One of the most amazing gifts of dogs is their ability to have an effect on the lives of innumerable people just by profoundly touching the life of one human. One way this can happen is by making an indelible mark on their human’s life. That person then goes on to change the lives of countless others. It’s the dog-love butterfly effect.  

This is the story of Lulu & Dave.

In Dave’s Ted Talk (Do yourself a favor and watch it.) he describes his life as a 19 year old serving in combat in the armed forces. He shares the deadly experiences that laid the ground work for his PTSD to grow. As a combat veteran he offers a remarkable insight into how training for and performing in war, by their very nature, can foster a propensity toward an inability to cope. This is especially true upon return to civilian life.

Dave says, “…For a 19 year old kid how do you survive that trauma? This is why so many veterans are struggling with post traumatic stress, because they’re unable to recover from the trauma that we’re sending those young boys over seas. In addition to that the army trains us not to have empathy. How can I be a good war fighter if I care about the other guy’s family? And personally, I took it step further.  I numbed myself emotionally to such a degree that I had to accept the fact that I was already dead. By doing that I was an effective fighter. However this comes at a cost and this cost I experienced when I came back home.”  

It was in this dark space that Dave decided to bring Lulu into his life.

Through the bond that developed, a light was cast into the darkness. He could see a path forward. She taught him to cope, to be patient and to love. She fostered a passion in him to train dogs and soon he founded At Attention Dog Training – an award winning business that prides itself on helping keep happy dogs in happy homes.

As they added four-legged family members to their home Dave’s wife, Lesley, became a dog trainer as well.

Together they’ve helped change the lives of countless dogs and their humans by building confidence, improving the quality of life and human/canine bonds through education that caters to both ends of the leash.

I received a call not long ago with a request to honor their bond and to celebrate Lulu and her legacy through a photo session.

After thirteen years of her unwavering presence in their lives it was time to say good-bye for now. These photos tell the story of the love of one family, their gratitude for the unrelenting force of good Lulu represents and the impact she made on hundreds beginning with the impact she made on one.

This pet family photo session honoring Lulu captured her in her King of Prussia home in Montgomery County where she has lived, loved and thrived with her humans for 13 years.

Kristen Kidd Photography is an individual & family portrait photography studio in the North Wales suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We specializes in helping individuals and two-legged & four-legged families stop and reconnect with the love in their lives through fun and unique photo experiences and custom designed wall art collections.

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Dakota sat by him, just in arms reach. The walls and shelves that surround us in neighboring rooms were decorated with World War Two era photos of a family members that served in the military. His own history intermingled with the past, weaving a tapestry of years of service.  

I was sitting at that dining room table because he’d called me the day before with a special request. 

Now I was following bread crumbs of his journey to the monument of a story within his heart. This, so that I could see that monument as he saw it, through the eyes of his heart. Only then could I pick up my camera and come do what was asked of me.  

Following the bread crumbs, I asked about a time that Dakota was there for him, really showed up for him in a profound way.

He recounted the time following his military tour overseas. He’d seen war abroad. Now, he was faced with a war within. He was diagnosed with cancer. He was not alone because there was Dakota. Eric remembered the grueling treatments and with gratefulness he could see himself walking through the door of his home following another round of radiation. Always, Dakota was there to greet him. Giving every ounce of love she had in her. 

I asked him to return to that moment of exhaustion, walking through the door and seeing her face in that moment, if there was a word to describe that emotion, what would it be?

“Compassion”, he said with levity. As tears streamed down his face, he stroked Dakota’s soft fur and with his free hand reached for the box of tissues across the table, he had placed there preemptively.  I’d found the monument.  It was tremendous.  

Dakota is Eric’s snow white german shepherd. Compassion is her gift in the 13 years she’s walked alongside him.

Now, he is faced with the difficult decision to make that those of us who have loved a pet for their lifetime experience. It too is a choice of compassion. It is the compassionate decision to say good-bye. Before he let go of her he wanted to immortalized her legacy. This is the tremendous monument, a thank you. He took the day to spend with her and capture their final hours together – hours of joy and peace.  Now he carries a piece of her with him always in gratitude for her years of service.  

Kristen Kidd Photography is an individual & family portrait photography studio in the North Wales suburb of Philadelphia, Pa. We specializes in helping individuals and two-legged & four-legged families stop and reconnect with the love in their lives through fun and unique photo experiences and custom designed wall art collections.

