purple today

kenobi can be a fantastic model when he's all mellowed out-just chillin. after a walk and run and romp he's perfect.used my 40-150mm f4 lens which produces far better images than the kit. iso 400. f4. 1/60. 40mm focal length. at this high iso there is minimal noise and it works fine. pretty vivid and sharp. the only challenge with black dogs is the post production. the specks of lint and dust and crap is so over the top when you zoom in. it can be time consuming so it might be wise to use a damp towel to wipe them down a little. either way you do it it takes your time. i like to edit as minimal as possible. however my end result is fine. i like the combination of a color and a pet. it makes for a more interesting image.

asleep. awake.

these shots were suited to be black and white. i like the comp. i like the symmetry. natural light is the key to great photography. a fast lens helps too. iso 100. f3.5.1/125 and 1/400. every second there is movement and surprises and frustrations and disappointments. but discouraged i am not, patience i have and many people with pets there are. in 2004 americans spent 30 billion on pet services. in 2008 it topped a whopping 43 billion. americans love their pets. and i love that americans love their pets.

puppybowl!! and kitty halftime

puppybowl 2010!! this is what we all look forward to every beginning of the year. football. food. fun. fur. i chose to entertain myself with the kitties. i will sit through this all day long. i can't get enough of the puppies and kitties.

snow day

this experiment was a series of black and white on a super duper perfect overcast snow day. kinda artsy to show off kenobi's texture in his fur and other parts of his dopey body. i'm shooting with my trusty olympus 14-42mm f3.5-iso200. and let me add that he was hyper and not patient so most of the shots were impossible to lock focus on-lens is not known to do this-it struggles in low light and is time consuming. i did basic editing in iphoto and cropped the heck out of a couple cause that was the look i was goin for. i love black and white. i dig the different tonal ranges you can create. furby in color was just a bonus for me. i like the snow effects in all the shots-course it would be cool to have a longer exposure for that but the fastest for these buddies is 1/250. it's frustrating to know that more can be possible with an upgrade. i love the wide angle look and that is what i aim for. in the meantime these best buds are a great team to practice on.

benny

benny is our foster dog. he'll be staying with us until may when he'll then move in with my nephew tony. he's a pound dog that's been through some traumatic experiences and is very protective at times. he needs training for that which can be fixed. he's extremely affectionate and smart. but lately has been going stir crazy due to the weather. that'll change soon. benny became my subject of the day and was very cooperative and patient. i tested the samsung happysnap camera cuz it has the ability to shoot at f2.8. these were shot at that with iso 100. all natural light from a southern exposure window-diffused all day-snow weather never lets up. i was aiming for the catch light in his eyes on the close ups and i achieved that-an important factor. the blurry ones with furby in the background were interesting-they may be blurry but i like them-snake tongue.

samsung sl202

today was taffi's day to shine. taffi is my cat i adopted in 1993. she was about a year old then so that makes her about 18-ish. possibly 60-70 kitty years. she's pissed at me for sentencing her to the dungeon. i don't appreciate cat pee on my stuff. this has been her permanent home for about 5 years. but i visit every day to play and feed and i know she feels this is her safe zone. her roommate is spooky the black kitty we adopted. he is no. 1. they tolerate each other and at times i see them cuddling and spooning together-maybe for warmth but i know they care about each other. anyway-she moved every second-literally. and about a 1/2 hour into it she mellowed out, jumped up on the stool where a rug was crumpled on and chilled. she checked out the birdies outside and was pretty content. you know she misses me. warm ups for bonding are necessary. i like the close ups-especially of the eye and the swirly whiskers. i tested out the happysnap samsung sl202. this is a great camera for everyday quick shots. set on smart mode, iso 100 worked well with north natural light coming in from the left. aperture is at f2.8-again ideal for the conditions. basement light is dark and dingy and this camera sucks big time using high iso such as 800. the noise is ridiculous! did i mention a select random shots were corrupt? yes, perhaps it's the memory card-idk-and when i attempted to correct images in iphoto-i mean basic fixing such as exposure or sharpening-it wouldn't allow it. corrupt card and this is a reminder never to use this camera for anything valuable. just shoot a lot of shots. digital is cheap.

a norwegian christmas dinner

once again we are all feasting on food. this time it is all about the norwegian traditions. pork,gravy, mashed tators and of course akavit. this is a hardcore shooter that most norwegians indulge in during the holidays. i passed on this cause i'm pretty sensible when it comes to hard stuff. besides, i'm drivin. and plus i'm a weakling when it comes to drinkypoos. i like the angle on the food shots. it gives me a sense of the mood and tastes and quite frankly makes for a nice photo. all shots were at about iso 400-800 and f2.8. this is ideal for the conditions at that time. it's dark and i hate to use flash-emergencies only. although the shot of mom cooking could have deserved a fill flash, jist a teeny bit to highlight her face-but what can ya do. at least i knew that was necassary. i also like the shot of tore. my eyes start at the food in the foreground and sort of force you to zig zag through the bottles which lead you to his face. too bad there is a napkin poking him in the mouth. it just makes it more interesting. he looks content. our tummies were happy.

christmas pets

i like these shots in particular because the are parts of the animal that we know and love so much. i was unable to steady the camera(again these were shot with the canon) so they are not perfectly sharp-but at f2.8 it grabbed as much light as possible. shutter is set at 1/15 or 1/8. iso 800. thanks to peanut the beagle and fatima the cat, you were fantastic models.

christmas eve, 2009

you can't see it, but boy oh boy did it snow like the dickins. xmas eve was spent at my sisters home. fun times playin with the Wii, snackin on tastey snacks, and drinkin warm and fuzzy drinks. all while marinating in a mess of puppies and kitties (or dogs and cats). camera used was the canon happysnap again, (it's a handy backup camera-so long as mom is there) set on wide angle 5mm, f2.8-the widest, iso 800 for indoor night mooood, shutter is too slow and i forgot to pay more attention to that. i particularly love the close up cropped shot of leia and peanut, the comp is just cool. oh well, gotta love the fuuuuurrrr.