Natalie Reeves never likes to be too far from her pet bunnies. So much so that she has professional portraits taken of them twice a year and has lined her office walls with more than thirty framed likenesses. “When my clients or colleagues come by, it’s a great conversation starter,” says the 39-year-old attorney.
Reeves is one of a growing number of New Yorkers who are commemorating their pets with professional portraits. Some use them for Christmas cards or calendars; others just blow the photos up and display them prominently in their home. They might stop in to Petco on photo day, where the fee is as low as $25, or pay professional photographers several hundred dollars for a private studio session. “Its definitely a growing trend; a lot of my friends are doing this,’’ says Nikki Moustaki, 38, a writer and animal trainer who lives in the West 40s and owns three canines of her own. “We started dressing our pets, and now we want pictures of them. They have short lives, and we want to do as much as we can to remember them.’’
Here are seven pets whose owners immortalized them with professional pics:
ALL THAT GLITTERS
Once or twice a year, Sarah Greenberg Roberts, a consultant living in Midtown East, has her marketing exec and photographer friend Tim Palen — who recently shot the campaign for the new “Hunger Games” movie — snap her beloved French bulldog, Mighty Louis, now 6. This dramatic portrait, captured when she’d had the dog just a few days, remains one of her favorites.
The glittering Louboutins, like Mighty Louis, were a new acquisition at the time, and they caught the photographer’s eye. “It was just the start of the sparkle-shoe trend, so it was very unique, and Tim wanted to shoot him on his kitchen countertop, which is bright and shiny: He thought it would make an incredible reflection and show scale,’’ Greenberg Roberts says. The photo hangs in the bedroom of Greenberg Roberts’ 3-year-old daughter, Gemma. “She loves it,” says Greenberg Roberts. “Louis is very much treated like a member of the family.’’
HONEY BUNNIES
Reeves has her two lop-eared rabbits, Goldie and Queenie, photographed on a regular basis. The most recent session was at Union Square Petco, though the store’s more accustomed to photographing less exotic pets. “The props smelled of dogs, and rabbits are prey animals, so that’s scary to them,” recalls Reeves. Still, she got a good shot in the end. “We tried different backdrops, but the couch worked best,” Reeves says. “[Goldie and Queenie, both 6] love to snuggle, so they pretty much got into that position by themselves.’’
SAVE THE DATE
Tim Spirko, 45 and a Flatiron resident, met photographer Brooke Jacobs at the vet. When he found out she was a shutterbug, he decided to bring his English bull terrier, Shamus, 3, into her studio.
“I brought a few looks,’’ he recalls, and one was this jaunty hat-and-sweater ensemble. It went so well that Spirko created a calendar with a different Shamus look for each month. “He is a people magnet, and I did it as a gift for his fans,” says Spirko.
Among the recipients: friends, family, the crew at Biscuits and Bath doggy day-care and various Union Square vendors. “Shamus has an entourage, like the guy who gives him an apple every Monday, Wednesday and Friday [at the farmers’ market],” says Shirko, who says his personable pup is a natural in front of the camera. “He is nuts. A clown.”
PUPPY LOVE
When Cade Russo-Young, 33, a human resources coordinator who lives near Union Square, asked longtime friend and professional pet photographer Jesse Freidin to photograph her chocolate Labrador Dixie, she knew Freidin would capture their special bond. They went to Union Square Park, and the dog spontaneously jumped up on a bench and gave Russo-Young a smooch. “Dixie likes to be close to me,’’ says Russo-Young of Dixie, 7. “He leaned in for the kiss, and Jesse was right there for the moment.’’
DON’T YOU BAGUETTE ABOUT ME!
To celebrate her 10th anniversary with her then year-old schnauzer, Pepper, Nikki Moustaki, 38, took the pup to Paris and asked a friend, noted German photographer Harald Franzen, to chronicle the trip. Franzen was more used to working with political subjects like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than the canine kind, but he soon saw Pepper’s potential. “At first he was rolling his eyes, but once it clicked with him, he understood the beauty of the shots we could get,” recalls Moustaki. “We went to all the landmarks and we thought we would try shooting Pepper with a baguette. We didn’t know if she would take it, but she did, and wouldn’t let it go.’’
SITTING KITTY
Brooke Jacobs doesn’t just snap the canine kind. Two years ago, she shot Emily Goodman-Simeone’s cat Doodle, 14. The cat had been diagnosed with failing kidneys and given six months to live. “My husband and I wanted to preserve our memory of who she was at that point before the health conditions became more serious,” recalls Goodman-Simeone, a social worker and school administrator who lives in Washington Heights. She had Jacobs do the pictures in her home, where Doodle would be most comfortable. The photographer used the apartment’s furniture in an artistic way, placing the cat on a rug that picked up her coloring, and on top of an old wooden cabinet.
“They are interesting portraits, and the colors really pop,” says Jacobs. The pretty pics also have a happy ending. Goodman-Simeone took the feline to another vet for a second opinion, and he put the cat on a different medication. Doodle is now healthy and as pretty as her picture. “She is a gorgeous cat, with a very sweet disposition,’’ says the happy owner.