Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

2 Oct

How Crystal Coast Dog Really Began

Before there was a studio on Highway 24 with a purple door and a very loud Great Dane assistant named Eames, it was just me, my camera, and a dog who changed my entire creative life.

His name was Maddox. My heart dog. My always dog. The one whose presence shifted everything I thought I knew about photography, connection, and the value of preserving a moment before it becomes a memory.

Black Great Dane lying gracefully on a dark velvet ottoman in a studio setting with soft, dramatic lighting highlighting his face and front legs against a black background.

The Portrait That Changed Everything

Printed artwork had always mattered in my work, but losing Maddox is what made me understand the weight of it. I walk past his portrait every day. It is impossible not to smile at it. Sometimes it hurts a little, but mostly it brings me peace. It reminds me that love never disappears. It just settles into a different form.

After losing him, I knew I didn’t want to simply give clients a pretty photo. I wanted to give them something they could hold onto when life inevitably shifted. Something that felt as permanent as the bond they share.

This was actually taken at The Point on Emerald Isle in 2013 while we were on vacation with the family. Maddox was almost two years old.

To this day it is still one of my favorites. Maddox was upset because he was told to “sat” and then my husband and I are too close. His “spot” was right between us. He was a good boy by not moving, but he started barking and that’s why the photographer captured.

Portrait by *Paige Overturf Photography*

Why I Create the Way I Do

Every portrait session begins with a quiet moment of gratitude. Dogs give us loyalty, humor, chaos, softness. Photographing that isn’t just a job for me. It feels like preserving tiny miracles.

This work is storytelling. It is memory. It is a way to make love visible so it can outlast time.

What a Portrait Really Does

A portrait cannot freeze time. It cannot keep our dogs from growing older or our lives from changing. What it can do is honor what you have built together.

It can keep your companion close long after the moment has passed.
It can help your home feel full again on the quiet days.
It can take the weight of your favorite memories and give them a place to live.

That is the heart of Crystal Coast Dog. That is why I photograph the way I do.