Photos with Santa Claws

I recently was asked to be the photographer at an 'animal photos with Santa Claws' fundraiser for a cat rescue group. Now, I'm not a cat person, and in fact I am allergic to cats. But I have a friend who volunteers with this group, and I served as photographer for a St. Patrick's Day photo shoot for the same group earlier this year. Besides, I don't do much volunteer work any more, so I agreed to be the substitute photographer.

Photographing animals is always challenging, but the dogs and cats (and three ferrets) who came to the event were generally well behaved. One cat was not happy, and loudly expressed his displeasure with a series of loud growls. The three ferrets were squirmy and wriggly, but their human 'mom and dad' kept them under control. And some were less than happy about having to wear antlers or hats. The hardest to photograph was a solid black cat that glowered at anybody nearby and growled loudly. His black fur made him a difficult subject to capture. Animals ranged from a huge great Dane (in the photo with Santa) to a tiny, 12-week-old Chihuahua puppy and a very active, and strong, 18-month old bull terrier.

My Facebook news feed is usually filled with stories of animal abuse, so it was really nice to spend time with people who truly love and care for their animals.

I  am glad I was able to help out with this event, which raised much-needed funds for the rescue. And I hope the people who attended enjoy the photos of their animals with Santa Claws.

I love you, Santa.