If you ask Karen McClure what she does for a living, you’ll hear of her non-paying identities as a wife, mother, daughter, identical twin, Crohn’s sufferer and advocate (as she relates "Chronic Illnesses are not for sissies!"); and then the conversation turns to her paying labors of love as professional narrator, photographer, and artist. You discover that her voice graces a multitude of training programs; her pencil drawings adorn walls, note cards, and school yearbooks; her murals turn dark rooms into outdoor patios and tropical escapes. Through all of the animation, sincerity, and passion, though, one topic begins to come up again and again, echoed by the photos invariably sitting somewhere close by.

Pets. Lots of beautiful pets.

"I am a pet photographer," Karen agrees. "I have photographed some of the funniest, quickest, most cherished pets. I’ve been knocked down, I’ve had my camera lens licked, and I’ve stepped in more meadow muffins than I dare to count, but I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon."

A Pensacola native, Karen grew up in a loving but large family where money was often tight. Thanks to a devoted thrifty mother and a naval photographer father, she learned as a child the joys of being creative. "I remember how good it felt to make something with my own hands, and I remember how great it felt to share."

And share she did. With years of experience photographing pets for friends and family, Karen’s natural creativity led her hobby to the next level, and she began experimenting with special effects photography. Photos she had seen of children resting in flower petals or sitting in thimbles opened her eyes to a new way of seeing everyday things. Her first special effects photo was created by taking a photograph of a pink camellia she found in her yard and then getting her twin sister’s cat, Frisky, to lay "just the right way" (no easy feat) so his image could be "placed gently in the folds of the petals." Her first attempt was successful enough to win the grand prize in a Pensacola Navy base photo contest.

Karen has a special message for owners who have lost a pet, a message especially relevant to a post-Katrina Gulf Coast. "After hearing some of the most wonderful stories about how some of these owners got their pets, I want to say to anyone who has lost a beloved pet, and even if you have searched for your pet and months or years have gone by, don’t lose hope. Don’t think your pet is lost and all alone. There are so many people out there who have rescued animals that couldn’t be reunited with their owners and have made them a part of their family."

She speaks from experience. Karen and her husband rescued a little Papillon dog several years ago, and after exhaustive efforts to find her owner they adopted what became one of the biggest joys of their lives. She lived to be twenty years old. "Whoever this tiny angel had belonged to, we prayed they would somehow know she was absolutely loved and cared for, pampered and spoiled. She slept like an angel and ran the house like a queen. We hope they knew … we took good care of her for them."