviva. I’ll never forget the friend that I lost on Sunday, but I am glad to welcome a new friend into my life as well. It’ll certainly be a bittersweet holiday season, that’s for sure.