I was browsing some photos, and came across these I took of my nephew awhile back. He’s my only nephew, an only son and and only grandson. And a really cool kid. He’s an amazing football player, which isn’t surprising, with his genes. His father is Marshall Faulk of the Rams fame. My sister has raised him on her own his whole life, though she has a great support system from our mom. Hard to believe he’s about to turn ten next month. Childhood is so fleeting…
Got Milk?
Yet another few hours chasing dogs around with my camera. Sure were some cuties there today! I love the light at that dog park during “golden hour”. It’s in South Park, overlooking downtown San Diego and a golf course. I think the cutest dogs go there!
Can we get a treat, please??
Gorgeous 8 month old German Shepherd, Billy, in a state of bliss with a ball.
I was playing around with some photographs, making them low key black and white, and it’s sure fun. This was inspired by a post at Cowbellyblog, a wonderful Seattle dog photographer that I admire quite a lot. I want to take some of my Borias with the eye towards making them low key, since most don’t really lend themselves to that look. Have to have very little midtones, and a lot of contrast. I would like to do more black and white, but I get torn, cuz I dig saturated color so much, too!
I am the family dog person, and therefore, they see me as the “expert” in that area, (or more likely, the know-it-all opinionated nut). I’m a bit of a dog training geek, an am fascinated with behavior and how animals learn. So whenever there’s a dog problem, or a question, I’m the go-to gal with them. Not that they always listen…
I seem to always find out things after the fact, too. Getting pups from backyard breeders out of the newspaper. Stuff that tends to make me cringe. Only because I’ve learned from my own mistakes there! Well, I found out after the fact that my sister got two Akita puppies. Sisters. My first reaction was to groan when my mom told me. Every time I’ve met an Akita, say, at a dog park, they were pretty aggressive with other dogs. They’re an independent breed, too. The pups were an oops litter, when a friend’s bitch got pregnant just before she was to be spayed. Twelve puppies.
Well, I met this pair for the first time yesterday. They are soooooo cute. Fuzzy plush toys. Big ones. One is the smallest in the litter, Misha (”bear”) and the larger, more feisty Panda. Very feisty. She boldly trotted up to my German Shepherd, and barked at him while bouncing. He gave a disdainful look and ignored her. Puppies have lost their fascination with him in recent years. But he finally succumbed, and charged her a few times playfully. He also showed them how to dig, but we won’t mention that…
They were sure fun to photograph! Though showing the typical independence by not responding much to my strange noises, trying to get them to look my way. Dang, are they cute. Don’t you just want to squeeze them??
I am guilty of taking far more photos of my dog than my other critters. It’s a bit hard with a cat. Mine is indoors, so I’m at the mercy of what light I have (or don’t have), and usually he does something really photo worthy when I am nowhere near my camera. I’ve taken some good ones, though.
I recently rented a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens. It’s love. It’s also over a grand, so love isn’t quite enough at this point. Before I had to return this gem, I caught my kitty in my spare room, watching lizards in some bright light. Whipped out the camera, and snapped away. He has the most lovely minty green eyes. I played around with laying the camera on the floor, to get a straight on view. I think my favorite is where he’s gazing up at the lizard on the side of the door, making that mouth vibrating thing. Very amusing!
He’s my cool rock n’roll kitty.
I have been wanting to donate some art for the San Diego Humane Society for awhile. This year, I got to the Fur Ball event on time, and offered to donate one of my favorite photos of Borias for the silent auction. I thought it was appropriate, since the theme of the Ball this year was Silhouettes. It’s a limited edition Giclee of 100, and it was the first in the edition.
I hope it found a good home, and brought a nice donation to the Humane Society! They have a great facility!
Last Saturday, I spent my afternoon shooting a whirling dervish of a Doberman, named Sadie. Such a charming girl! But boy, did she make me work hard! First, she caught sight of Borias, and instantly made it clear she did not want to make nice with him. So in the Element he went. I took a few shots inside the condo, chatting with Sadie’s mom, and getting to know everyone. Sadie really liked this stuffed “puppy” I brought, that made noises like a whimpering pup. She tried to lick it’s rear, like a real baby puppy ha ha.
Every time I got her attention with a squeak, just as soon as I brought that camera to my eye, she would be completely turned around, butt facing me! But I managed to get some good shots, I think.
Such a pretty lady, isn’t she adorable?? Gotta love Dobes! By the way, she’s a rescue, from Doberman rescue, and was quite neglected in her early life. But she’s very loved and obviously a happy girl now!
My arms are noodles today, after shooting this whole parade, and wheeling around the festival and all over Hillcrest! I have the rest, that can be viewed here.
A feast for a photographer into dogs, the annual Wags for Wishes event draws canines and their humans from all over. A fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, there’s all sorts of competitive fun, like splash dogs, agility, lure coursing, obedience, flyball, and disc dogs. I go every year, although this year I could only go one day, instead of the whole three day weekend. It was good to see some old friends, and watch their amazing dogs. I always look forward to seeing teams like Brian Sardo with his adorable and super talented pit bull, Maximus. He’s a top ranked dock diving, and extreme vertical dog. Melissa Ness with the awesome Stryker, a Border Collie Malinois cross…a Malincollie! Stryker recently set a new Splash Dogs World Record in Super Vertical of 7′ 6″!!
I found it a challenge to shoot the dogs while airborne against the bright sky, but I think I got a few good ones. I hope to get the photos processed, and uploaded to my image hosting site, http://heartdogstudios.exposuremanager.com. So if you want to see more, go take a look!
Here now are some of my faves.
I love to shoot dogs. (There’s a play on words!) It’s so much fun going to dog parks, observing, and catching moments, cool expressions, and dogs just doing what they do best, being dogs. Candid canines!
