Fun With Peanut Butter

Meet Chill: 

Oh hai! I have no idea how this happened! It's almost a miracle: 

Wilbur-Chill-Roper-Char

***Agh! This post is not done, obviously. I am having a hard time uploading and resizing and then I switched to flickr and..... so check back later this evening- things will look better!

I had serious plans to be productive today, since I spent the whole week doing fun things with family and friends, but my good intentions slipped away when I found the peanut butter.

Snapper.

Visiting the city wears me out. There's nine gazillion things going on in every square foot and the colors and the lights and the sounds and the smells... combined with caffeine, it's really not a good mix for me. The problem is, there's an hour-long ferry ride on the way over, and my other beverage option is beer. And although those picture might be less jittery, I'd probably take all sorts of "artsy" shots only to come home and find that beer + camera = lots of pictures of "friendly strangers." So coffee it is. 

I brought one of these home with me. My kitchen has less windows in it than a cave, so I thought some peppers would liven it up a bit. I don't have any nails, though, so right now it is tied to a knob on my stove. Martha Stewart I am not. 

This might be the most photographed sign in Seattle. This one is taken from a restaurant overlooking the market. 

I think this might be my favorite shot of the day, but it wasn't planned. This is in the ferry terminal, and my camera was sitting on my lap. I just set the shutter for 1/4 of a second and let the natural light come in from the skylight. 

Oh, look at that. Another bar. This one is Port Townsend, on the Olympic peninsula. This is the Townsend IPA and yes, Uncle Steve, this picture is just for you. Had some outstanding Red Snapper fish and chips along with the beer. This whole time on the Kitsap peninsula, I've been so happy to have fresh fish and chips. But in the past 2 days, I've had that dish twice, and both times it has completely blown me away. I mean, okay, you're right- that's a little extreme. But I had no idea that it could be so yummy! Sorry- no picture of it- I was a little bit intense about my meal. 

And then we went home. 

Ferry Rides

Too sleepy. Night night. More tomorrow.

EFS 17-85mm fl17mm 1/50 sec f/5.6 ISO 400

The Same, Only Different

Today is Saturday. Back in the barn days of Montana, Saturday was Finish-Chores-Early-and-Write-Something Day. There was always something to write about, and the landscape inspired me. Plus, when you spend hours and hours chiseling frozen horse poo out with a metal pitchfork, you come up with a lot of deep thoughts. I've spent a brief few months in Asheville, North Carolina, and some time overseas, and the conclusion I've come to is that the west is best, and more than that, the wide open west is more my style than the heavily-forested, always shadowy, trees-are-taking-over-my-brain kind of west. I have nothing against trees; I still like to hug them, but I feel awfully squished here in Washington. All these shadows make me nervous and twitchy. 

That said, I've been feeling less-than-inspired these days. Everything is the same, and same also makes me nervous and twitchy. I strongly believe in the Arby's Doctrine: Different is Good. 

Lately when I come home and look at the day's photos, they all. look. the. same. Green grass, black dogs, some trees in the background, cloudy skies. I thought maybe I needed a break, but turns out I just needed Lightroom! Changing an image to black and white from color has really made me see my dogs totally differently. I was so focused on getting an exposure "correct" that I forgot to take pictures that I liked. I've been liking them a lot more over the past week, ever since the purple dog incident. 

I find inspiration from other pet photographers, and there for a while I was forgetting that I have my own ideas, and that just because I love someone else's work doesn't mean I can't love my own, even if it's not perfect. Funny how that works- it's the same in real life. But that's a story for another day. Here's one of the black and whites I was talking about. This was during a walk to the pond, after a chilly swim after some ducks. This dog will dig through ice to get to water- she loves to swim that much. 

And just because you can never have too many pictures of a smiling dog.... 

Very Serious

Charlotte is staring at me. Help. 

Sheep

dog herding sheep

maremma guarding sheep

sheep 

outhouse at the farm

sheep 

australian shepherd eyeing sheep

aussie in pond after moving sheep

sheep eyeing aussie hoping aussie stays in pond

Ooooh, those are all the images I was hoping to get yesterday. No, they haven't disappeared into the internet'z abyss of missing pictures. They never got shot. I really need to invest in some rain gear for my camera and lenses. My friend Diane and I went to Purdy yesterday for some sheep herding, and I was really looking forward to the change in scenery for taking pictures. It started out drizzling while we were still here on our peninsula, and by the time we got to the Key peninsula, I was reminded of the monsoon season in Colorado. So my poor camera had to stay in the truck, but looking on the bright side, at least I had two hands free to pet the new puppies. Better luck next time, I suppose. 

