Tri County Tues x2

This warm weather has brought out a big lack of blogging from me. So without much further ado, here are the past two weeks worth of cuties! Many of these guys and gals have found homes, but many more need them still! In fact, Tri County Humane Society has 29 (!) kittens and lots of cats available for adoption currently! If you are in Central MN and looking for a new kitty buddy, stop by and snag the perfect one or two or three!

The cuties from this past week:

Tri County Tuesday

As per every Tuesday, the adventure at Tri County Humane continues. This week they were full to the brim with dogs! Lots of cats too! So if you are in need of a new forever buddy, stop by and check out the cuties!

This guy had a staff only red card because he was shy. I got permission to take him outside and this guy was anything but shy! Once he figured out that hotdogs were a good thing, he was overly eager to perform sit and lay down in rapid succession! Love his coloring!

Dean was the first guy I photographed, and he was such a charmer! He's an aussie mix and super cute!

Kirby was a cute, well trained terrier mix. The hardest part was trying to emphasize his eyes because his hair was so long in his face!

AJ! She's a big bouncy girl, who isn't a fan of other dogs or some men, but she was super cute and very food motivated! Once she figured out sitting yielded hotdogs she was instantly a pro!

Monty and Vic are a pair of older lab brothers. Their kennel card had a picture of both of them on each card and there were no descriptive notes about who was who. So I had to guess! One of the brothers had a fatty tumor, while the second had some sores on his legs from living outside his whole life. And they were not happy to be separated from each other for pictures!

Phoebe was a very cute, and very scared puppy. She had just arrived so she hid in the corner and growled because she was nervous! Poor puppy!

Then the cats! Lots of them with red cards, but I did manage to sneak in some quick shots in kennel. Kiki was a very pretty and social torti color with a white bib and feet! Total cutie!

Sammie was a fluffy purr baby, though a bit spooky. Good thing the bathtub is a good place to hide!

 Lula was cute and shy, but with a red card I wasn't able to snag more pictures of her!

 •••
 On another note, Wine Kibbles and Bids is today! I hope Tri County will raise lots of money to help all of the dogs and cats they have enter their care!

Tri County Tuesday

Apologies for this not being written on Tuesday! The weather has finally warmed up around here and I've been on many many walks! There was also a scuffle between Bender and Axle, but I'm not sure if I want to blog about it at this time.

Tri county humane society adoptable! A couple of cats and a couple dogs were lucky to have their pictures taken by me :)

But the main goober, squeal like a teenage girl moment? Photographing a litter of rottweiler/lab mix puppies who were a month old! So much cuteness! Zorro was the first of the gang. What a cute little chubber puppy! He was quiet, but super snuggly!

The next up was Zip.  Out of the whole gang, Zip was my favorite. He was a typical month old puppy ~ bouncy and squirmy! He liked to sneak attack me and tried to eat my camera multiple times! He looked more like a Bernese mountain dog than rottie, so he was passed over for his chubby rottie looking brothers. 

Missy was the third puppy I photographed, and by far the shyest of the bunch. She wanted to squirm between my knees and snuggle against me. She looked the most like a lab out of the whole bunch.

And lastly was the little porker called Zeke. This guy looked like a rottie to the T minus that his nose was a little on the long side. He was bouncy and not sure of my camera, but the hotdogs really helped!

Meet the Gang: Mick

In October of 2006, I adopted a dog I had fallen in love with at the humane society.

Prior to adopting him, the apartment I was living at wouldn't allow dogs, unless there was a doctor's note. Luckily (but not really) the boyfriend at the time had some heart issues crop up and his doctor  wrote him a note to have a dog for stress relief.

Enter in Mick, formerly Mickey. He had been picked up as a stray, wouldn't play with toys and for the most part lounged on the couch unless the word walk was mentioned. Then he'd prance and his tail would wag crazily. He became my best friend and adventure buddy.

Mick is now the ripe age of 8is or 9is, but still prances around like a puppy when he hears the word walk or car ride. He loves car rides, bones, barking and playing chase. He does get nervous from time to time when there are fireworks, fire, loud noises and large amounts of people. Going back and looking at pictures of him, he's changed a lot in appearance, though his knack for not looking at the camera is still there!

Mick, also known as Buddy, Buggy and Mii.

Snowing...

Once more central Minnesota has been plunged into the depths of winter! Not nearly as the last batch ( the snow was 90% gone when it had rolled around) this is still no fun! Snagged the bf from work early early this morning, and while he slept I headed out with the gang to do some snow shots.

The destination was the Veterans Affairs Hospital. To get to the buildings, one must drive down a road (it makes me think of a two lane driveway...) to a four way intersection. From there the road goes either straight to the main building, left and loops around the entire property, right and away from the VA or back the way from whence we came. I think I made 5 different loops in attempt to find a parking place closer to trees. No luck, so I pulled off the road and parked half in the snow.

