American Animal Rescue :: mpls pet photographer
2 1/2 weeks ago (wow! really? already?) I was lucky enough to spend my day with the awesome and incredibly talented Karin Newstrom taking photos of rescue animals that are available for adoption from Ruff Start Rescue as well as Second Hand Hounds. We went up to Sit Means Sit in Spring Lake Park and set up camp for the afternoon. During the course of the day we photographed nearly 40 dogs and cats that are currently looking for their forever home through the rescues.
While Karin worked inside with the studio set up, I had free reign of a box of kittens and a few pups outside 
it was pretty spectacular and very, very hard to not take these little pumpkins home! Considering our weather that day I was extra glad that Karin had her set up. I got to be a lovely assistant for a change, learned a lot and only had my treat hand nibbled a dozen or so times. Thank you to everyone involved including, of course, the American Animal Rescue for organizing all of this. And I really hope this helps get more pups and kitties adopted!!
ps … these kittens were so small that those things that look like big grains of rice coming out of their paws?? those are baby kitten claws. yep. they were itty.bitty!!!
oh man … NOTHING cuter than a puppy in a basket … unless it’s a kitten in a basket. Yes, that would be cuter
Please visit Ruff Start Rescue to see more information on each of these animals and many, many others that Karin photographed as well. And I would encourage you to check out her post about these little at her blog here.
Besos!
Read MoreSawyer!! :: minneapolis pet photographer
What a snowy gem!
This is Sawyer and he is available for adoption at the MN Pit Bull Rescue. He is a complete sweetie and anyone with a yard for him to run will LOVE him!!! Check out his bio and then tell me you don’t want to take him home…
Hi! My name is Sawyer and I’m an incredibly handsome all white pit bull mix with sky blue eyes.
I just celebrated my first birthday on March 30th and would LOVE to find my forever home as a belated birthday gift. I have a lot of energy but also am a HUGE cuddle bug!! I love EVERYONE I meet and get along well with other dogs (especially my foster sister!)
So if you or anyone you know just has to take this guy home please contact the org (or shoot me an email – jessica{at}chocolatemooseimages{dot}com – and I can forward it along).
As a side note to this handsome dude, I am SO excited to be working so closely with this rescue to try to help these amazing dogs out!! It’s sad but pits often get overlooked at shelters and rescues but really, they are some of the sweetest dogs I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time with!!! I hope that these photos can help the pups find their forever homes!!! And if not, I might start begging my landlord to let me have pups Oh man, the girls would hate me forever.
busy and I love it :: minneapolis pet photographer
From my vantage on the couch I can see both my girls snoozing in their favorite spots; Tarra has taken over the pillow on the floor (not too surprising) and Digi is crashed in the sunshine that covers the obnoxiously orange chair in the corner.
Ah what a life.
While they are snoozing after a long walk in the yard (we went from the front to the back twice) I am working hard at piecing together witty words and lovely images of the 7 dogs I took photos of over the last week.
So far, it’s not so pretty. I’m tired. I feel slightly sun burnt. I am craving a delicious quesadilla. And the general unkempt manner of my apartment is constantly tugging at the back of my head. “clean me. cleeeeeeeeaaaaaaan me” it says.
Because of all of this I’m going to start with just a sampling of images from my recent shoot with Badger and Wyatt, 2 AMAZING coonhound mixes (including Badger’s part pug!!). They belong to the lovely, lovely Shane and Kira of Badger Creek Rustic Furniture. LOTS more to come about their business, products and pups!!
THANK YOU Quimby family!!! You guys are amazing!!!
the pup with no name :: minneapolis pet photographer
On my recent trip to Mexico I was pretty focused on trying to find 3 animals to photograph … a beach cat, a donkey on the side of the road and a dog. I was successful thanks in large part to my traveling companions who stopped the car whenever I wanted to get out and were patient with my quest
Now I’m sure it’s no surprise that in Mexico there are a lot of dogs wandering the streets. As a serious animal lover that was hard to see. I wanted to take them all home, clean them, feed them and love them. While I was walking along the mountain roads of San Jose del Pacifico I saw this pup. One thing that made me feel a bit better about his situation is that he looked pretty well fed and mostly just dirty and scruffy. And boy, was he friendly! He found me, my camera and my belly scratching expertise to be magnificent.