Corn Poo

Remember a few days ago when I said Wilbur was camera-shy and elusive? He changed his mind. 

I have spent a lot of time the past couple days picking the wonderfully awesome brains of Furrie Fotographie's mastermind in regards to printing, canvases, lenses, and just her general awesomeness. You should stop by her blog sometime, especially if you live in Florida and your furrie friend needs a photo shoot! 

She gave me some ideas about prints and other products to offer to clients, and I'm hoping to be able to offer those within the next year. For now, I need more practice behind the lens! If you live on the Kitsap peninsula in western Washington, I am available on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to photograph your dog free of charge. All the digital images will be yours to keep, and if you want prints, well, we can talk about that, too! Hit me up via email if you're interested! I'd love to meet you and your furry pal.   

Well by golly, I think I'm all talked out for today!  Which is actually pretty funny, because the only conversation I've had today was about tapeworms and as you can imagine, that conversation didn't go very far. 

I am convinced, by the way, that I have some of the stranger conversations of anyone I know. Do you ever do that? Start blabbering about something that Really. Doesn't. Matter. and then kind of cock your head to the side and go "WTH? Do I actually give a flying- I mean a rat's bum-oley-holey?" And then it really makes you laugh? Yeah, me too! I call them "corn poo" conversations. 

What's that you say? I'm talking jibberish? Yeah, I know. 

Strange disclaimer- yes, Wilbur's eyes really ARE that color! I know! Kind of creepy/reallyreally cool! 

This might be, I think, the most pointless blog I've ever written. I mean, not the "I'll take pictures of your dog" part. That part was VERY important! I mean the corn poo part. I just remembered that my grandmother is in CO this week, and will probably be reading this. I leave it up to my mother to educate my grandmother about corn poo. I'm funny like that!

Deep Thoughts on Lenses and MAN I'm Hungry

EFS 18-55mm 1/30 sec at f/4.0 ISO 800 (fl 27 mm)

 

Well, we're all worn out here at Casa de Mutt Gal. 

First there was an attempt at a family portrait, which clearly did not go according to plan. This is what I look like when I'm diving after the cat and Char is trying to see if I have leftovers and also while the blinds are crashing down onto my tripod. Pretty, yes? 

This is what I look like when I'm giving Char the Death Glare for walking out of the frame right when the shutter tripped.  As an aside, nothing in this picture is as white in real life as it is in this picture. That includes the sheet covering the couch, and me. Also, in real life, I do have eyelashes.  I think the cat was messing with the exposure while I wasn't looking. 

So, clearly that didn't go the way I'd hoped, but it sure was funny! I always wonder if someone will walk past my window when stuff like this is going on. I hope so. 

We spent a couple hours at the ponds today, playing with some new poodle friends. They were so much fun! Anyone who thinks poodles are foo-foo has not spent time with a well-cared for, athletic, super-smart poodle. I was having too much fun throwing the ball and Wilbur's new Wildthing (!!!) to get the camera out, but I'm hoping the poodle parents will let me shoot their dogs soon. If I get to, I will post them here- they were delightfully amusing dogs and I would love to see them again! 

Char and Wilbur liked their new friends a lot- you should have seen all four big black dogs swimming together. They are pooped! I love it! 

50mm prime 1/100 sec at f/4.0 ISO 100

I'm having a lens dilemma. These are all taken with the 50mm prime lens that I borrowed from my friend Michael Kloth. I love being able to stop down to f/1.8, because of the nice bokeh it gives me, and it makes action shots easier to get in low light- I can just set it wide open and use a reasonable shutter speed. However, since it is a prime lens, I'm not getting as many shots that I like because I am not able to zoom. I think I might like it more if I was able to focus 100% on the shot, and not on throwing the ball in such a position that I can get a shot, while I focus and adjust shutter speed, etc. 

The other lens I'm thinking about bringing into my happy little lens world is the EF 17-40mm f/4L. I feel like this one might better suit my needs at this time, because it'd be more versatile for the dog and landscape photos I want to take. I know they're totally different lenses, but if anyone has input on that, I'm all ears. 

See what I mean about the smooshiness, though? I love that. Can't you just feel Wilbur's anticipation of killing his Wildthing? 

50mm prime 1/1250 sec (!) at f/1.8 ISO 100

In other news, let's talk about my dogs real quick. I love them. They are my best hiking buddies, my protectors, my muses, my little space heaters at night. They are completely different from each other, but they go together so well. They are my peas and carrots. My peanut butter and jelly. My cheese and crackers. My beer and pizza (what?). Boy, I'm starvin'!  (I mean, not really. I'm no Olson twin. But all this talk of food is making me a little hungry.) 

