Another Lump

A few months ago we discovered a hard lump on Lacey's back right foot. It looked nothing like the cancerous lump we'd found a few years ago between her toes but it freaked me out regardless. It was small, and hard and deep under the skin layer. The vet wasn't able to get a sample and she suggested we X-ray it to make sure it wasn't a bone spur or anything like that. Her X-rays were clear and we decided they'd try and get another sample the following week (Her anal glands were badly infected so she had to get sedated for a flush and they'd have an easier time getting a sample). They got three samples, sent them off and they all came back as negative. No signs of anything. Yay.

Fast forward to earlier this week when we noticed her lump had ballooned out suddenly. It looked almost like a swollen ankle would, but it was quite firm and she wasn't showing any signs of lameness. So back to the vet for more samples. This time the results weren't as good - there were mast cells in the sample.

Just a few days later and the "swelling" seems to have gone down again and we are back to just the hard lump. We see the oncologist on the 2nd and we are hoping that it will be able to be fixed with a simple removal again. I'm a little worried by how deep it is (Dr. Google isn't helping) but there is nothing we can do in the meantime, so worrying is pointless and I'm vowing to stay off google as much as possible.

Marlin and I both cleared our schedules yesterday afternoon and took the girls to the beach for some happy time. It was good for all of us.  We definitely feel more prepared this time.

Family Day

It was Family Day yesterday so we got up early and went off to the cold frozen beach.  We had a pretty good time.  Lacey especially had a blast running around like crazy!


This is the moment Coulee realized that Lacey had a "better" toy.  The frisbee got left behind after this.

I didn't even have to say anything other than her name and she glanced around, found the big flat rock and hopped up.  :)

This cracked me up.  First of all I have no idea what Coulee is doing back there - I have a feeling the toy just popped out of her mouth.  And Lacey was just being adorable!

Coulee again being a nut.  I was actually trying to photograph Lacey and I saw her do this out of the corner of my eye.  No idea.. it's not like she's actually jumping over something.

We play a game at home where we tuck her toy under a foot stool.  Even though the stool is small enough that she can move it or lift it, she uses her feet to try and pull the toy out.  Sometimes she'll stick the toy under there herself and then try to get it out. This is the first time I've ever seen her do it outside though. She laid down next to the rock and started playing with the ball until it rolled under, then she tried to get it out again.  I swear it was deliberate.

Before and After - Part 3

I think his exact words for this one was "The bushes are killing it".  He suggested I crop to just include her and the bench.  I had of course done this while taking various shots of her up there, but didn't choose it as my favourite.  :) So this isn't the same image re-cropped, it's a different photo all together that I feel fit more what he suggested. I again feel like her head is squished and needs more breathing room.

Before:

 After:

Before and After - Part 2

This one also just needed some minor adjustments.  Take a little off the top (so he isn't quite so entered in the image!), remove the flower in front - too distracting, take the blade of grass on the left side of his face out and blur the areas of grass that are in focus on the sides of the image.  I'm not sure if I agree with the crop (I find it feels squishy if the dog's head doesn't have breathing room) but I definitely agree with everything else!

Before:

After:

Before and After - Part 1

I sat down and had a portfolio review done the other day by a local photographer.  It's hard to find someone that can give you honest (and knowledgable reviews).  I'm hoping to get a more in-depth one done with a well known pet photographer soon but I couldn't seem to find the time to wrap my head around all the information I needed to provide to make it worthwhile and it was easier to just gather 30 photos together and get some quick and dirty feedback.

It was good. I learned a lot - mainly about what I should be doing better in editing but a little bit about what I could be doing differently while shooting too. Going into this process, I didn't feel like I needed to agree with every comment he said, but for the most part, I found I understood his point and agreed with him.

I thought I would re-edit the images based on the review and then post some before and afters. Mainly so I can remember and refer back to it, but also in case some of you want to learn from my mistakes.  :)

I tended to make the same "errors" over and over again.  The biggest one is putting my subject in the centre of the frame.  There are times when it's the best option, but often it isn't.  I know this.  I've heard this before, yet I can't seem to stop myself.   I don't tend to centre my subject in the middle of the entire picture - but often they are in the middle from side to side or from top to bottom.

In this situation I took quite a few pictures of her under the tree so I just chose one with a crop I could work better with to include the feedback - which was essentially to put her on the right edge and to include more of the tree on the left.

Another common criticism (although I didn't specifically write it down for this one) was to darken the background elements and increase my contrast so I did that too.

Before:

After:

Sassy Pants

Yesterday I set out to try and get pictures of Lacey being sassy.  It isn't as easy as it sounds.  I have to be 100% engaged with her or it instantly stops - which means I'm shooting with the camera held down near my knees while I'm flailing a big blue ball around with the other hand. I'm also having to keep Coulee entertained at the same time or she turns into a barking, jealous fiend.

But I occasionally fluked out. I wasn't quite able to capture her cute little run though.. so I'll have to try again.

Benched

Lacey was being adorable yesterday on a bench.

Minimalism

I'm part of a group on flickr that gets a challenge every 2 weeks... This time around the challenge is minimalism.  So off Coulee, Marlin and I went to the university where there is a pretty cool sculpture thing I thought we could use.  It is nothing like what I normally shoot, but I quite like it!