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Celebrating Our First Year at Sweetheart Willow Photography!
Celebrating a Year of Sweetheart Willow Photography!
Hi Everyone! I am celebrating my first full year as Founder of Sweetheart Willow Photography and could not be more grateful for your support! Starting a business while raising a puppy hasn't been the easiest of endeavors, but it's helped me grow in the very best ways!
Almost every day, I took photos of my puppy muse, Maple, who we named in honor of my late soul dog, Willow (tree theme). I learned the art of the best doggy angles, the importance of lighting, posing a wiggly puppy, and helping Maple’s personality shine through. I’m taking as many photos as I can because all of the photos and videos I have of Willow, now that she’s gone, are like treasures to me. Especially priceless are the professional photos we got of her. I look at them every day on my wall and marvel at how lucky I was to have so many experiences with such an amazing best friend! They help me remember her and how special she truly was.
So this summer, I expanded my business by taking photos of other wonderful dogs, because I wanted others to have professional photos forever, like the ones I love so much of Willow!
Above: The lovable, well-mannered Kiro had fun getting photographed in the lilacs at Boston’s Arnold Arboretum in May!
Above: So much fun photographing (and occasionally snuggling) five wiggly, 5-week-old Belgian Malinois Puppies! Just look at that expression: ADORABLE!
So in honor of Willow and all the pups I’ve been lucky to photograph this summer, I’m offering:
DOG FALL MINI PHOTO SESSIONS on Oct 24th @ Arnold Arboretum. The fall leaves will be in peak season and will make for an amazing backdrop. You’ll have photos in time to include them on your Christmas Cards too! ($50 for 5 professional digital photos).
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my birthday! Slots are filling up fast, so email me at sweetheartwillowphotography@gmail.com soon if interested!
Another way in which I grew as a photographer this summer was that I expanded my nature photography to fox kits on the windy shores of Cape Cod, and am drawing attention around how to protect these beauties. They live alongside humans and the actions we take, including minimizing our single use plastics, may very well save their lives.
Above: Fox Kits at Play, on Cape Cod. I could literally watch them play and frolic forever and grew very attached to all 7 of them!
Above: Fox Kit running speedily past me (and my camera)! He was catching up to his siblings.
Soon, I’ll be honoring the foxes (and other wildlife) and spreading awareness through a very special selection of cards, matted prints of various sizes, and framed prints at:
JAMAICA PLAIN OPEN STUDIOS on Sunday September 27th @ Unitarian Universalist First Church (6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain) from 11am-6pm.
Maple is going to be with me there for part of the day, and even if you’re not in the market for anything, it’s nice to see friendly faces, so come out and say hi! (You can also bring your own dog into the church as long as they’re leashed and can handle crowds.)
Get a sneak preview of the foxes and their amazing story for survival in my fox portfolio: https://www.sweetheartwillowphotography.com/portfolio/foxesofcapecod
Drink Coasters were a big hit at the Brookline Village Open Studios last May! Available at JP Open Studios Sept 27th, 2026.
I’ve also had a photograph on the WGBH Mass Pike billboard, was mentioned in the Boston Globe, was juried into several art exhibitions, and now have two photos in the Griffin Museum’s “Our Town” exhibition, including my first photo on a banner!
Hummingbird and Beetle made it to the big screen in April 2026! GBH Billboard on the Mass Pike (Hwy 90).
Most importantly this year, I have tried to honor my soul dog, Willow, in everything that I do. I have tried to emulate her joy, her friendliness, her positivity, and her persistence, and I hope I am doing her proud! Her image, which was selected by Elizabeth Avedon for the “Call the Dogs” exhibition at South x Southeast Gallery, continues to inspire others to be persistent in whatever they do!
She wasn’t going to leave that gate until she got those giant sticks through. So take this as your sign today: you aren’t going to abandon your greatest goals and life purposes until you accomplish them either! If she had a brain tumor and could barely walk, then worked on her physical therapy every day until she could jump, run, and dance, you can face down whatever you are going through, one step at a time!
“Perseverance” in the South x Southeast Gallery’s “Call the Dogs” exhibition, judged by Elizabeth Avedon.
From the bottom of Willow’s, Maple’s, and my heart, we wish you lots of happiness and success, and we thank you!
Q & A With the Photographer
Above: Puppy Maple Smiling Amongst the Fall Leaves
Do you have a muse?
If you’ve visited my Instagram page, you’ll see that my muse is definitely my puppy, Maple. I photograph her every single day. She’s always doing something silly or fun! I taught her how to make eye contact with the camera- only for a few seconds, but I can usually get a good picture of her using a special cue and lots of treats!
How do you get your landscape and wildlife photographs?
I bike, run, and walk in nature and stop to take a photo whenever I feel a sense of awe or beauty.
What is the most important thing to keep in mind?
In photography, so much is about your mindset. It’s not about taking the perfect picture. It’s about exploring, being playful, and being in the moment (tapping into your 5 senses), so that you can capture your experience, which will (hopefully) be captured in your photographs.
Any tips for taking animal photographs?