So on that note, I'll leave you with Wil and his new Wildthing. I love its little feetsies sticking out of his mouth. 

50mm prime 1/200 sec at f/1.8 ISO 100

Oh Richard...

I'm so happy! 

EFS 18-55mm 1/100 sec at f/4.5 ISO eq. 400 (fl 34 mm) 

No seriously, I am! 

As you know, my blog is newish, and I am new to taking pictures with a camera that was built after 1999, and I'm CERTAINLY new to people commenting on my works-in-progress. I just have to say, and I am being sincere here, that every time someone leaves a nice comment or emails me a nice note, and SERIOUSLY this is no joke, I get a little happy tear in my eye! I know! It's so silly! But that's how I feel, and ALSO I have to say that I'm very very lucky to have friends who are MUCH betterly awesome than me who are helping me! I mean, for. real. When I publish my first book (in the waaaaaaay future,) you all know that you will be in the acknowledgement page(s). 

Ya'll rawk. 

Dark Dark

First things first: I have a hole in my running pants. I knew that; I just forgot. And then I remembered. While I was standing in line at the store on my way home from the gym. It's easy to forget about holes in your running pants when you haven't worn them in the past 6 months. Oh, and the girl in front of me was wearing spandex short shorts and a tummy-showing tank top. And she looked good. I'm really happy that I've learned to take myself a little less seriously, so I can laugh about things like this. I mean, man- that's funny stuff! 

What else is funny is when I bring treats to the park with me. Wilbur doesn't care about holey pants (or holy pants), he just wants a cookie. 

EFS 18-55mm 1/320 sec at f/4.0 ISO eq. 400 (fl 25mm)

This is Char's "Mom-I-can't-believe-you-wore-holey-pants-to-the-gym" face. Also, this is her "throw-the-ball-do-it-now" face. 

50mm prime 1/800 sec at f/1.8 ISO eq. 100

This is Wilbur's "I-would-like-another-cookie-please-now" face. 

EFS 18-55 1/160 sec at f/3.5 ISO eq. 800

This is not me delivering an upper-cut to Charlotte's teeth. It is me delivering a snack to her teeth, and also my knuckle, which tasted good, too. My depth perception's a bit off when I'm looking through the viewfinder. 

EFS 18-55 1/160 sec at f/3.5 ISO eq. 800 (fl 21 mm)

Oh hi! That's Wilbur. I lovelovelove how his chin is getting white. That reminds me, there were some people working on the railroad tracks today. Charlotte didn't like them, or more accurately I don't think she liked the chainsaw one of the guys was wielding. One of the workers said to me "Nice dogs!" Well, anyone who knows me knows that that equals instant friendship in my book. Then he said "one's real old and one's real young, right? That one close to me (the growling Charlotte) looks really old." 

Verrrrt? (That is me making a noise and cocking my head to one side, duh.) I had to correct him- Char is only 4, and for that matter, Wil is only 5- and then I spent the rest of my walk thinking that the chainsaw guy looked really old and he doesn't know anything and get back to work with your chainsaw, chainsaw guy. Then I went for a run with my holy holey pants and funny enough, there was a glass of wine waiting for me when I got home! I think I will go drink it now.  

EFS 18-55 1/160 sec at f/3.5 ISO eq. 800 (fl 21 mm)

Rain? Or Rain?

My weather-predicting skills have highly improved since moving the the PNW. I am 95% accurate in calling for rain. Amazing skills I have, really. Back in Colorado or Montana, it might rain. Or it might tornado and have a blizzard, all in the same day. 

So this morning, anticipating not being able to shoot outside (I really need to get a rain jacket for my camera), I moved the couch near the window and set up the mirror on the opposite side of the room to get some back light. All of those shots were disappointing. How disappointing, you ask? Pretty darn. So I decided just to play with the dogs instead, which of course, was when this photo was taken. 

This was shot with my kit lens- the EFS 18-55 at 1/20 f/4.0. ISO 1600 but I tried to smooth out some of the noise in Lightroom. I had used my tripod earlier in the morning but held the camera while we were just playing. 

I really hope my blog never disappears into an internet abyss of missing blogs, because it's turning out to be a great place for me to record my mistakes, triumphs, and I've decided to put technical info from most of my photos on here too, so I can track my progress a little better. 

Oh and yes, that is one of the blue chairs, from the blue-chair-blog. 

Purple Dogs

Oh! So, I learned a lesson tonight. You can't stay up for hours trying to fix a photo that sucked to begin with. Like this one: 

I mean, okay, sure he's cute and anydog sticking his tongue out has definite story-telling appeal, but seriously. All that worry and fuss over exposures that just weren't meant to be... it was a bad day for shooting, and I will have faith that tomorrow will be better.  If you are tuning in for the first time tonight (I say that as if anyone but my mother checks my blog more than once a day!), you missed some really fugly pictures of purple-hued dogs and non-sensor-friendly exposures. You are lucky. They hurt my eyes to look at. I guess that's part of learning. 