Bender was the first subject. I tied him to one of the narrower trees with his 30 ft lead, waited for him to finish dancing (if he has to poo he dances trying to find the perfect spot...), scooped the poo and attempted to get him to look towards me all while the wind is whipping at my back and the snowflakes pelted me in the back. Managed to snag a mere handful of shots of Bender before loading him back up into the car.

Next up was Axle. By this time my hands were super cold, so I snagged a handful of shots before I succumbed to the wind and snow. Or at least my hands did! It was to the point of having trouble pressing buttons on my camera! 

Meandered around the VA in search of a place to photograph Mick and Icey. Around a curve I found an awesome little creek that wrapped around in the snow. It wasn't frozen over and I thought it would make a neat backdrop. Mick and Icey with the creek. 

 

Meandered away from the VA towards a set of buildings that I've scouted and photographed many times. The buildings are made of rust hued bricks and most have either huge doors or metal doors in greens or reds. Icey was the only one I photographed at the last location, but she had a blast and did her best sit stay so that she could play with the squeaky tennis ball. 

I also need to learn to remember to check my settings (iso 1000! eek!) As well as expose for the scene especially with snow involved! Good thing I have models who will work for cookies! Or tennis balls!

Tri County Tuesday!

Hooray for Tuesdays! I get to have the day free for prepping as well as hanging out with the gang, then off to Tri County Humane Society to snag pictures of all the dogs and cats who need homes. Honestly I would be out there every day minus that it is volunteer work, so my dogs would have to get paying jobs themselves... Not sure they would be fond of that!

Yesterday panned out to be a wonderful day! We've been having cold icky weather for far too long (and I heard word of more...!) which makes it hard to want to be outside. Yesterday started gloomy, then the sun broke through the clouds and everything was warm and springy! Wouldn't have asked for a better day!

There weren't many cats or dogs who needed pictures so my list was fairly short. First up was a yappy female min pin named Tasha. She walked well on a leash and was cute as a button! Before the day was out she was scooped up and on her way to a new home!

Next up was a 2nd min pin, named Gator. Gator had been photographed when he had arrived, but for some reason nobody was interested in adopting him. So I snagged him for retakes outside. Holy energy! Good thing he was a little guy because he pulled and strained at the leash and would have drug me all over the yard had he been bigger! The only thing that got him to stop moving? Hotdogs! (My new secret weapon!) Like Tasha, he too was adopted before the end of the day!

The next up was the awesome Kaiser! This guy is big and a barker, so many people were passing him by. I had photographed him back when he was first at Tri County, and in an attempt to generate some new pictures and new interest, I decided I was going to retake his pictures. He was drool worthy cute, though he did bark at me when I wouldn't throw the ball ASAP! I believe has been adopted as I write this as he is no longer on Tri County's website. Hooray!

Prior to the retakes, I designed a Facebook highlight for Kaiser. 

Heartbreaker was the next in line for pictures, and as cute as a button she was, that girl was all puppy! She wanted to bounce around and wrap herself around me, so I employed the duel leash maneuver. There is a set of leashes tied to two of the pines where I usually snag the pictures. During the duel leash maneuver I will clip the dog to the tree tied leash as well as the leash I've walked them on. Viola! Two points of control for those super bouncy dogs!

Stopped for a couple of quick shots of a little tank of a boson terrier who wanted to show off her belly (more on her shortly) then into the cat room to visit the kitties! Brienne was the first I photographed. She is a slender tabby who is very playful and has extra toes! It took a little for her to warm up to me, but when she did I managed to snag some cute and playful pictures of her!

Josie was next up. She happened to be on top of her "bunk" in the top kennel in the cat room. I'm not short by any means, but when the cats are bigger than kittens and on their bunk its super hard to pull them out without messing up the whole kennel. So I will often take pictures of those cats in their kennels. Josie is an interactive kitty and would talk to me as I pet her!

Maddy and Gold were both newcomers and hiding in their litter boxes. Since there were red cards on each of their kennels, I wasn't able to take either one out. Maddy is in the top picture, Gold in the bottom one. 

The last cat who needed pictures was Pooky. His sister Blanch had good pictures already, so I snagged the lug (he was a hefty kitty) and brought him down to the everything room. He wasn't a fan of being away from his sister, but he humored me and my camera. 

All said and done... but not quite! Kim asked me to snag some pictures of Drake, while Marit asked if I could get some food aggression testing pictures. No problem!

Drake was an older lab who enjoyed sniffing everything. He was fairly calm on his leash, but maintaining his eye contact with me and the camera was a challenge. I think it worked out in the end. 