Until next time, lovely street dog!
Besos!
Read MorePittie Party! … benefit a good cause
You may remember these two beauties from this post and this post on here late last summer. Lilah is the beautiful pit bull mix and Olivia is her fantastic mama. These two were so lovely to work with and you know WHY I got to work with them?? Because Olivia attended the Pittie Party that was put on by the Minnesota Pit Bull Rescue last year and won one of my sessions in their silent auction. The MN Pit Bull rescue is a really fantastic organization run by people whose bottom line is helping animals in need. Besides this, they have an amazing group of foster families that take dogs in until they are placed in their forever home. These dogs are well socialized and well taken care of. The pit bull name sometimes gets a bad wrap but I have not met an aggressive or angry pit yet. They have all been so sweet!! And so have their owners. I think there is a link there …
One of the great foster families I have been fortunate enough to meet are the parents of these guys …
Their photos appeared on the blog last year here and I have my fingers crossed that our paths will meet again because I’m still itching for a photo of Zeus and Sig cuddling together
So I’m presenting all this information to you for a few reasons …
1. If you are an animal lover and have been trying to find the right organization to donate to, this one would be an ideal choice! Check out their website for more information. And THANK you!
2. If you are looking for something to do on March 31st in the evening, you should join me at the Pittie Party at Stella’s Fish Cafe in Uptown, Minneapolis! Tickets are now on sale. I will be there hanging out, meeting pet lovers and enjoying a glass of wine … my favorite sort of event! And if you can’t make it but want to help the org. please see reason 1 just above.
3. If you have been interested in a pet session with me, this could be an AWESOME way to get it at a STEAL of a deal while helping an AMAZING cause … I am donating 2 sessions again and this year each comes with $100 towards a jaw-dropping-fantastic canvas print… yippee! So head on over to the Pittie Party ticket site, pick up your ticket and join us at Stella’s on Saturday, March 31st!
Besos!
rudy :: pet photos
Rudy is a pretty fantastic pup. I was thrilled to be able to have a play date with him and his mom last fall. I posted a few photos of him on this post, but somehow he was another pet that never really got more blog attention. So here he is in all his miniature bulldog glory!
thanks you, two!!! it was a great time and I hope to see Rudy again one of these days
and the winner is … :: minneapolis pet photography
Boy oh boy, it’s been a hectic 2 weeks around Chocolate Moose!!! And I’ve loved every minute of it!!! My clients are amazing and so is everyone who voted for these lovely, lovely animals. What a treat to have 97 people take the time to share their thoughts about this contest! Thank you thank you!!!!
So, without further adieu, the winner of the GRAND prize of a complimentary session + mini brag books goes to …
EDWARD!!!!
in the last few hours of the competition he sneaked in with enough votes for the win!!! The total valid votes for Edward were 18. Way to go 10 year old, you’ve made history again!!!!
And the close, oh so incredibly close, second place goes to …
ASTRO!!!!!!
He had 16 valid votes and I could tell that all of the Goldstein family + some extended loved ones came out to vote for Astro as the CMICBMFP of 2011. While he didn’t quite win the top prize he and his family are still going home with some lovely, lovely mini-brag books. Hooray!! Happy Birthday little guy!
And third place goes to …
PETE!!!!
out to an early lead, Pete hung on for 3rd place and his family is taking home a set of 10 notecards customized with an image from their session.
And as I said in the beginning, just for leaving a comment you could be a winner!! Since I was SO excited to almost make it to 100 votes I decided to give away 2 sets of cards instead of just one. I know, wooo hoo, right??!! So random.org has helped me select the two comments that are the winners of those. They are:
I’ll be in touch with you ladies soon to get your addresses so I can send you your cards!
