Tossback: Bosco, Chakotay & Townsend | Maryland

October 2013. The scene is set for an epic adventure into the west with my wonderfully amazing friend Jen from Maryland (she’s a photographer too, check out her lovelies: J. L. Gould). The plan: Jen was to travel from Maryland, snag me in Minnesota then we’d head west, armed with our cameras.  The trip was misadventure redirected adventure after a pair of 2 right shoes set the course rolling.  Many miles later, Jen arrived in Minnesota. And her back promptly decided that it needed to be all kinds of fancy and be extremely out of wack. An ambulance ride, ER visit and some loopy drugs later, it was decided that I would pilot the road tripping vehicle back the direction it had come. Enter in my first road trip to the east coast.

Jen, being impaired under some spectacular loopy drugs, wasn’t up for much activity when we arrived back to Maryland. Luckily she had furry companions who were happy to entertain me. Brie, her funky old man lounged and mostly was indifferent to my camera. (Fun fact: all of Jen’s cats have been named after cheese…)

*Brie passed away in May 2014

 

Afterwards I spent a lovely amount of time outside (who’s fall is 70-80 degrees?!?) doling out treats and snagging pictures of the antics of Jen’s gang. Chakotay the reddish husky mix who delighted in mugging for the camera and showing me where he kept his frogs and Bosco his brother and the big wimpy baby with fluffy black fur and a well aged face (the brothers were 14 years old at the time) evened out with the bit of crazy from the lard butt that is Townsend. They adored the treats I offered (after I left Jen said I broke her dogs because they now insisted on having treats whenever anyone would go outside – heehee).

*In the fall of 2015, Chakotay & Bosco passed away. I’m honored to have met and photographed them.

 

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52 Week Project | Reflections

This week’s 52 Week Project theme was reflections. In my mind, I had Axle chilling in the lake, his reflection crisp against the little ripples. So we loaded into my car and headed out on the hottest day we’ve had for a while. Axle was notably happy to be going swimming in the lake….

We arrived to beach on the far side of the lake. Not a single other person was in sight, which meant we had the beach all to ourselves! There’s a tennis ball that lives in my car, which for the dog who doesn’t stop retrieving even in his sleeping hours, is a great way to engage him. Unfortunately the tennis ball had had a better life and on a misdirected throw managed to sink happily below the surface. Buggers. Axle swam around convinced that I had merely faked him out with the throw. I tried to direct him to where the ball was, but he swam the opposite direction and I gave up trying to point him where to go. This did allow me the chance to snag some reflection shots even though the water was rippled by the wind so that the reflections were more abstract than crisp.

The ball was abandoned to the lake, and a driftwood branch was commissioned into retrieving mode. I wasn’t getting much in the realm of reflections I had wanted, so I transitioned into some super low angle shots that captured the waves on the beach and the water dripping off the underside of Axle. As long as the stick was thrown, Axle didn’t care which angle I was photographing him at. Poor boy pouted majorly when I told him we had to go home.


Later…

In the evenings the window by my desk lets in a ton of light and the cats like to sit and bask. Snuggles found the sunspot and had an interesting reflection in the window. I believe she was starting to fall asleep sitting up… I love the texture of her fur!

 

Next up visit Northeast PA Pet Photographer, Elaine Tweedy to see her interpretation of reflections!

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Tossback: Molly & Fred | St. Cloud

The rain threatened to unleash on us during Molly & Fred session downtown St. Cloud in 2013. Molly the petite springer spaniel rocked the classic downtown alley while Fred the golden retriever was a super star on the red of the St. Cloud Floral wall (this wall is going to be blocked by an upcoming condo being built). Since the rain hadn’t kicked up, we scooted out to Sand Prairie, snagged a couple of shots and wrapped up just before the downpour began!

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52 Week Project | White Balance for Mood

White balance for mood was this week’s theme for the 52 Week Project. Axle was the model, and I wanted to capture his impeccable “play dead” to create a different mood by pushing my white balance in Lightroom. We managed to get a couple of images but in typical Axle form he wanted to play more than play dead! Another benefit with Axle is those mega pouty jowls that make him look a little sad when he’s not panting.

White balance refers to the temperature of an image. Cooler colored images (more blues) tend to make things feel a little more sad and gloomy, while warmer images suggest a little more sunshine and happiness. Do you prefer the warm or cool white balance?

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And since we were in the yard playing with the new Orbee-Tuff Luna ball by Planet Dog (super durable and glows in the dark!) I couldn’t resist getting shots of Axle in action!

Next stop over to Charlotte NC based photographer Kim with BARKography and see how she worked with white balance to create a mood!

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