Landmarks is our topic of our dog photography 52 week project and the timing couldn't be more perfect. If you live here you know, my hometown Charlotte NC isn't really known for it's landmarks. However I've just announced a new type of mini session I'm offering called a BARK Party. I've never offered minis before but it's so hot in Charlotte during the summer, 15-20 minute sessions per dog sounded like a good idea. These aren't "really" mini-sessions but I'm not sure what else to call them. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

I bought my first pro camera 4 years ago. I didn't know much about photography at the time. I quickly got frustrated with the results I was getting so I shelved the camera for a while. When I pulled it out again, I decided it was time to dive into this and try to figure it out.

Do you ever try to take photos of your dog and you don't love the results? That was me back then. Photography is hard. It can be frustrating and if you have ever tried to photograph your own dog you probably know what I mean.

There is a lot of learning that goes into being a decent photographer and I've put in the time and the effort into learn my craft. I love it. I love the learning and I love dogs. I still get excited every single time I get to photograph a dog. 

I want to keep my photography fresh, new and trendy. What does this have to do with landmarks? Everything actually.

Let me see if I can explain. I see the world differently now. As I'm driving around just after sunrise, I see the light. On days that it is really amazing, I long to be in a field when I can see the horizon. But if you've followed me for any time at all, you know that I live in what I call the "land of the trees." I don't have wide open spaces around me where I can capture the amazing sunrise and sunsets. To do that, we have to get outside of the city.

During the summer months in the "land of the trees," the backgrounds in my photos are very green. Guess what my least favorite color is? Yep you guessed it, green!

So this summer, I set out to try something different. Instagram partially inspired me to do this because as I look at my page, I can tell what time of year it is based upon my photos. I was also inspired by my trip to Vancouver in April. My photos from that trip are colorful and alive. I wanted to try and create that look in Charlotte: in my hometown in the land of the trees minus the Vancouver skyline and the Pacific Ocean. I knew that'd be a challenge so I started exploring.

There is an area of town near me called South End. It's trendy, artsy and vibrant. There's a ton of development going on in the area. Lots of cute restaurants with outside patios and craft breweries have opened. 15 years ago it was kind of run down, now it's trendy and hipster. I have discovered some amazing backdrops for my dog photography. Here are some of Charlotte's new and what I believe will be some great landmarks in our city.

Exploring South End and other areas of Charlotte like Plaza Midwood and NoDa and seeking out the amazing street art has been a blast. I hope dog owners in the Charlotte area sign up to join me so I can create art of their dog in front of these backdrops. We joke in Charlotte that anything old with character is torn down to make way for the new. I'm excited about the street art in Charlotte. These areas are becoming Charlotte's landmarks. The last photo above is a mural  created by a famous artist from NYC. @skottmarsi came to Charlotte to paint this. Charlotte is known as the "Crown City" so I photographed Xena with the crown he painted. Pretty cool, huh?

It's also a bar (Tavern on the Tracks) where all the local Buffalo Bills fans come to watch football. The 12 + 83 = 6 is a shout out to the Bill's quarterback Jim Kelly (#12) who threw a ton of touchdowns to #83 wide receiver Andre Reed that resulted in 6 points. As a big NFL fan, I love this.

What I will ask: Charlotte has it's own NFL team, the Carolina Panthers. Who is going to create the first landmark street art mural for the Panthers? We need one! If we have one already and I don't know about it, someone tell me where it is!

This is a blog circle and next up is Pet Photography Columbus Ohio. Be sure to click the link at the bottom of each post to see what each photographer says about our topic landmarks.