About Kim and BARKography
My name is Kim and this is my site BARKography. Lately I've had a lot of "pinch myself" moments and as I'm typing this, I'm having another one of those times. That's because I have always loved dogs. ALWAYS. I'm that person that stops whatever I'm doing when I see a dog. If you're one of my dog photographer friends and you're reading this, I know you have this thought frequently too because I have it all the time: "This spot is amazing and if only there was a dog here, it'd make a great photo." Writing my first blog post on my BARKography website feels amazing. This is a pinch myself moment and I am grateful, humbled and excited.
When I was a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian. That dream ended when I quickly realized that I am too softhearted for the ups and downs in that world. After college (Go Tarheels), I pursued a recruiting career. When the economy turned in 2008 and I found myself unemployed, I decided to take a leap of faith and start a dog walking and pet sitting business. Visit See Spot Run to learn more about my dog walking and pet sitting business which is still going strong.
I believe there are several events in my life that led me to BARKography. First, I've always loved photography. I've always had a point and shoot camera and I probably really starting taking pictures when I got my first dog Sloan. One of my goals when I graduated from college was to own a home with a fenced yard. It took me a while to realize that goal but in 1996 I bought my first house and 2 months later I saw an ad in the newspaper advertising weimeraner / labrador puppies for $35. (I still have the ad, no lie.) I brought Sloan home and I loved that dog like I've never loved another dog. I was lucky to have her for 12.5 years and saying goodbye to her on December 13, 2008 was probably the worst day of my life.
This is Sloan when she was around 6 weeks old. This photo was taken in June 1996 with Lord knows what type of camera.
During her lifetime, I took a boatload of photos of her. Most of them are terrible and that is one of my biggest regrets of my life. As I type that, I know that admitting that means I am actually pretty fortunate. I realize that but not having any great photos of her is a big regret of mine.
Fast forward to 2014. Sloan was my first heart dog. If you're not familiar with that term, it is that once in a lifetime, twice if you're lucky dog that is your soulmate. Sloan was my first. Buddy was my second. We adopted Buddy on December 31, 2008 just a few weeks after Sloan died. The rescue group told us he was between 7-10 years old when we got him. After having him for only a few days, I told my husband however long we would have him, it wouldn't be long enough.
He was an amazing dog. I loved Sloan because she was my first dog as an adult. I got her as a puppy. I went through a lot of ups and downs in my life with her and she loved me to pieces but she was crazy. I still loved her and I'll never be able to replace her but she definitely had that crazy weimeraner thing going on. :) Buddy on the other hand was the most well behaved, laid back, easy going dog you could ever be around and he bonded with me quickly. He was my shadow whenever I was at home. I miss the little guy. Our Buddy, aka The Budster.
Buddy. I miss this sweet face. This photo was taken Sept 2014.
He had a health scare in August 2014 and we knew he wouldn't be with us a lot longer. I didn't want to have the same regret with Buddy that I had with Sloan so I went out and bought my first professional camera, a Nikon d5300. By the grace of God I was able to take a few photos of him that turned out okay. At the time I took those photos, I was completely ignorant about how complex and complicated photography is. I'll save that story for another time but I can say, I've come a long way.
The images I have of Buddy are priceless to me. His memory may fade but I'll have those forever. That's why BARKography exists and my tagline is Love Looks Like This. I think of that phrase and I think of Sloan and of Buddy and Sam, Willow and Moose. All of my furry kids.
My goal for BARKography is to provide images of your pets that you can treasure forever. Unfortunately our pets aren't with us forever but I can help you keep their memory alive.
This is Willow. She came to us in 2011 at the age of 5. A lot of noises scare her and the clicking of the shutter on my camera is one. I don't photograph her very often so getting this one of her makes me very happy.
My crazy dog Moose. Maybe there is something about chocolate labs being crazy. Both he and Sloan fit that mold. He's a 90lb cuddle bug too. If you let him, he will crawl into your lap.
I love photographing dogs. I am on my 3rd career (recruiting, dog walking and now dog photography) and if you've not found your calling yet, keep searching. I didn't even realize I'd not found mine until it found me. Here's to loving your 2nd and 3rd careers in life!
I will occasionally dole out advice so here is my first: say the name BARKography a few times. BARK-ography. It gets easier and easier to say, I promise. Click the button to subscribe to the blog and follow me on Instagram. I post most often on Instagram and I will blog once a week or so. Come along this journey with me. I'd love to have you. And thank you. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this and to those of you who have supported this dream of mine to work with dogs.