I Love Fall Sunlight

And I really like the nifty-fifty.  I think my next equipment-related business purchase will be the 85mm f/1.8 because I really do like the prime lenses.  Today was the perfect Fall day - partly cloudy, sun breaking through at times, and with the sun fairly low in the sky, the light was just beautiful.  Of course, having super models always helps!

And the girls gave me the perfect excuse to not clean up the leaves that have fallen.

And Fi would like to go on record as saying "she who has the most tennis balls wins".  Who am I to argue with her?

Yup.  She totally wins!

Late Afternoon Light

I've been quite busy with a bunch of stuff, but today I got a few minutes to throw some tennis balls for the girls (well, I always have time for that), and take some photos (which I don't always have time for, these  days).  About a third of the yard was already in shade, and the sun was going behind the mountains, so it made for some interesting exercises with light.

She with the most tennis balls wins, right?

There was also plenty of time for posing.

 

I also played around with sun flares.  This is an area I still want to work on, but I do like the hazy halo effect.  I just need to get better at it!

Early Morning Doodles

I was up early (but not go-to-work early) for a dentist appointment before taking Abby to her (hopefully) last chemo appointment, and I couldn't resist getting a few photos of the girls in the early morning sun.

I did a few shots with just natural light.

And I played around with fill-light, too.

 

I don't really know about the last one with the sun flare on Abby's head, but I like the glow on the trees behind her.

And now we are on to Fall, for real!

A Few Photos

I had a busy photography weekend; the Christmas ornament samples finally came in, so I had to get photos of those, I did a shoot of a "puppy" I first photographed last November when she was 16 weeks old (I did a 6 month shoot, and then this was her 1 year session), and I wanted to get some photos of the girls frolicking in the morning sun, and of our Fall leaves.

I've only had time to week through some of the photos I got this weekend, so here's a sampler....

The girls frolicking!

Fall colors

Christmas ornament samples (our juniper bushes stood in for a Christmas tree)

Winnie the Poodle at a year old

And for comparison, Winnie at 16 weeks!

A good and busy weekend, with a busy week ahead as I get ready to start marketing the Christmas sessions!  Have a great week!

A Few Photos of the Girls

I have a lot more to go through, but with the changing weather, light and the leaves starting to turn colors, I decided to break out the camera this morning for a few photos.

 

These were all done with my 35mm f/1.8 lens, which always makes for some fun photos!

Puppy Class Graduation Day

As part of my 'pet photography awareness' marketing project, I am photographing puppy class graduation days, and yesterday was a graduation day for a Three Little Pits puppy class.  The class consisted of a fluffy Goldendoodle puppy, an Italian greyhound, and a border collie.  The room for the class wasn't optimal lighting, but I managed to get a few shots where the reddish dogs didn't completely blend into the floor.

Theo, the fluffy Goldendoodle puppy.  (He really was the same color as the floor!)

Target, a border collie pup

Monty, the awesome little Italian Greyhound with fantastic ears!

The class was held in a vet's office, so there really wasn't a good background for this cute couple and their fluffy puppy.

Monty and his Mom.

Target and his Mom. Again, no nice backgrounds here!

I love puppy classes - all the fun with puppies without all the housebreaking!  This was a great bunch of puppies and I look forward to more graduation days!

A Few More Photos

I've been really busy with the business side of my photography business - getting organized for 'Petapalooza', the big adoption/pet-related event in Salt Lake in two weeks, where I will be the photographer for the Salt Lake County Animal Services (and, of course, getting my own name out), working with one of the local vets to get some of my canvases on their walls (I now know how to hang larger photos on drywall!), as well as coming up with a way to let the vet's clients know about the sessions I do for senior and terminally ill pets (a very tasteful metal with information about the sessions), and working with the doggie day care to make sure their new employees know who I am, and how to get ahold of me.  Oh, and I've got a few other projects to 'get my name out' (as I have decided that I need to really ramp up a pet photography awareness program), so I've been busy.  Which is really good.  But I haven't had time to take a lot of photos of the girls lately.

However, I was afraid that some of you might be going into Doodle withdrawal, so I whipped out the camera today and got some pictures of the girls.

Oh, how our mother neglects us so...

Is that a treat bag I hear?

Don't let the girls' sedentary poses fool you; there was plenty of tennis ball action in spite of the warm weather.

Hi, um, could you throw that tennis ball please?  Yes, the one in your hand!

I played around with the 'fill flash' today, too, just because I like the effect it gives me.

I win!  I have all the tennis balls!

Hi!  I'm here for my glamour shots!

There are plenty more photos that will likely appear in the girls' next blog post.