For the food aggression test, they use a faux hand to pet and interact with dogs to rate their food aggression levels. Luckily they were planning on testing one of the dogs when I asked. And even better? It was the little tank of a boston terrier, Vixen! I went a little snap happy with pictures of her before her test. Who can resist a mug like this?!

Tax Season and Ideas on Spending the Return!

Ah tax season! Or better yet the end of submitting for it! Amidst the snow and cold, there was scrambling for pounds of paperwork to submit for a chance at getting repaid by the government. What's not to love about "free" money? So its not really free, but it is money...

So between my 4 W2s (one company bought by another, switched jobs and a maintained 2nd job) and the 2 certificates of rent paid (same deal with a company bought another) I will be receiving a nice little chunk of green.

The bad part? Figuring out how to spend or save it...

Idea #1 - Tamron 70-200 f2.8 VC USM lens. This lens is a beast! Half the cost of the Nikon equivalent  but nearly as fast and as sharp. Nearly as in milliseconds. Internal focusing, big glass and its an f2.8 throughout! Also its a full frame lens, so on a crop body it ends up being 105-300 f2.8!!! No the lens doesn't actually change in focal length, the sensor in the body makes the difference. But I digress. This lens would be AMAZING to add to my collection esp for snagging pictures of running and playing dogs! The bad thing? Even though it is half the cost of the Nikon equivalent, it is still $1,500! Ouch!

Idea #2 - Nikon D7000/D7100 body. I've been toying with the thought of having a camera body that will handle low light a bit better. The D7000 is a slight step below the D300s, but has higher mp as well as an expanded iso capability. Less autofocus points, doesn't have the duel card slots, not quite as rugged as the D300s, but being generationally newer it has perks. Also because I can't afford the D800...

Idea #3 - Adding to the lens collection. Nikon makes an amazing 85mm f1.8 that is fast, sharp and fairly budget friendly in the realm of lenses ($460 on bhphotovideo.com). Tamron has a 28-75mm f2.8 lens that is quick and lightweight, won't break the bank ($500 new), has a 6 year warranty and also is a full frame lens so it ends up being 43-103mm. Weird length but great for a less than telephoto midrange lens. I've also toyed with getting a macro lens in the realm of 90mm or 105mm. So many options that would be great additions to my collection! And why not get a couple of lenses vs one? Decisions...

Idea #4 - Bills. This is my least fun and least favorite option, but those bills do like money too...

Idea #5 - Sit on it. Also known as saving. Not as fun especially with so many things to spend it on...

Idea #6 - Trip time! This snow and cold has finally gotten to the point of solid annoyance. I hear that basically anywhere south of here is warmish to toasty these days. Not sure how my car would handle the road trip (its solid, but has some "quirks"). Nothing like a road trip with a broken down car, 4 dogs and the bf. The next thought would be where to go. I'm super partial to Colorado, though not sure how the mountains and altitude would do with my car. Plus its a 14ish hour drive... This option is open for serious debate and planning.

Idea #7 - Invest in a new to me car! My current car as noted in #6 has "quirks". Basically my car is in process of dying without a solid reason as to why it is. The car people can't figure it out and it could die today or 10 years down the road. It also isn't the prettiest (yay busted bummer and peeling paint) nor does it have great ground clearance. Nothing like driving on a poorly maintained road with hood high weeds and just mowing them down so that they tickle the underside of the car. Granted the sound is fairly musical and slightly amusing, but low ground clearance just isn't going to cut it. Ideally a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (the 4 door kind, as I do have dogs) or some other smaller SUV type vehicle. My parents have been  eyeballing and been thinking a Saturn Vue. Awesome car, but not quite the off road contender. Plus its more of a CUV which looks basically like the offspring of a van and car with a hint of SUV somewhere in the generations of its bloodline.

Idea #8 - Marketing and samples! This would be an awesome thing for the reason of people being visual and tactile beings. Marketing would be postcards, shirts, flyers, other "promotional" items with my information on it. Samples would include canvas prints (the bigger the better!), Gallery Block prints and any other products I would want to feature for purchase.

Idea # 9 - 27" iMac "desktop" computer. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my 17" Macbook Pro. Bugger is tough and goes everywhere and 17" is a good sized display for viewing images and showing them off. But 27"... drool! This idea was created by visited Best Buy for a memory card. Peeked at the iMac with the 27" screen (which I then managed to freeze...) and was instantly in love! It also would be a bit cheaper than my Macbook ($1799 vs $2000+). The only bad thing? I'd have to keep my desk clean...

Idea # 10 - Attend photography workshops and or conferences. Why not be able to learn as much as I can and get better at what I do? Plus most of the workshops are on location in a different (warmer) state so it would work with #6. And what better thing than to network with fellow photographers and/or pet photographers? Minus that my creative brain and lectures don't get along the greatest.

Now if I could only get/do everything on this list....

Do you have any plans for your tax return money?