You know those heart-warming stories you read of families being reunited? And sometimes -- often, really -- the particular relatives don't know each other exists? Yeah, that happened to me. Through the miracle of DNA science, my two sisters and I found out we have a half-sister in the state my father was born in and spent part of his twenties. And just last week, my sisters and I traveled to Minnesota to meet Nancy, our half sister, discovered through Ancestry.

It was my cousin Joanie who first alerted us to the possibilities of having a new relative. On Ancestry, Nancy came up as her first cousin. On my sister Denise's profile, Nancy's DNA and age could make her only one thing -- a half sibling. Ironically, her name is the same name as my grandmother's on my father's side. Nancy had been adopted, grew up in Minnesota, and that's where we met.

And we really had a blast. It was fun telling her about our family while at the same time learning about her. She put out the call last Thursday that she had reserved a room on Saturday at one of the local restaurants for anyone who might want to meet Denise, Doris, and me. I figured six or so people would show up. The so-called "jury room" began filling up around 5 and it was so packed, it spilled out into the main restaurant. For a shy person, I found myself having a lot of fun mingling about this crowd of 40.

Anyway, we did a number of touristy things -- we went to Paisley Park and the Minnesota State Fair and just all in all, we had a good time. Especially lovely for me were the thunderstorms, we get such little rain in Los Angeles.

OK, Diana, really now, does this have anything to do with pet photography? Glad you asked. Yes. Nancy has a beautiful, indefatigable black Labrador named Bella.  She is a really beautiful specimen of a black lab. We tried to schedule a photo shoot with her -- I brought along my Fuji X-T2 and my new Profoto A1 flash along with a 2x3 Rapid Box Switch soft box. Both of my original sisters operated as Voice Activated Lightstands.

We went out at nearly 7 to the banks of the Rum River, then onto the scenic bridge in Anouka. Now Bella never closes her mouth. Her tongue is always out and it's loooong! Nancy really didn't want Bella's tongue hanging out so we had to work really, really hard to catch her when her mouth was closed. So herewith, is Bella's first photo shoot!

Need a pet photographer in Los Angeles? Or Minnesota? Give me a call or just hit that contact button!