I know I have a long long way to go before I can be a great photographer, but in the meantime, I can be proud of my progress, I guess, even if I disappoint myself once in a while. Moments like these are growing experiences and now I know not to vex my sensor like that again. 

Now that my blog and I have had our little moment, Charlotte would like to tell you that she is getting tired of being my model, and could some other Kitsap peninsula doggies please step in? She says I spend too much time shooting and not enough time throwing the ball. 

Yes We Did!

You Did Vote, Right?

Hi oh my gosh I can't write anything right now because I am too excited about the election. I had to get out for a long walk today or else I would have been climbing the walls. First, though, I did go to the Tuesday Morning Meet-up. So you know how I always always have my camera? Well, I didn't this morning, because I thought I would be too busy watching the news all day to do any blogging. Which is kind of true, but here I am, but turns out I'm babbling. ANYWAY. The point is, I went for a walk this morning and I didn't have my camera OF COURSE because I saw a pair of bald eagles perched on a tree near the creek. I will have to into detail about how devastated I was about that, but it'll have to be later. For now I will just s

ay that it rocked, and eagles are special to me. 

OMGOSH I'm still babbling. Here are some pictures from the afternoon walk, which of course was eagle-less. In fact, the only wildlife I saw was a giant banana slug and also a couple of Republicans. Okay, okay. Here they are, and I promise to save my political commentary for a separate blog. 

Wilbur can't vote, but boy can he dig! 

The Blog That Took Forever To Upload

Pearl has been more social these days. And needy. And a little demanding. She will be 8 years old soon! (I mean, -ish. I don't really know her birthday since she was a shelter cat.) Pearl is pretty much the coolest cat in the world, even if she stares at me with her glow-y eyes when I'm waking up in the morning. 

*Edit- Yes! Here it is! It only took an hour, but the best picture of the day is here. It's not a work of artistic genius or anything remotely close, but it represents me learning- because there is an ARROW in the picture, which I put there all by myself. 

Also, it represents Scary Day, which was two days ago when Char came running towards me with her "Yikes-I-Hurt" face, and there was bloody foam coming from her mouth and I was sure that her brain was hemorrhaging. After I poked around in her mouth and ears and eyes, I realized there was an itty-bitty scratch on her snoot. The blood was dripping into her mouth. Phew! It's always good when my dog isn't dying. 

The Best Photo of the Day/The Photo Which Will Not Be Uploaded: 

Well, goo. I really like the idea of having big pictures on here, but it just wasn't working out for me because my template is smarter than me. What I need is a template without all that mumbo-jumbo on the right, and then little doggie heads and stuff wouldn't be chopped off. 

So anyway, can you tell I'm visiting Frustration Station in Computer Land? That, and it's taking nineteen million minutes to upload the BEST photo of the day. As I type, it has still not uploaded. I remember being about 17 years old (that was a decade ago- zoiks!) and giving technology the bird because I didn't think I'd ever really need it. 

Heh heh. That is adult-self laughing at teenage-self. Not funny. 

These next three images were my favorites of today (other than the Photo Which Will Not Be Uploaded) and I had planned on them being all big and stuff, but then Frustration Station settled in, and did not give me a beer to pass the time, so I just did them regular. I live in a very green state (and blue- go Obama)! 

This is Grady. He belongs to Dr. Cage, my dogs' veterinarian. Don't you love his eyebrows? 

Yes, it's the Sunday Morning Latte. I branched out today and got hazelnut. So I know it's Starbucks and they represent the Evil Empire of Corporate Coffee, but I liked what my latte had to say this morning: 

After the latte, we went for a nice long romp in the park/hike through the woods. Wilbur wants you to know that he will rescue your drowning children and save the world, too. 

Charlotte wants you to know that she is part kangaroo. 

This morning was 900% GORGEOUS. The sky was blue, and no I am not lying to you. I was wearing a t-shirt! In November! What?? It's true! There were lots of puddles at the park today, and Charlotte made sure each one was indeed a puddle and not a swimming pool. She did this by testing each one out... rolling around in the mud... splashing with joy... 

... AND THEN SHAKING IT OFF! 

I know it's not a perfect shot, but it is soooo much better than the tail-end of the shake that I have been capturing lately. 

After Wilbur saved all those drowning children, he decided to do some math with a stick in the sand. 

And Grady decided to look cute. 

Charlotte decided it was time to go home.