Watching Lenny grow up over her first year was nothing short of magical! I met her for the first time when she was just the tiniest lil marshmallow of glory at 11 weeks old, and then photographed her again at 4.5 months, 7 months, and a year old. It’s SO fun to photograph tiny fresh puppies, but they are so new that they don’t really know how to follow any commands, don’t seem to know their names, and often during a session with a pup that young, they are seeing so many new things for the first time that they are very distracted. I don’t mind any of this, of course! I have tricks for all these things. It’s also just thrilling to be in their glorious presence! So don’t be surprised if your puppy doesn’t seem to do a single thing I’m asking, especially during that first session. It’s not a problem in the slightest!
Lenny grew up so very fast and I was especially amazed at the big jump in just a few weeks between being almost 3 months old and 4.5 months. Since I have done a few more series of puppyhood sessions since then, now I know to have the first two sessions within a month of each other. That’s the time with the biggest jump in growth. If I could go back in time, I would have photographed her at 3.5 months and then there wouldn’t have been such a dramatic jump in how big she got!
She was especially adorably fuzzy at her second session, and knew a few commands, although not consistently yet. I couldn’t believe that she had tripled in size! It was so great to photograph her around her home, with her marvelous human Joanna. By the way, Lenny was named after Joanna’s late grandmother, who had the fluffiest white hair, just like Lenny. So adorable.
At Lenny’s third session, it was fall, so we played together in the crunchy leaves and she was incredibly energetic, jumping around tirelessly almost the whole time. And for our grande finale, we met at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm at sunrise for photos in the colorful tulip fields, with hot air balloons to boot! By this time, Lenny was a year old, and could follow commands super well, and was just grown up into such a sweet, confident dog!
It was especially awesome to do this series with Joanna! We met randomly at Hoyt Arboretum 9 years ago. Her dog Sammy was the floofiest little love and I was fawning over him as soon as I saw him. We have done photo sessions many times since. It was fun to photograph her and Lenny for their first session where I met her all those years ago! Every time I am there I think of her, Sammy and Portia, Lenny, and all the other dogs I have photographed there too. I love how a place for me becomes infused with the energy and memories of all the amazing people and dogs I have photographed there before. I get little flashes of all their sweet faces.
Puppyhood is the most precious time in a dog’s life, and to have a beautiful record of it is just an amazing gift you can give to yourself. If you’re thinking of doing a puppyhood series, please let me know as soon as you know when you will be bringing your new puppy home, and then we can plan out a flexible schedule of either three or four sessions to showcase all their adorable stages.
