My Hope

Meet Hope - my beautiful little girl... here is her story...

On the 23rd of November, Alicia (my amazing assistant) and I saw a bike hit a cat on East Broadway. It was awful, the bike did not brake at all and the cat was frozen with fear. I got out of my car and hurried to her, she tried to scurry away, but her hind half failed her. I wrapped her in a towel, called Ettrick's emergency number and met the vet at their hospital ten minutes later. She was badly hurt, but Atilla, the vet, thought that she just might be ok. I went home, posted her photo on Facebook, called the radio stations and wrote to the newspapers to try to find out if she belonged to anyone. Two days later, she was on the front page of the Gazette with a plea for help. The vets had named her Hope as they did believe she would recover. The calls came flooding in with offers to help, she was well taken care of and I went to visit her every few days. After a few weeks, as no one else had come forward, I decided I wanted to look after her. I brought her home on December 22nd. Although the vets could not promise that she would ever walk again, I was still keen to try and help her. Enzo - my resident feline was not amused. He puffed up and hissed; making sure Hope understood she was trespassing. Each day, I massaged her legs and bent and stretched them for her. It has now been a month and she has made incredible progress. She is not quite as timid, Enzo barely pays any attention to her and the best part - she is walking! She does still topple over from time to time and is still a little weak, but she does not seem at all bothered. She wanders all over the house, is hungry all the time and pulls herself up on the bed. She is the most affectionate cat I have ever had and my heart just melts when she purrs. So I want to thank Atilla for having hope that she would be ok, everyone at Ettrick for looking after so tenderly, the Royal Gazette for publishing her story and to everyone who so generously donated to Ettrick for her care. I can not thank you all enough, she is just divine and makes me so happy!

Tulips

My knee is recovering, but very slowly, so please forgive me for not posting at all. I spent much of the last two weeks in bed - going to my desk from time to time only to respond to emails and to work on the slew of albums that brides are patiently waiting for. As I have not been shooting, there has not been anything to post. I did however, venture into my garden a few days ago to shoot these beautiful tulips I bought from Petals. I am still enjoying them and love that everyday their stems curl a little more.

Taylor and Aaron

I have known Taylor for a couple years - she is a beautiful dancer and we take class together at In Motion. I am used to photographing her flying through the air in her point shoes, so it was a little strange shooting her not on stage, but in my garden with her brother. I have a little beach that comes and goes, but the pathway there is pretty treacherous. I have been wanting to shoot there, but frightened someone would fall. Aaron and Taylor were keen to make the trek, so down we went. The Sargasso was everywhere, but still is was pretty and there was actually more sand than usual. Thank you both for a lovely shoot...

Winter Wonderland Wedding

When one hears 'winter wonderland', one might think white - with snow on the trees, icicles on the eaves and leafless trees. But for me, it was this wedding - yes, it was winter, but it was the most gorgeous winter day - it was sunny and warm and the love between these two was just wonderful. Thank you both for a magical day...