Puppies

Some of my favourite puppy pictures from Friday...

All the puppies LOVE their foster siblings - Cava, Puffin and Tinbie

Umm Jack. That isn't very nice.

Cava was teaching Jack how to jump while Gus just sat and watched.

Following the leader.

Blomkvist couldn't decide if he really wanted to be part of the action, but he couldn't stay away.

Jack needs to go to a photographer.  He was such a little poser.

Lou is pretty adorable.

I love the sweet pensive looks Otter gets when she just sits and takes it all in.

The closest as I got to a group shot.  :)

Is there anymore?

Good to the last drop.

Puppy bums are always so cute!

Speaking of puppy bums...

Gus looking up to Puffin wondering if he'll ever be that tall.

My Little Mountain Goat

Still Here

We are still here.

Life is going on as usual.

Nothing exciting is happening.

Life is filled with work, walks, some rescue stuff and now a long weekend that will also be filled with work, walks and some rescue stuff.  But hopefully there will be more walks than work.

See?  Same old, same old.  You haven't been missing much by my lack of blogging.  I was trying to shoot into the sun on this walk so you haven't even missed out on decent photos. Meh.  It's a skill I don't have yet. Oh yeah and one walk was lost due to a card malfunction but my photos sucked that day too.

Today I'm heading out with a few friends to visit some rescue puppies.  We are going out to play with... errr... I mean socialize them.  Yeah.  That's it. They need socializing. It will be gruelling volunteer work but someone's got to do it.

Hopefully my photography mojo reappears because these guys are too cute to be ignored.

Frosty Day

The other day we headed out for a walk to enjoy the frost.  Turns out we didn't need to go so early as the frost stuck around for the whole day.

We went to a different section of the park than usual just to explore.

Lacey was her usual smiley self.  She really likes the crisp tempertures.

 Coulee's feet have done a turn for the worst again so she did more standing than running.

Lacey helped me out by stealing the toy whenever she could.

She isn't always that smart about it though - she is waiting for me to throw it and meanwhile, Coulee is busting in to grab it.

 Coulee on the other hand makes sure that no one other than me is going to steal it.

I wasn't expecting many squirrels in this area, but Lacey found not only squirrels but fresh poo too.

I wanted to get some pictures of Coulee with the frosty trees in the background so we headed into the campground area.  I love the lack of colour in these.  And while it may appear that I just photoshopped her into all of these due to her identical stance in most of these, I didn't, she just always stands like that. :)

Depth

I was talking with Lorelei the other day about the importance of background.  We differ in our styles and our opinions on some things (which is never a bad thing).

I tend to like photos that don't have a lot of "clutter" - the focus is on the dog and there is nothing else to distract you from that. We decided that I prefer to document, rather than tell a story and that she is the opposite.  I can appreciate the beauty of an image with a gorgeous background, with small people/pets in the image, but for myself, I want images that show me what they look like at this particular time - I want to see their expressions, not their location.

The one thing I like about studio pics and in particular, Amanda Jones' studio photos, is that you are left with nothing but the dog.  If I could create an indoor studio big enough to have dogs running at full speeds I'd be a happy girl.  Just think of the detail you could see without anything (aka grass, snow, shrubs, etc.) blocking your view or distracting you.

Lorelei got me to think about what my favourite photos were and I have to admit, the ones that stick out  in my mind were ones with lots of background stuff.  Like these and the cover image of the candids on my website (sorry can't seem to link directly to picture but you can see it in its entirety if you click on the gallery - it is a few images in).  But what those "pretty" pictures are lacking (at least in my opinion) is activity and expression.  They are nice to look at, but are a little dull, as the dogs are just standing there.

So today I set out to combine the two - pretty pictures with some action.  It was harder than I was expecting, which may explain why I don't seem to do it very often.  To get the right stride, with the right expression, in the right place, without stray grasses or shrubs blocking her face, all while not dropping the focus off Coulee onto the cluttered background, was hard.  Way harder than I expected.  I only got one that I was really happy with.

 But one is all you need right?  :)

After the Storm

We didn't leave the house on Sunday.  Like at all.  The weather was brutal, so we all stayed in snug as a bug.  Yesterday we were all ready to get out there and enjoy it, but no one more so than Lacey.  She was sooooo happy.

Just look at that smile...

Coulee was excited too but I think all the snowballs between her toes were dampening her enthusiasm.

That, and the fact that Lacey was feeling sassy and therefore was always wanting the toy.

Lacey couldn't even slow down to eat snow.  Here she is right after scooping up a mouthful...

Attempting to eat mid stride...

And giving up and just grinning at me...

Lacey was attempting to recreate the blizzard like conditions from the day before.

Coulee is just wishing I could get on with things and throw the toy.

Now if that isn't an evil grin, I don't know what is.

She kept shaking the toy while she was running.  I'm surprised she didn't fall over.

You gotta keep an eye on your competition when they keep stealing your fun.

She was just so happy. I couldn't stop taking smiling pictures.  :)  Sorry about that.

Shake it.

Hi Coulee.  Sorry.  You just weren't as funny on this walk as Lacey.  Hence your lack of photos.

I got quite a few of you just laying there waiting, but that gets dull after a while... I can tell by the fur on your foot that you've got quite the snowball build up.  Maybe today I'll remember your boots.