Tag Archives: dog

A Big Welcome to Adelaide

Hello friends,

As many of you know, we lost our doggie last year. Bowen was a great pet and dog for our family and we miss him greatly. You can read more about him here: https://chrismckennaphotography.com/2022/04/goodbye-to-my-sweet-doggy/ . His death left a huge hole in our lives.

Having said that, we decided that we were not going to immediately get another furbaby. We thought it would be best to wait about 2 years and reevaluate at that time. Doing that, we thought, would give us the ability to travel more freely and without having to worry about pet care for a while.

Fast-forward about 5 months and thousands of Instagram post feeds of puppies and awesome dogs and we arrive into late September/early October and a decision to start looking at getting a puppy in the new year. So I went looking for a local breeder of our favorite Australian Shepherds and found one that was less than an hour drive from us. We visited and fell in love with their expecting couple (“Longshadow on the Meadow” & “Longshadow’s Simply Simon”) and decided to adopt one of their offspring.

Adelaide was born a week later and we brought her home to live with us in early December.

It’s been 15 years since we had a puppy in the house and it was nice to have another to help fill the void. But with only the two of us to share the duties (versus 4 last time we had a pup) it demands a lot of our time and certainly a lot of patience (I think that God helps us forget the amount needed to raise a puppy otherwise one would never get a new one). Her training is going well, when she decides to listen, and the potential for her into her adult life is great. But she’s been a huge blessing so far and we’re grateful that she is part of our family.

I’ll try and post pics of her here periodically but you can always follow along on her Instagram social media account (click the link).

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Family Portraits, Portraits Also tagged , , , , |

Goodbye To My Sweet Doggy

This past week we had to say goodbye to our sweet and beloved dog, Bowen. He was a 14 year old Australian Shepherd and he was a deep and loved part of our family.

Bowen entered our life in 2008 as a puppy, like most dogs do. He was a gift to me from my family for my 40th birthday. He quickly integrated into life with the McKenna family-even life with the other dog we had at the time. Like most puppy’s, he missed his birth family but he found comfort in his new family and quickly came to love us. At least that’s what he told us.

His teenage years were not untypical for dogs. He spent a lot of time chewing on slippers, learning his manners, and chasing the girl dogs around. We didn’t allow him to get his drivers license because as you know-lack of opposable thumbs. But the walks we took in the neighborhood and the time he got to spend chasing birds took his mind off that.

Later in life he found work in keeping the crows and squirrels away from the bird feeders around his yard. This was his calling and he was so good at it he earned “employee of the year” for 12 years running, 2010-2021. He reluctantly retired in summer 2021 after an L&I claim forced him to “let the crows have one every once in a while.”

In his spare time, Bowen liked to take walks with his peeps, run around the yard like he was possessed, chill by the fire, eat treats and occasional people food, chase his ball on the beach, and relax on the couch watching “Gold Rush” every Saturday morning with his daddy.

I know it’s cliche to say but he was my best friend. He followed me everywhere I went and he was never far from my side when I was at home. It has been a hard week for me since his passing and it will continue to be for a while. I will miss him deeply.

Goodbye, Bowen.

Love, Chris.

Posted in General, Shot of the Day Also tagged , |

See Avery

Good morning, Everyone!

It has been a long, wet week, and it doesn’t look like it will be any better this weekend. Ugh! I hope you all are staying warm and dry.

Looks like last weekend was the last good time for photo session opportunities (without an umbrella). I had the chance to spend some quality time with my niece, Avery, and get part of her senior photo session. Avery is graduating from Rogers High School (my Alma mater), which makes it even more fun for me.

Avery wanted to go somewhere “urban”, so my go-to urban site is downtown Tacoma. We spent some time exploring new sites so she could have a unique look to her portfolio. Found it! Avery is a fun and vibrant young lady who is going places. A rock star on the basketball court (more to come at her sport session next spring). We had a great morning! Can’t wait for her to see just how beautiful she it.

Congratulations, Aves! You make me proud!

~Auntie Lynette

Posted in Senior Portraits Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Iceland, Day 5

Lack of sleep starting to catch up to me.

Started the day at Black Beach outside of Vik, getting some shots of the sunrise over the glacier and the beach. After which, spent a few hours around the guest house where we were staying, and finally ended the days at various waterfalls, including Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss Waterfalls. Seljalandsfoss was an absolutely wonderful waterfall to photograph, as we were there at sunset and this is a waterfall that you can walk behind. You get drenched and the path isn’t all that great, but it is definitely worth the effort to get some incredible photographs. Ended the day chasing the Northern Lights around the south end of the country. They were not as visible this night as they were the previous nights, so I was unable to capture anything too dramatic.

Enjoy.

Chris

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , |