Underpaid Employees

I think I'm doing a talk on Pet Photography at the end of the month.  (I say think, because I haven't actually seen the event advertised yet... LOL).  Anyway, I decided I should be prepared and not toss it together last minute.  I don't think that anything that I do is very complicated or hard to figure out so I have to have time to come up with stuff that people may not already know so they aren't bored to tears.  :)

For part of the presentation, I decided to try and show people what I do, and what pictures you get as a result.  The problem is that it is hard to videotape yourself, especially when your models are moving and could be anywhere at any time.  So I recruited Coulee to be the videographer...

And Lacey to be the model.

We went out yesterday for our first attempt.  We had a few technical difficulties (the damn camera keeps shutting off mid-record), Coulee often watched from a distance and Lacey wasn't feeling very spunky but there is some stuff I can use.

I didn't want to leave the camera on Coulee when Lacey wasn't doing anything as it gets in the way when she runs, but Lacey's spunk was so short-lived that often by the time I tossed the camera around Coulee's neck, Lacey was ready to take a break. LOL.  We got some useable footage and now I just need to figure out how to edit it into what I want. And I hate editing video - I don't know what I'm doing.

Because Coulee was on a restricted diet for so long, I've gotten used to never bringing treats on walks so Lacey was thrilled when I broke out the cookies.

It was super interesting to watch the girls disengage when I brought my camera to my face.  Lacey would be looking up at me expectantly and if I took photos "from the hip" (i.e without looking) she wouldn't alter her expression, but if I brought my camera up to my face, she instantly looked away.  I've got it on tape twice for Lacey and even once for Coulee (Lacey wore the camera briefly but she sulked horribly with it on).  I've noticed their behaviour change before (especially with Coulee as she knows the toy isn't about to be thrown when the camera is up and will often change her ear set) but it was neat to see on video.

It was also interesting to see (and think about) the different expressions based on what I was doing to get their attention.  Once I started dropping cookies, this is the look Lacey gave me -

Funny, but not nearly as nice and relaxed as this next one where she wasn't quite as excited -

Anyway, I think it has been a good experience for me to think about what I do, why I do it, and what results from it.  I'll post video footage as soon as I have time to go through it.