Happier Now

A few tweaks with the camera, some photos before morning walkies, and I'm much happier!  And yes, I'm still playing around with logos!

This is good.  That is all I have to say.

I was also playing with back lighting.

And side lighting.

More back lighting.

The shadow knows.

Yes, there was lots of fun with lighting!

A Few Shots of the Girls

I'm still trying to sort out white balance issue the camera, and while I'm not 100% happy with the shots I got today, I think I know the cause of some of my problems - and how to fix them - so I'll keep playing around until I'm completely happy.

 

Early Morning Light

My darling, dear, beloved daughters felt the need to drag me out of bed at 7:30am for walkies (yes, I know I get up at 4am during the week - all the more reason I enjoy sleeping in until 8am).  As I was getting ready, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the morning light was, so I dragged the girls out into the yard for some photos before our walkies.

A little early morning bitey fave.

I think something is over there, Mom.

We both think something is over there, Mom.

Why the camera instead of the leashes?

Why yes, I DO look rather striking in this light.  Of course, I look rather striking in any light!

Mom, the sun is in my eyes, so if I run into you, it's not my fault!

Since we were out there, I thought I'd play around with a little side and back lighting, too.

Even with the lens flare I REALLY like this picture.

I love this light!

Yes, I really love this light!

Fi just GLOWS in this light!

So, being dragged out early for walkies wasn't such a bad thing after all!  And the girls had a good walkie after the morning photo session, so all is good!

A Few Shelter Animals

I go out to the Salt Lake County animal shelter every other Thursday - I just don't post pictures every time because I'm usually in a rush to get the photos out to the shelter, and then I get busy with other stuff.  However, since I have a few minutes today (yesterday was crazy busy), I thought I post some of yesterday's adventures.

First was Nebo.  I usually have a friend of mine or one of the shelter staff assisting me with the dogs, but my friend was sick and the shelter staff were busy, so Nebo was my first completely solo dog shoot - I got him out of his kennel, and out into one of the pet yards, and tried to keep him amused all while trying to get his attention for some photos...  My solo dog wrangling/photographing technique definitely needs a little work.  But Nebo was a very well-behaved boy, and I had a fun time with him.

I think he might be related to Gene Simmons!  Heehee!  (Actually, this was after some zoomies.)

A very handsome boy!

 After Nebo, I had a long list of cats.  Cats are wildly entertaining because, to quote T.S. Eliot, "A cat is not a dog."  And while I have known a few cats in my life, only through photography have I really begun to appreciate that simple statement.  Cats are SO not dogs.  With a dog, all you really need is a squeaky toy or some treats, or to make meowing noises.  With cats, well, when I figure out how to reliably get their attention, I'll let you know!  But I am having fun working on my cat wrangling skills!

Thomas was REALLY interested in treats....

He was also really interested in not sitting on my backdrop - and I think he was a little irritated that I was trying to distract him while he was hunting for treats...
.

Cali (so named because of her coloring) is a WONDERFUL cat (and definitely not a dog).  She was inquisitive (again, cat, not dog), but also a bit of a diva, and once she figured out that the whole backdrop thing, she went into diva mode.
 

Luckily a few more cats found their inner divas (and dandies) on my backdrop.  For future reference, it is WAY worth the effort to bring in one of my backdrops to photograph the cats - it covers a lot more of the painted cinderblock wall that then blankets I borrow from the shelter laundry.  I will be on the lookout for 10x12 muslin backdrops that are on sale!

Abraham was a little cross-eyed, but so fluffy and soft and sweet - and has gorgeous blue eyes!  

Geno was one of those 'Lady, I am not interested in your froo-froo backdrop" cats.  Which is totally fine - other than that I had to track him around the cat colony, and finally had to hoist him into one of the boxes on the wall.  Even then it was hard to catch him before he jumped out of the box (and then I hoisted him back in, and tried again before he jumped, rinse, repeat).

This guy was new enough to not have a name.  I called him Bilbo because most of the cats at the shelter have normal names.  (I almost called him Severus because I've been re-reading the Harry Potter books, but Bilbo seemed a bit less controversial!)  He was a very handsome young fellow!

Two and a half hours, one dog and nine cats later, and I was done.  And very tired, as pet photography involves a lot of stand-squat-walk around in a squat-kneel-stand-repeat motions.  But I had a great time - as always; the shelter staff are great to work with, and the environment is pleasant and uplifting.  It doesn't hurt that the pets get adopted pretty quickly - which is always nice!

The Mind Boggles

If you've seen more than one picture of Abby, you know that she is a fairly springy girl with a love of frisbees.  But these photos really boggle the mind....

Modesty is clearly not an issue when frisbees are flying!

This is the aftermath of the above photo - not only is she doing a hand-stand, but she still has the frisbee in her mouth!

Here, she's just showing off.  I mean, flying through the air, with the frisbee resting on her hip?  Yup. Total show-off!

Needless to say, she wasn't able to catch the frisbee from that position, but she still made a stylish landing.

Yes, the mind truly boggles...

Some of the Dogs of Doginhaus

The wonderful people at Doginhaus (our local doggie daycare) are helping me promote my photography business, and to give the staff a sense of my photography process, as well as to get them excited about my photography, I did a session for some of the staff and their pets earlier this week.

While the entire album is on my business website  here is a small sampling of the Dogs of Doginhaus.

First up was Stasha, a Bernadoodle - a poodle/Bernese Mountain dog mix.  Much smaller than the typical Bernese, she has doodle fluffiness, with the striking colors of the Bernese.  Absolutely gorgeous, and VERY well behaved.  She knew she was a supermodel!

Seriously, how cute is she?

She took to the whole modeling thing like a champ!

Seriously, supermodel material!

After the lovely Stasha, came Blu, so named for his eyes.  I have no idea what Blu's exact mix is, but with those ears, he looks like he has some pibble in him, and with those blue eyes, probably some Siberian Husky or something, and with his body and tail, he probably has some Lab in him, as well. Whatever mix he is, it all adds up to stunningly handsome!

Those eyes!  That is not a miracle of Photoshop - his eyes really are that striking!

"I can be serious, if you want to see that side of me."

"I can also look very interested.  Especially with those liver treats of yours!"

After the stunning Blu came the duo of Nigel and Cosmo.  Nigel is about twice the size of his brother Cosmo, and for the record, Nigel is a Treat Hog.  But a total sweetie, which makes it all okay!

And so handsome!

Getting Nigel and Cosmo to sit together was a bit of a challenge, as Nigel was seriously into the treats and as soon as he'd sit and I'd use the treat to get Cosmo's attention, Nigel would get up to go after the treat.  Much like photographing my own dogs!

I'll give you three guesses what Nigel is looking at!

Cosmo on his own was much more mellow (I was probably holding a treat off camera to keep Nigel occupied so I could photograph Cosmo!).

After Nigel and Cosmo, I thought I was ready for anything.  And then in came Ruger and Moose, and it was yet another level of entertainment!

Ruger is a slightly neurotic Vizsla (his mother's words), and Moose is a French bulldog.

Ruger reminded me so much of Fi and Abby's blog pal Dennis the Vizsla that more than once I accidentally called Ruger by the name Dennis.  Ruger didn't seem to care, as he was way more interested in my squeaky toy than whatever name I called him!

Dennis, erm, Ruger, is a Very Handsome Boy!

Vizslas are very regal dogs!

Moose, on the other hand, was about as non-neurotic as you could get.  I think he was too busy picking up deep space radio signals with his ears to be neurotic!

It was a very fun shoot, and I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the staff's dogs in the near future!