Lemax Spooky Town Ring Around The Tree Halloween

i love halloween. and i wish i could just go to town and decorate with all the spooky decorations that i own. but, i have decided to keep a few such as snoopy and the great pumpkin-but certain ones were in need of a better home. i sold all of the lemax decorations on eBay and this one in particular 'spooky ring around the tree' was an item that drew a huge crowd. i received nearly 400 views and 50 watchers. in case your wondering-unless you have hot items to sell on eBay, your LUCKY to get 10-20 views and maybe a couple of watchers. selling these items was a blast for me-i love the excitement of it all! this guy ended up going for $31.00-not something i expected-i figured i would get $10-15 maybe. but that's not my point i'm trying to make. i want these items and all my collectibles to go to someone who will truly cherish them. i know that the images i take of these collectibles is key in selling-the image of this one made the sale and is what i believe drew interest. yes this isn't related to pet photography-you know, it's important to mix things up just a little-halloween IS on it's way and it's fun and spooky and warms my heart and i love it-that's all that matters.

omaha homecoming 2010

last night was homecoming for leia and her dear friend megan from arizona. she cleaned up real nice with her fabulous hair, dress and sweeeet new hip 'boot stilettos'. i like how i shot the shoes-incorporating shoes and details like that are vital! and just look at those beautiful pieces of art. leia is super talented at pulling it all together! believe it or not she spent only $60 total on her shoes and dress! she is a smart shopper! so the night was a success-even though there are no dates involved and they never dance at these events. they just stand around and socialize and listen to the pounding music. my how things have changed. i couldn't spend any more than 5 minutes max taking photos of her and her bestie. it's a little bit more of a challenge with shooting more than one kid. my focus points struggle with a spot-the center focus would be between them or a left focal point would only focus on one person. in the end it turned out okay and i believe they look absolutely fabulous! iso 400, f4, 1/320-1/500ss and focal length at 40mm-150mm(awesome portrait lens!). if the shot is off slightly by the iso or one stop overexposed-i'm just blown away at what lr3 is able to fix and recover. shoot in raw and pp in lr3 and final pp in cs5. it's such a good thing.

the teen morph!

leia has been a fantastic model for me and for the most part pretty patient. this is a series of portraits of her morphing from 2007(age 13)-2010(age16). she is a tough teen to book and i seem to only be able to shoot about twice a year. this year she seems more interested in the portrait dress up thing. and i see that in her expression. i love to view my progression as a photographer and how much leia has grown into a beautiful young woman! from innocence to fresh, young, fab, hip and edgy teen. tonight is homecoming for her and many young high schoolers-those portraits will be posted soon.

fear of the vacuum!

while catching up on housework on one of my few days off, i decided to vacuum up the mega thick layer of doggie fur floors-this is something that i must do every day-but heck-that's just not possible in my world. so when it comes time to doing this-they both run for cover-furby will get into attack mode and only bark once at the machine after charging me-and then he shoots up the stairs. kenobi on the other hand wastes no time and darts up the steps. they stay put until i'm done with this monster of a machine-it could potentially eat them-this image is the result of all the drama.

clovis dailey

clovis is a mix of retreiver, st. bernard, springer spaniel (minus the energy) and perhaps a dash of king charles spaniel. anyway, it was love at first sight for patty (and clovis!) when she discovered him at the nebraska humane society! these edits come fresh off the cs5 press-my new favorite is the black and white image of his sweet head-i call that fine art pet photography. love it.

'junior' portraits, elkhorn, ne.

leia and i had a fantastic october day out inthe small town of elkhorn ne. it didn't take long to find a super cool location. i get that leia want hip and edgy type shots of her-these were pro all the way. and you know the weather helps a lot too. with the sun almost setting-it was 4:30pm when we began. and it took about 1.5-2 hrs in 3-4 different locations. i simply loooove location shooting now-the world is a backdrop and there is absolutely NO artificial lighting what so ever! natural light is the way to go. some shots were kinda harsh-pockets and sockets of shadows-but wow! who cares? it is what it is and she looks darn good. too good imho. used my trusty 40-150mm for some amazing long shots and then whipped out the faster 14-54mm. i have a prime and a zoom that work well-the zoom isn't that fast but it does okay-shoot, leia was spectacular and very patient. not your typical teenager i must say! these are the top 3-more to come. love it when things turn out.

proud gaga

during my doggie shoot with the happy hyper felix, gaga discovered some interesting photos from the past and seeing her expression while holding up this particular photo of her dear husband-papajack-demonstrates her feeling of love and pride. he is a graduate of uno and has a masters in business and counseling i believe. that's when the portrait was taken. i couldn't pass up the moment and i KNOW she did not want me to take a picture of her. surprise! isn't she beautiful? the 40-150mm lens creates wonderful portraits.

felix a short haired collie

i've added a couple more of the best of felix. i figured out my time it usually takes me for 1 potential client: 1 hr-1.5 hr of creative time 200-300 images at a location (digital is a gift from the heavens and i am using it all!) out of those fired i end up with 20-30 fabulous shots (only 10-15%, kinda lousy odds-but it's due to the shutter lag and mediocre quality lens-this has GOT to be improved.) then i import all RAW images (10mb file each!) and rate/reject ones (1 hr) and then i go to the magical world of cs5 for pp(some is done in lr3) about 20-30 images edited for web and print (1-1.5 hr). not to mention the burning to disc and hard drive. in the end it's a 5-6 hr time to create custom photography from start to finish. i prolly put so much care int0 the work i don't count. it's quite an addiction. my passion. i just look into these furry friends' eyes and practically melt when i find a winner.

clovis dailey

there is nothing quite like a dog that is mellow and never camera shy. clovis here is that dog. he is like a gentle giant. my dear friend and fellow mulhall's co-worker patty is the proud owner of this fun loving low level energy doggie. he is truly a beautiful dog to photograph. this was a little over an hour of creative time in 3-4 different locations in her fabolous home. i started with some long shots (40-150mm) a great portrait lens (check out the creamy bokeh) as long as the tripod is attached because of the app being pretty pitiful-f4 at the max. starting with the long lens is smart-you want the furry friends to get acquainted with you slowly-so you step off. then after some fun times in the morning dew-clovis, the big baby was soooo well behaved the whole time-even though his poor paws got slobbery wet from the grass-i switch to the med telephoto(14-54mm f2.8) and this is the quicker, better in low light lens. this shot is honestly the FIRST image i took of him. not bad-exposure is almost spot on and after pp-i added my logo. just a name-nothing more. that is a work in progress. i like the colors-orange and chocolate? patty says, shredded wheat is best for treats. i will buy a box! there are much more images to come-this is just a taste.
update-i added a couple more images-only the best! iso800, 1/500, f2.8, ffl54mm