I’m not crying, you’re crying! That’s what I was muttering to myself as I left my shoot with Pam, Laurenzo and their 10-year-old pup Kosta. Pam recently contacted me about doing a shoot on the Sunshine Coast, as a way to surprise her boyfriend. Kosta, their mastiff boxer lab mix, had had quite the year. After experiencing some face twitches, he was incorrectly diagnosed with brain cancer. After many tests, an MRI and a spinal tap, it was revealed he actually had issues from a thyroid gland, and he would recover. Cue mega relief. He was now on the mend, and she wanted some family pictures with him and Laurenzo, who had fostered then adopted him in Montreal.
I’ve recently moved to the Sunshine Coast (shh.. but it’s only a quick 40 minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to paradise), so I’m now offering shoots in Sechelt, Gibsons, Robert Creek and still have some limited availability in Vancouver. I was so happy when Pam wanted to shoot on the coast, since I knew it would be perfect for Kosta.
“This getaway to the Sunshine Coast is for us, but for him mostly.. he needs some time outside of downtown Vancouver,” Pam explained when she first reached out. Kosta has some reactivity with other dogs, so she knew he’d have a better chance of a relaxed shoot in a less busy, more nature-filled area. We picked our date, and she organized to stay in a pet-friendly airBnB in Sechelt, so she could really unwind with Laurenzo, and treat him to a full weekend of surprises.
But. Lorenzo found out about her surprise (to help with scheduling, once they were on the coast Pam fessed up about the photos). SO… Lorenzo then secretly reached out to me. He told me he wanted to REALLY surprise Pam….by proposing to her during our doggie shoot. Would that be okay?
Uh, yeah. That would be okay.
After getting Kosta relaxed and shooting in a few locations, I gave Lorenzo the secret signal. He should go ahead and propose, whenever he was ready (I think he was ready in all of 4.2 seconds.)
(she said yes). 🙂