追逐梦想:有爱金毛犬的幸福生活

Candice Sedighan has a passion for two things: her golden retriever, Champ, and photography. Over the last few years she’s been able to successfully bring the two together.

坎迪斯热爱两件事物：一是她的黄金猎犬，二是摄影。过去的几年来，她成功地将这两件事物融合到了一起。

“I wanted to take photos and show people things they’ve never seen before,” the 20-year-old photographer and college student tells The Weekly Flickr.

“我想要拍摄一些人们从来没有见过的东西，” 这位还在读大学的20岁摄影师在Flickr周刊采访时说。

“I really like to capture the true essence with dogs, which is that they’re always so happy,” she says. “The time Champ and I spend together, he’s just always beaming with happiness and you can really see that through my photos.”

“我真的很想用摄影捕捉到狗狗的本性，那就是：他们总是很快乐的。”她说道。“查姆普和我在一起的时候它总是很快乐的，从我的这些照片里你真的就能体会到。”

Candice got Champ as a gift from her Dad in the winter of 2002. He was just 9 weeks old at the time and, as she describes him, he was a “’Marley and Me’ type of puppy”.

2002年的冬天，坎迪斯的爸爸给了她查姆普作为礼物。那个时候它只有九周大，她描述说当时查姆普就像电影《马利和我》里面那只狗狗一样。

“He destroyed probably everything in his sight!” Candice admits. “He ate a lot of rugs, thousands of dollars of damage. He had a lot of excess energy and I tried to channel that into training instead.”

“他基本上看到什么毁什么!”坎迪斯承认。“它总是喜欢咬地毯，被它弄坏东西值上千美元。它精力过剩，所以我想让它用这些多余的精力做做宠物训练。”

She began taking pictures of Champ when she was 13 years old. At first it was to create personal memories, but after getting positive comments, she decided to join Flickr.

13岁的时候，坎迪斯开始给查姆普摄影。一开始只是为了记录下一些值得回忆的瞬间，后来在收到了一些正面评价后，她决定加入Flickr。

Candice joined a group called “52 Weeks for Dogs” where members take pictures of their dogs once a week for an entire year. The group gave her the encouragement she needed to pursue her photography, allowing her to develop her unique style.

坎迪斯加入了一个叫“狗狗的52周”的小组，小组成员每周都会给狗狗摄一次影，一共持续一整年。小组里的人鼓励她继续追求她的摄影生涯，也让她找到了自己独特的摄影风格。

“Champ and I really are like a team when we do our '52 Weeks for Dogs’ project,” says Candice. “He really works very hard to do the poses I’m asking him to do.”

“查姆普和我在拍摄'狗狗的52周’项目时真的像一个团队一样，”坎迪斯说。“它很努力地摆出我让它摆的pose。”

More importantly, she saw Champ was responsive to her photo shoots and recognized an opportunity to take her craft to the next level.

更重要的是，她发现查姆普对她的摄影有所回应，意识到她有机会让摄影达到一个新的层次。

“My favorite photo of Champ is the one with the butterfly on his nose,” Candice explains. “I know a lot of people just automatically assume maybe that I photoshopped the butterfly in, but I actually went over to a butterfly farm and bought butterflies.”

“我最喜欢的一张照片是一直蝴蝶停在查姆普的鼻子上，”坎迪斯说。“我知道很多人默认蝴蝶是我PS上去的，不过我实际上真的去蝴蝶养殖场买了蝴蝶。”

Her years of training Champ proved to be a success as he patiently sat with a live butterfly on his nose. The pictures turned out beyond any of her expectations.

她对查姆普长年的训练有了结果，查姆普让蝴蝶停在它的鼻子上，非常耐心。照片的效果超乎她的想象。

Candice says she gets her inspiration from “everyday life.”

坎迪斯说来的灵感源自于生活。

“Sometimes I’ll go to the store and find a really nice prop that I want to use,” she says. “Or I’ll find a nice location and I think, 'Wow, I really want to use this in a picture’ or 'this would look really awesome in a picture.’”

“有时候我去商店时会发现一些很不错的道具，”她说。“或者我走到一个很赞的地方，然后我就会想，'哇，我真的很想在这里摄影’，或者想，'这个地方在照片里看起来一定很不错。’”

Candice has taken close to 20,000 pictures of Champ over the last 7 years. During this time she’s won about $5,000 in contests, including three for Hallmark. She now has three cards available nationwide; one birthday card and two Mother’s day cards.

7年中，坎迪斯已经拍摄了将近两万张摄影作品。在这期间她在摄影比赛中共赢得了约5000美元的奖金，还有三个是Hallmark贺卡公司设立的奖项。现在她的狗狗照片已经有3张被印在贺卡上在全国发行：一张是生日贺卡，还有两张是母亲节贺卡。

In the midst of all the success, Candice values the special bond between her and Champ above everything else. He has been a source of comfort for her, especially during the most difficult times.

虽然获取了如此多的成功，坎迪斯仍然认为她和查姆普之间的情谊比什么都重要。它一直能让她感到慰藉，帮她度过最艰难的时光。

In the Summer of 2012, Candice’s father passed away very unexpectedly. “My Dad was definitely supportive of my photography,” she says. “He always told me how creative I was and bought me my first DSLR.”

2012年的夏天，坎迪斯的父亲突然去世。“我的父亲非常支持我的摄影事业，”她说。“他一直会对我说我非常有创意，他还给我买了我的第一部单反。”

Photography has become a great outlet for Candice after losing her father.

父亲去世之后，摄影成了坎迪斯情感的宣泄口。

“Since my Dad was the one who picked Champ out and named him, so in a way it makes him even more special to me,” she says. “It makes me feel like my Dad will always be here with me.”

“查姆普是我爸爸选的，它的名字我也是爸爸取的，所以从某种意义上查姆普对我来说就更加特别了。”她说，“这让我觉得我爸爸还在我身边。”

What’s next for Candice? She dreams of coming out with a calendar featuring Champ, but she definitely plans to pursue photography.

坎迪斯下一步的打算是什么?她希望能够推出一套查姆普的日历，另外她打算坚定地追求她的摄影事业。

“I really like to take happy photos,” she says, “And I hope when people see it, they see it as more than just a dog picture. I hope they’ll see it as art.”

“我喜欢拍让人感到愉快的照片，”她说道，“我希望人们在看到这些照片时，看到的不仅仅是一张狗狗的照片。我喜欢他们能看到其中包含的艺术。”

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