My newfound friend and I pass the time with small talk as is obligatory when crammed in like sardines on our shared flight to somewhere. The inevitable conversation of careers comes up.
Jason - On the other side of the camera for a change
“What do you do for a living?” my new friend asks.
“Oh, I’m a pet photographer,” I say with nonchalance. I wait for it…. yup, here it comes.
My newfound friend’s eyebrows rise. “A pet photographer, seriously?”
“Yup, it’s true, I shoot photographs of pets.”
I know my job is a little unconventional, maybe even on the near side of crazy, but I love it! I get to create art for my wonderful clients and get to play with an unthinkable array of cute animals in the process.
“So, you take pictures of dogs and cats?” my friend enquires.
“Yeah, for sure, but also birds, gerbils, snakes, horses…” the list is long and my friend looks more puzzled with each animal that spills off my tongue.
Okay, so I have a confession to make, I don’t just like animals, I really love animals, and not just the everyday fuzzy varieties. I grew up with a dog, that’s pretty standard, but we also had parrots, gerbils, budgies, hamsters, snakes, iguanas, turtles, newts, and fish – a veritable zoo! I’ve had to scale things back a bit since leaving home and moving to Toronto. It’s not like I’m alone now, my two cats – Walter and Hazel, and my trusty canine companion – Sebastian, are always there to lend me a hand.
“Isn’t it annoying taking pictures of animals?” My newfound friend can’t quite figure out how this animal photography thing works.
I answer honestly, “Oh yeah, it sure can be!”
Like any job, this one has its drawbacks: puppy teeth – you’d swear they must sharpen them daily, long hours editing images to perfection, the ever present sound of dogs barking in my head, those tricky animals that really make you work hard to get them to smile for the camera, and of course the presence of animal hair on each and every piece of clothing in my wardrobe.
“But, it’s worth it,” I say with a smile.
The smiles and tears of joy I bring to the faces of my clients when they see their precious friends immortalized in my art make it all worthwhile.