In the fall of 2018, I met up with Gabi and her parents for her session. Mother Nature couldn't have offered us better weather and we photographed around her house and then headed off for an adventure at a local lake. The session was bittersweet because part of the reason we scheduled this session before winter was to make sure Gabi was still feeling good. (The other part because the fall colors were beautiful!)
You see, Gabi has degenerative myelopathy, otherwise known as "DM." The progression of DM is always uncertain and can move quickly or slowly. The only certain thing is that it progresses and it is eventually fatal. Gabi was diagnosed in the winter of 2017 after her parents noticed a persistent paw drag. When she began having more difficulty walking, her parents bought her a stroller and began doing walk/rides with her. Gabi loves it and I wanted to capture their joy of strollering around in my images! (I think we nailed it.) Most recently, with the coming of spring, her parents bought her a cart but quickly found out Miss Gabi lacks the strength to hold herself up. That hasn't slowed them down one bit and Gabi continues to ride like a queen in her stroller and boof at all things that need a boofing.
But make no mistake, despite having some mobility issues, Gabi wasn't just sitting around. There were plants to be snuffled and people to meet. In order to capture some of her best images, Gabi's mom and I had to deploy some slick tricks. Gabi was distracted by people and wanted to follow her mom everywhere. Ultimately, Jane had to do a stealth ninja roll away out of the image!
Gabi, like any queen, enjoyed being the center of attention for her session and I loved capturing every single image. We enjoyed the weather alot, rolled around in the grass a little, and gave her all the love and attention she deserves.
I love photographing people's pets and I absolutely love hearing the stories behind them. I can't wait to hear yours!