Tucker Joseph with his Aunt Court and Uncle Wayne Labor Day Weekend 2006
I’d like to introduce you to some very dear friends of mine, the Josephs: Michael, Karen and Tucker, the 80 pound wonder dog. (a.k.a. Murphy’s best friend.)
When we lived in Jacksonville, the Josephs lived at the top of our block. They moved into their house right around the same time we moved into ours. I remember thinking as I’d see Karen walk Tucker up and down our street, “My golly, that’s a big dog for that lady. I hope she can handle him.”
Well, of course she could. Tucker’s big and strong, but Karen puts a special collar on him that helps her control him. (She did fall one time, thanks to me and Murph. Tucker got so excited to see us that he pulled too hard. A bunch of other things contributed to the fall, however. For one, he didn’t have his special collar on that day. Two, Karen was wearing flats instead of her sneaks. Three, they were on the downward slope of a hill. Luckily she wasn’t hurt too badly: ripped jeans, scraped knee, bruised ego. It could have been much worse.)
Anyway, what sets the Joseph’s apart, aside from them being very good friends and the parents of Murph’s best friend, is what they do: they’re pet photographers.
Michael Joseph started Pet Portraits by Michael in 1983. Since then he’s become an award-winning photographer who travels up and down the Eastern U.S. setting up sittings –usually in conjunction with local animal shelters or humane societies. (Often as a fundraiser for the shelter who they donate the sitting fees to.)
Michael truly creates “portraits” too. Not just pictures. Anyone can take a picture, but what Michael creates are works of art. He sets it up so that after the shoots clients come in to pick their favorite shots. Then they can select frames and sizes and Michael sets to work. He touches the photos up with special effects, frames them, and creates a masterpiece that lasts a lifetime.
To be honest, I don’t know all the technical jargon for what he does. I just know he adds finishes on top of the pictures and uses special borders and stuff to create a collectible unlike any I’ve ever seen. He did one for us of Murph and I treasure it now, but I know it will be invaluable to me when the time comes for Murph to cross the Rainbow Bridge.
Because they’re based out of Jacksonville they do a lot of shoots in Florida, but they also make it up to one of their favorite cities: Indianapolis. They’ll be heading that way the first of September.
I think that’s why I’m writing about them now. They’re on my mind not only because we’re moving back to Jax and Wayne got to see them this past weekend, but because they might make a pit stop here on their way to Indy.
That’s going to be some big excitement, because last year when they came through was right at the worst of Tucker’s bad leg. (He got hit by a car and aggravated the injury by racing up and down stairs and ended up needing surgery to fix his muscles.) Consequently, all Murph and Tuck could do was sniff hello –and if you saw how they normally greeted each other you’d know a simple sniff was a big time lame howdy for them.
FYI
If you live in the Indianapolis area and would like to help your local shelter and get a pet portrait at the same time, the Josephs will be there September 20th thru the 24th for “in studio” sessions. But from September 9th thru the 16th they’ll have private appointment times available. (That means they can come to you in any setting you might prefer.)
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