I’m Tonya
And I sure hope I’ll be treating you to your very own private portrait experience very soon!
Until then, you may be asking yourself, “Am I really about to book a portrait session for my dog?” Yes. Yes, you are.
And let me tell you from my own personal story how I know this will be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. And, how I know when it’s all said and done, you’ll have zero regrets.
My Promise to you…
From booking to final artwork, your private portrait session will be delightfully crafted to fit your lifestyle and tell your story. Your entire experience with Tonya Dean Photography promises to be:
· Specialized just for you
· Set in your most meaningful spaces
· Infused with simplicity and joy
· Crafted for artistic showcase in your home
· Savored for a very, very long time
Start envisioning your portrait experience
“I’ve had portrait sessions with my dogs before, but I've never had an experience like this. This was amazing.”
–Dr. Carol Ann Aylward, Artist, Surgeon, Mom to Jesse
I wholeheartedly believe you’ll look back on your portrait experience and final photography collection as one of the best and most fitting ways to hold onto, celebrate, and cherish the irreplaceable connection you have with your pet.
My Life Outside the Frame
When I’m not behind the lens, I’m regularly adding books to my wishlist or making a fresh pour-over of Bulletproof coffee (to sit down with said books from said wishlist).
I grew up with four generations of humans gathered around myriad kitchen tables. We sipped coffee, drank sweet tea, and ate a lot of things fried in cornmeal. We told stories.
Countless stories—Vietnam and various other deployments. Young romance. Family pets. Vacations. Job promotions. All kinds of tales about belongings and animals and people who’d been lost but were later found. Histories of every place we’d ever lived or traveled, and how it’d been named.
We revised secrets, relived longstanding sibling rivalries, and traded small town gossip.
My family consistently pulled albums off the shelves and news clippings out of a drawer to supplement and verify our stories.
Black and white photos, Polaroids, and flimsy newsprint. Moments exposed and double-exposed onto Fuji paper.
Photographs brought our recollections into sharper focus and enlivened our capacity to know the details of our place in this world. We remembered better someone’s distinct way of talking or which dress had been sewn by which aunt. The images steeped us in histories of connection and reminded us that we were nested within bigger stories of both the possible and the outlandish.
“The storyteller in me comes honest. It’s at the heart of all my photography.”
Let’s Work Together.
You’ll be guided through a made-to-order portrait experience that gives you permission to pause, play, reconnect with, and relish the unique bonds you’ve formed with the animals who’ve befriended you.