Stay far away so as not to disturb the animal (you don’t want to change their behavior), and get a zoom lens.
Take lots of pictures and don’t underestimate the power of including some of the surrounding environment (like my photo of a white horse in an Irish field).
Be patient and watch for interesting behaviors (like when I watched a Magpie hop all over a sheep).
Best advice for a beginning photographer?
Just get out there and take pictures. You could set a goal of taking one picture a day, and I’m told there are even apps that help you with this goal.
Best advice you ever got?
Never delete anything. Although I pay a lot for storage space, as my tastes change over the years, I often find gems in my archive.
What helps you be creative?
First, being part of a creative community like a local camera club can provide a lot of learning and inspiration. I enjoy learning from other photographers and getting feedback on my own images.
Second, anything else creative: writing, drawing, painting, even simply being out in nature. I like to refer to other creative endeavors as “cross-training,” because they get my mind working creatively in different ways, but ultimately add to my photography.
How do I learn more?
Joining a local camera club and/or photography museum in your area connects you with an educational community.
There’s also so much information online that’s helpful: YouTube, social media, and affordably priced online classes from famous photographers as well.
Sign up for my email list under the “Contacts” tab, as I’ll be sending out more photography tips soon!
The Beginning of Sweetheart Willow Photography
What a year it has been so far! I proudly made the jump from academia (a career I had been training towards and fully engaging with for the last 20 years) to combine my love of mental health and creativity as a full-time photographer, writer, and licensed psychologist. My company is named Sweetheart Willow Photography for my late soul dog, Willow, who gently nudged me in the direction of creativity with her wet doggy nose and inspired me to chase down my dreams.
Spending some quality time outdoors with my soul dog, Willow, and practicing our selfies.
In August, we adopted a new Golden Retriever puppy that we named Maple. As her fur morphs from off-white to a toasty rich syrupy color, I’m convinced we chose the right name (she is from Maine, afterall!). She is equal parts sweet and goofy as she explores the world as my puppy muse. As she grows, she is starting to wedge her way into our hearts (who am I kidding, I fell in love the moment I saw her). I can’t help but think that Angel Willow sent her our way!
8-Week Old Puppy Maple loved to steal and try to eat our shoes!
Maple dancing with husband, Geoff, in the beautiful fall leaves!
Owning a business presents opportunities to learn something new every day, and I am quite enjoying the challenge. I also really love talking to people about my art and getting the chance to exhibit my photographs.
This year, I got into two juried exhibitions so far (my first ever juried exhibitions!).
The first was Photo Art Pavilion’s: Life on the Streets for my picture of an older gentleman in Bruges, Belgium, biking down the cobblestone streets. I called it “90 Years Young in Bruges.” I included my photograph below, check out the entire exhibit here: https://photoartpavilion.com/life-on-the-streets-exhibit/
The second was Photo Art Pavilion’s: Seeing Red category for my picture “Old-Timey Baseball,” of a baseball pitcher in a vintage baseball league that plays by old rules (including not using mits, which looked pretty painful- yikes!). See below photograph. The full exhibit is online too: https://photoartpavilion.com/seeing-red-photo-exhibit/
The pitcher of an old-timey baseball team in action.
My past in-person exhibitions this year:
March-April 2025: Boston Public Library: Allston-Honan Branch: “Lake Winnipesaukee”
June 2025: Newton Free Library: “Say Cheese!”
October 2025: Wedeman Gallery at Lasell University: “Say Cheese Please!”
This is me standing next to “Say Cheese Please!” at the Wedeman Gallery Exhibition Reception as part of the Boston Camera Club.
I LOVED photographing those wolves at Wolf Hollow (a really great and caring rescue organization) in Ipswich, MA.
My upcoming in-person exhibitions this year:
December 2025: The Griffin Museum of Photography Winter Solstice: “Hummingbird and Beetle”
December 2025: The Cooper Center: “Hummingbird and Beetle”
While having dinner in Vermont, I spotted this hummingbird flitting about. A photographer always brings her camera despite sitting down to dinner and having a broken elbow. I hopped up from dinner so many times that our waiter began helping me. I took a ton of photos and finally got this shot! And yes, he is peeing, and he narrowly misses the beetle below.
My other in-person events:
Coming up soon, I’ll also be presenting my work at Winchester Open Studios on Saturday November 22nd from 10am-4pm at the Griffin Museum of Photography (67 Shore Rd in Winchester, MA).
I’ll have a nice selection of matted prints in different sizes (all signed), and a huge selection of different cards, including holiday cards (great for sending thank you notes after the season). I’d love it if you stopped by and I promise I’ll have some holiday cards of Maple in a Santa costume (super cute- but she does steal and eat all the presents!).
Finally, from Sunday November 30th to December 24th, my work will be featured alongside other artists in the LexArt Holiday Marketplace (130 Waltham St in Lexington, MA). The marketplace spans two floors and will have all kinds of unique gifts and decor designed by some truly talented folks! Come by and support small local businesses and artisans! More details on both the flyer and at their link below, and hope to see you there!
https://www.lexart.org/exhibit-information/holiday-marketplace-2025
