Susan Adcock & Stella and Diesel

Who is in the photo at right?

My name is Susan and I've been a professional photographer in Nashville for the last eighteen years. I have one dog Stella who is a three and a half years old. She's the spotty pit bull sitting next to me and one foster dog Diesel sitting to her left. Diesel is a lab mix, four years old who (as I write this) is two hours away from his forever home. Stella and I plan to be in mourning for the next couple of weeks.

What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?

We went for coffee at my friend Beverly's house. She asked us over so she and her husband could say goodbye to Diesel. He's made a lot of friends over the last five months.

What's brewing?

Chock full o' Nuts coffee with the works.

Any treats for you or your dogs on this occasion?

No treats for me or Diesel. Stella helped herself to an entire bowl of dog food, none of it hers, in the kitchen.

How were you and your dogs united?

I met Stella at the Tennessee State Fair. She was tied to a truck just behind the Starship ride. I asked her owner if he would let me have her and ten days later as the carnival was about to move on to Louisiana, he said yes.

Soon-to-be farm dog Diesel, grew up across the street, so he was my neighbor. I liberated him this past July.

How did your dogs get their names? Any nicknames?

After considering a lot of different "carnival" names for Stella (i.e. Corndog, YoYo) I wrote a bunch of names down on a slips of paper and picked one. The first name out of the hat was Stella. I called it out and she came running so it stuck. Nicknames: Stelly, Corndog, Pearl Bianco (a wonderful old friend from the fair).

You've got some beautiful photos of dogs on your website. What's the biggest challenge in shooting dogs?

Thanks. I think the biggest challenge is patience. A lot of people go overboard trying to get their dog to look or behave a certain way and often it just gets the dog over-excited and they give up. Photographing dogs is a lot like children. You just have to wait for it to happen and throw away everything else.

Do your dogs have a favorite place to go for walk?

Stella's favorite walk would be either downtown Nashville (with all of the tourists) or on the trails at Percy Warner Park. Diesel has only just learned to walk so any walk at all is fine by him.

Squirrel, postman, cat...?

Squirrel. Definitely. They both love cats. Stella actually lived with eight foster kittens over the last year.

Squeaky-toy, stick, Frisbee..?

Stick. Always the stick.

If your dogs could change one thing about you, what would it be?

Table food.

If your dogs could speak in a movie about your life, which actors should do their voices?

That would be Jennifer Lopez and the guy who plays Ray's brother on Everybody Loves Raymond (Brad Garrett).

Visit the Susan Adcock Photography website and the Carny Dog blog.

--Marshal Zeringue