A friend and his companion in her final days.

[Dave Butcher]

Over the past few weeks I have watched with a very heavy heart as a friend of mine deals with the fact that his companion and service animal and best Friend is dying. She has cancer and the doctors give her a month to two months at the most, but Russell really feels she will be gone in the next week or two.

Pepper is 13 years old and she is Russell's whole world. She has on a couple of occasions saved Russell's life and now he is helpless as he watches her going through the last few days of her life. I have known Russell and Pepper for the past year and Pepper always love to see me. Tonight she did something that shocked me and she kissed my face as if to say goodbye. That had me in tears as I was taking these photos.

I am a animal lover and felt that the best gift I could give Russell was a few photos of him and his baby and a couple of good photos of his girl.

Now as all of you know this is way outside of my comfort level. I want these photos to be perfect for Russell, and that said if anybody has any suggestions please tell me and please tell me how to do it in Photoshop. I thank you in advance.

I want to say this the time that I finally caught up with Russell and Pepper today pretty cloudy and the clouds were dark and stormy. Not wanting to miss a chance I took the photos even thought I wanted a sunny beautiful day.

Please help with any suggestions you have.

 

[Dave Butcher]

These two were taken without the leash on Pepper. I did this because I was not happy about the leash on her, but the complex that I would at has a very strict policy about dogs and being on the leash.

I made a couple of changes but that is it for these photos.

The retouched photo

 

[Dave Butcher]

In the first one of these two we had the leash back on Pepper as some other residents were around and being an employee of the complex I had to cover my ass.

Here is the touched up one that I hate because you can tell that I did it. Please help with any suggestions that you can,

 

[Andy brown]

Dave, I think you've done really well with the shots.
Pepper looks like a sweet dog and you've captured that!

Russell won't be looking at the shots with anything but fondness (he certainly won't be looking to see if they could have been technically any better) and I'm sure he'll be grateful to have them.

If you get another chance to do some more pics, maybe one with her in his lap and a close up of their faces together.

 

[Dave Butcher]

Hey Andy thank you . I had thought about taking one of them with Russell holding her but due to the chair that he is in I did not want to try anything. And you can tell after having been around Pepper so long that she is not feeling good. I will talk with him today to see if he is up to trying it.

 

[Dave Butcher]

Hey all thank you for you help and information. Below is the final several photos that I put together and will be giving to Russell when he is ready. He told me today that Pepper is going to the doctor for the final time on Tuesday. This makes me really sad because I always made time to say hello to her.

This was extremely hard for me to do because I have a very special place in my heart for animals and I am very fond of Pepper. But this is my gift to Russell.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Dave,

In my opinion, there's no better photography than these, as they deal with the human spirit and bonding. Amazing that a simple click of the shutter can capture and lionize a small
moment in someone's life that now becomes treasured. We have a tendency to blur our memories. Photography brings extraordinary clarity and serves as a reference point, a set of milestones from which the location of everything else we have forgotten can be reached again.

We live in a modern world with many wonderful photographic advances and a highly competitive worldwide production of fine art images. Often work is dismissed as being merely sentimental. That was done of realistic painting of the second half of the 19th century and we nearly lost to those who would dismiss such work, amazingly evocative art that rivals the best of Rembrandt and da Vinci. So here, despite the pervasive criticism that snobby art collectors still have have for realism and sentimentality, I unabashedly favor these pictures as among the best we can do with a camera!

Again, I do not forsake or echew brilliant and masterful lenses and technique, but either one does something relevant to humanity or one does not. Here you serve us all well!


Kudos!

Asher

 

[Dave Butcher]

Update

On Tuesday morning Russell took Pepper for one last walk and as the fates would have it one last visit with me. I had the pleasure to be able to say goodbye to her and hold and hug her one last time. But that is not the story here.

On Monday he asked me if I could take a couple more of him and her. I told him it would be my pleasure.

Of the photos these two have a special place in my heart. They may not be the best but they are special and when I gave them to Russell today he smiled and I saw tears running down his face.

Andy this is the best I could do but in my heart it is the best of the bunch.