The post Hatboro Pet Photo Session appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

I invited her to come by the studio for a cup of tea before her North Wales yoga session so I could hear more about her business, her goals and hopes. She needed to share with her potential clients (her avatar) who she is and what she offers. It was important to understand how Sarah sees herself and her business to help her tell her story. I could, then, help capture and share the part of herself she wanted to convey to the world.

Sarah is captivated by the “amazing universe within”.

This, she so eloquently expressed to me as we were deep diving into her journey to now. Sarah’s appreciation and need for yoga and meditation in her life strengthened as she fully immersed into adulthood and motherhood. Her decision to welcome an abundance of goodness and responsibility into her world burgeoned a drive to establish a practice of mindfulness. The desire to help others access the same joy and peace she discovers each time she is brought deeper insider herself led her to start teaching.

During her initial consult Sarah regaled me with tales about her daughter Francis. She described a precocious little girl that inspires Sarah to greater confidence through her carefree spirit. It became clear that featuring Francis in her session (with Francis’ permission) would be an important part of telling Sarah’s story.

When asked, “Does she enjoy doing yoga with you?”. Sarah quickly replied, “Oh. She ‘teaches me yoga’!”. This, I could not wait to see. I was not disappointed by what followed.

As Francis stepped in front of the camera I asked her to guide mommy in her favorite yoga poses. She erupted into a series of paleontologically inspired poses. A posture flow epic in proportion to its prehistoric nature. See captions to add these poses to your posture flow.

If you’d like to hear more about Paleontological Yoga (The new craze that’s sure to sweep the nation), you can talk to Francis. However, I might recommend starting with a more timeless and nuanced path to the inward self. In which case, I recommend connecting with Sarah York at sarahyorkyoga@gmail.com

For details on your own branding session that goes way beyond headshots, click the button below, scroll down and contact me.

The post A North Wales Yoga Session To Melt Your Heart appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

John shows his son, Charlie, how to use the Nerf that HE (John) used when he was a child.

Harleysville family give some love to the family pet, Blue.

It’s so important for the autonomy of a couples relationship to be reaffirmed and embraced as often as possible. Before there was kids and mortgages and pets… there was the two of you.

When Dad’s got you.

Photographing mother’s lost in savoring the joy of a deep embrace from their child is one of my favorite moments in any session.

Blue was the one the chillest dogs I’ve photographed with a family. He worried about nothing while he was surrounded by his pack.

I have never met a child with the imagination of Charlie. He doesn’t have stories. He doesn’t stop having stories. There is a genius in that imagination.

Harleysville mom and son show how high they can go in their family photo session.

His eyes were like two deep wells one could get lost in.

Lashes for days.

This Harleysville family photo session keeps it beautiful and real.

Stephanie and John had a wonderful day full of stopping, reconnecting and reclaiming time for their family, right in their own Montgomery County backyard. Their nanny dog, Blue joined in the fun too.

Stephanie is a burgeoning Lansdale business owner (Boutique Tres Bien). What I love about Stephanie is her tenacity energy and what you see is what you get attitude. What you see is class with a dose of moxie. You see beauty with an edge of determination and vigor and carefree spirit – the kind that says, “Yes. As a matter of fact, I’m going to wear of long, flowing gorgeous teal chiffon dress while I play with my kids in the backyard because I deserve to feel beautiful whenever the hell I want and No. No I’m not going to cry or care when dirt inevitably finds its way on this dress while I’m searching for ants, or playing airplane or stealing hugs, because life was made for beautiful dresses and backyards and mud and sometimes all at once.”

John a hard working, dedicated family man. I loved John’s soft-spoken deep gratitude for everything real and true in his life. At their design consult, following their session, he gave me the gift of luxuriating in their joy and perspective from the day they’d claimed for their family. This gift came when, immediately following their cinematic slide show of photos in the North Wales studio, he said, “You know, sometimes it just feels like you’re running around, chasing kids all – scooping them up from here or there or getting into this or that, but when I stop and look at it from this perspective and see it this way, I can see this is everything.”

This is the beautiful chaos that is family. This is real.

Stephanie and John embrace it with every fiber of their being and for that, they will richly look back on these days of crazy adventure, every maddening and delightful moment and see it for all it truly was to them. For now and always, their best selves are immortalized in these moments and proudly displayed in their home through their wall art.

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