Congratulations to the winners of this competition and a HUGE ‘Thank You’ to all the amazing animals and families I worked with from 2011. I loved every minute of it!!!! Now, after all of this, who needs a nap??
the ‘CMICBMFP’ contest :: minneapolis pet photographer
update: to summarize what is below …
step 1: like Chocolate Moose Images’ Facebook page here
step 2: leave a comment on THIS blog post stating who your vote for the CMICBMFP goes to
And if you share this post on your Facebook or Twitter page, you should leave a second (or third!) comment on HERE stating who your second (and third!!) vote is for!!
Woooo!!! Keep the votes coming!!!
Why hello there! Do you know what day today is? It’s my birthday! That’s right – today I turn 26. I’ve had one heck of a year of amazing ups and incredible downs and have decided I want to do something special today…
I decided the best plan for the day was to do something really fun, exciting and new for Chocolate Moose and the cutest animals I’ve gotten to play with to date. My plan? Give goodies away to some lovely, lovely people! Today begins the ‘Chocolate Moose Images Cutest, Bestest and Most Fantastic Pet of 2011’ contest… which explains the title of ‘CMICBMFP’. I am hearing a collective “ohhhh!” right about now.
A bit of back story … For the New Year, I whipped up some cards thanking my clients for their support in 2011 and displaying, once again, their amazing little fur balls. The cards were a HUGE hit. I’m so thrilled!!! I designed it with some of my favorite images from my different sessions and even included one of my own girls. Really, how could they not grace my very first Choco Moose New Years card?! So … Because I loved working with all these animals so much, I wanted to give away a few more gifts to their parents in honor of my birthday! Again – can I get a ‘Hooray for Birthdays!’ Here is where all of you come in… to decide who gets these gifts I need viewer input! What I’m looking for you to do is comment on this post to help decide on ‘Chocolate Moose Images Cutest, Bestest and Most Fantastic Pet of 2011’
Sounds fun and exciting right?? Here are the details for how you can enter:
Below all of this I have posted the images from my card (hooray!!). Please go through all the images carefully and try to decide whom out of all of these fantastic, cute and cuddly pups and kittens is the one who should win the grand prize. Without my Digi, who is quite bummed to have been excluded, there are 22 choices. It will be very hard, so be prepared. Then, if you aren’t a fan of my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mychocolatemooseimages) make sure to do that before you leave a comment on this post. That is the key. Once you are a fan please comment! Please make sure to notate the name of the animal (which is on the photo within the post) and that you are a FAN of Chocolate Moose Images. Only one comment per person unless of course you Facebook or tweet this post … those allow you one additional vote each which should be left as a separate comments on here. And as much as I appreciate comments and votes on Facebook and Twitter, only votes on THIS blog post will count towards the contest. You have 14 days to leave your comment and to get others to vote to help your friends, family or favorite animals win GREAT things …
But wait – what are the prizes?
* The first prize is a gift session + a set of 2 mini brag books! It can be redeemed by the winner for updated photos or it can be gifted to anyone they think might need some pictures of their furry friends. This is over a $150 value! The only fine print is that this is for just the photo session and mini books (not prints, wrapped canvases or albums) and it has to be booked by the end of 2012
…it doesn’t stop there!
* The second place winner will receive 2 mini brag books customized with images from their previous session
* The third place will receive 10 note cards, also customized with an image from their previous session
AND even if your animal wasn’t featured on the card, you are eligible to win a lovely prize JUST for commenting!!! Because I appreciate everyone for taking the time to Like my page AND pick out ‘Chocolate Moose Images Cutest, Bestest and Most Fantastic Pet of 2011,’ every commenter will be thrown into a pool to win a set of fancy greeting cards.
Enticed? I sure hope so!! Please send this to anyone you know that loves cute, fluffy, drooly and adorable animals and ask them to vote. Remember, I love all comments but only those left on this post will count towards the contest. Also, if you post on Facebook or twitter, you get an extra vote, which can be left in the comments here. This contest goes through Valentine’s day which seemed very fitting for a contest about LOVING animals! Please make sure to get your votes in by then!!
Tallies will be made, names will be drawn and the winner will be announced on Facebook and my blog on February 15th.
Hooooray for birthdays and cute animals!!!
… besos! …
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