I am crying as I write this post. I was crying when I uploaded these photos. But I want to share them today because this was the most important thing I did with my camera in 2024.

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It was September 16. I had just finished a photoshoot for a client at South Harbor Beach in Southold and was heading back to my truck to leave. And that is when I saw Amanda - my sister’s friend since high school and someone who I’ve been fortunate enough to adopt as my own friend now, too. She was with her sweet pup, Finnegan, who had been diagnosed with cancer.

“I’m taking him for one last swim, and to take a photo of him and me at our favorite spot,” she had told me.

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“No way,” I told her, “I’m taking the photo.”

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These photos were those moments. I got in my truck 30 minutes later and thought to myself how wild the timing was that I was at that specific beach, one I don’t often go to, at that exact moment to be able to take these for her. I had dinner out that night and when I got home there was a pile of surprises outside of my door. A bouquet of flowers. Two bottles of wine. A box of beautiful coupe glasses. And a handwritten note thanking me for what I did amongst other kind words that left me in tears. These photos. That moment. That note. It was the highlight of my year.

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Finnegan passed away a few weeks ago and I feel a tiny bit of peace that the universe put me in the right place at the right time. I’ve taped Amanda’s note to my fridge and reread it often.

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So, here is to a year of more of these moments. I wish each of you experience these feelings, too. The knowledge you took time for others that might just mean the world to the people around you. Work that makes you proud. And friends that appreciate you so much it makes you cry.

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RIP Finnegan