Eleven years ago, long before I knew Rebecca, my wife at the time did a wonderful thing by presenting me with a race-rescue greyhound. I was delighted to have this handsome and gentle new member of the family. His name was Boheman, pronounced Boh-man. He was black and sleek and five years old. He retired after a full career of racing.

 

As I learned about greyhounds and their special needs, he learned about people and living in a home--especially a home with cats.

 

I’d been taking him on walks for several days and noticed that my walking pace was not quite the right pace for him to have a comfortable gait. Our walking path was a loop that went uphill away from the house and downhill back toward it. On the downhill portion, I switched from a walk to a trot. The new pace was perfect for Boheman.

 

He sensed immediately that I’d made this adjustment for him. Trotting happily beside me, he turned his face upward and laid his head against my stomach. At that moment, we bonded. We were best buddies for the next eight years, the rest of his life.

 

I’ve done many types of photography in my life. The wide variety available under the umbrella title of “photographer” has kept my career interesting and challenging.

Five years ago, I came to a point where I no longer wanted to work for other people. Instead, I wanted to open a photography business for myself. My closeness to Boheman had increased over the years, and we added a second greyhound, a pretty red fawn girl named Glory.

 

I began looking into the pet industry and pet photography and found that it is essentially recession-proof, and it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. It was clear to me then that I could combine my love of dogs and my love of photography into a wonderful new phase of my career.

 

My business began by shooting mostly portraits but quickly branched out into agility, obedience, flyball, and more. I think I have the best job in the world. I photograph dogs almost every weekend and process images of dogs almost every day. And I work with Rebecca.

 

Of all of the subjects I’ve ever photographed, dogs are by far my favorite. That’s especially true because of the connection I made one day to a very special greyhound. My Boheman, my buddy.