Mini Mini Session

Brrr! The first day of spring sure doesn't look or feel like it! I can't wait to see that very first blade of grass - I might just throw a party or take a week off of work!

Exciting news! I have a mini session scheduled for the 13th of April! My Facebook page reached 50 likes so I had a drawing for a free mini session. Three people were solidly interested, so I cut some paper, folded it, put it in a bowl and had the dogs pick the winner! It took a little bit as Bender and Axle mostly wanted to lick the bowl but finally Bender plucked out a winner!

I'm looking forward to meeting Ashley and her dogs, Gunner and Dakota! Gunner is a 3 year old golden retriever and Dakota is a 7 year old cockatoo! Excitement! Now hopefully all the snow is gone by then...

So with all of the thinking of the mini shoot, I decided to do some location scouting and do my own mini shoot with Bender. It was cold, and he shivered pretty much the whole time, poor guy! The wind was cut by the buildings around the alley, but when its around 15 degrees its still cold! He did well with staying put, though wasn't apt to look at me (lots of back of the ears and head shots!). Managed to get him into a doorway, then something behind me in the alley caught his attention so he was looking past me. I fired off a bunch of shots, then decided our mini adventure was going to be cut short as per the cold weather.

•••

Visited Tri County Humane Society yesterday and snagged lots of pictures of volunteers as well as some of the critters!

Blackberry

Lucky

Lucky also happens to be a vampire...

Safari

Wally

Love this guy, Wheaties! He's super sweet, but would not come out of his kennel with a leash on!

Tuesday and Dog Park

Greetings! 

The Tuesday session at Tri County Humane Society went well, though most of the dogs were in quarantine due to one of the dogs having kennel cough :( There were a handful of cats that needed some pictures as well as an ongoing project of photographing the volunteers and staff.  I can't say I've every really been that much of people photographer - I'd rather catch them being themselves and doing assorted things vs posing them and getting direct face pictures. Guess I will need to practice some more on them!

This guy is Charlie, a chesapeake bay retriever with a serious underbite!

Gigi, who wasn't a big fan of my camera in her face

Milton

This is Sam. He is big and fluffy and I LOVE his whiskers!!!

Sam's kennel mate, Winnie, a shy but talkative calico 

Scotch the female orange kitty

French Fry

Tigger, female orange cat

•••

We are still getting snow up here in Minnesota, but the weather broke and it was super nice the other day, so I took Axle and Bender out to the dog park for some run time. There were no dogs, which was perfect. Axle was happier than a clam when I pulled a tennis ball out of my pocket, while Bender was content to sniff a lot before he joined in to chase and play keep away.  The lighting was a big harsh, but the weather was beautiful as was the sunshine! Also metering for a black dog and a light colored dog at the same time was interesting! Shot with my 70-300mm. 

Axle and Bender

Axle

Bender catching up to Axle in a game of chase

Sniff, sniff, sniff...

Axle has the longest tongue...

Bender

Bender with the ball

Bender the Foster Pup!

Bender the foster pup! The sweetest and cutest pittie pup you'll ever meet!

First off, a little back story on him. He was picked up as a stray in January and was housed at Hawk Creek Animal Shelter in Willmar. My boyfriend and I ventured to Willmar to fix a teeth issue, and decided to visit Hawk Creek. A big headed, brown and white pittie stole my heart, while a rottie shepherd stole my boyfriend's. We were unable to bring either home that day.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and an image of the very same pittie, with the same name (Bender) shows up on my facebook feed sponsored by No Dog Left Behind, which rescues, fosters and adopts out dog who are in need of extra help. Seeing the picture, I just had to help out! Contacted a couple of people and arranged to head to Willmar to snag Bender while looking for a forever home. There was a slight worry about him being male dog aggressive, but I was confident that I could help this pittie. Read lots and lots of things about aggression and maintenance as well as learning the triggers.

The day arrived to snag him, as did a ton of snow. Pushed the date back two days on a warmish, nicer day, stopped by Hawk Creek and snagged the wiggly, happy, pulling 48 lb brown and white pittie. Casey, who works at Hawk Creek, gave me the run down on him. Turns out the dog aggression is towards unfixed male dogs. Whew!

Brought him home, and introduced the gang. Icey was nervous, but she wanted to play a bit, Mick wasn't sure of Bender, but didn't mind him. The problem child Axle, was way amped up as he usually is around other dogs (he has dominance aggression towards other dogs so he presents very aggressively). Bender wasn't a fan of Axle's bad manners, and the two had a small spat as Bender is reactive to aggressive type dogs. Walked them home and kept the two separated on a crate and rotate system. Bender settled right in, though the transition was a little slower with the gang esp Axle.

Slowly Axle began to calm down, and he and Bender were allowed to wrestle. Another quick spat over a coveted toy (Bender has some toy guarding issues) then the two were instant buddies. They wrestle constantly, and follow each other from room to room, mostly because Axle wants to play all of the time! Some issues with toy guarding, but by keeping an eye on Axle and Bender and removing the toy when they both want it seem to help. Will have to work on a leave it command as well as give.

Oh I wish I could keep this guy! He is smart, athletic, a cuddle bug, as well as puppy playful (he and Axle are both about 1.5 years). He snores, snorts like a pig when he's sniffing around, loves to go for car and bike rides, loves popcorn but not carrots and gives lots of kisses! He is an amazing ambassador for pitbull type dogs. He interacts very well with people and dogs, and has amazing dog manners. Needs a little work on commands and pulling but otherwise a wonderful dog!

Tuesday Humane Society Session

Greetings all! Nothing like more snow up here in central MN! That being said, the snow put a damper in heading to Willmar to snag the pittie Bender from Hawk Creek Animal Sanctuary. Tomorrow, weather cooperating, will be the day!

Another adventure at Tri County Humane Society! I'm starting to get a rhythm and habits for each time I head out there. Head in, greet the ladies working, snag a list of animals that need pictures, sign in, snag my nametag and a scrub top, go over my list of animals that need pictures to figure who was who, then either throw on a jacket to take outside pictures with the dogs, or setup in the all in one room with the cats. This time I brought the 4x6 card I designed to inform people that animal's cage was empty because the dog or cat was having their picture taken. It worked wonderfully!

I love going to the humane society to take pictures of the ones I can't bring home!

Cinder, a playful grey tabby was my first (and third) set of pictures. We were in the all in one room, when a volunteer asked to use the room as there was a family that wanted to do a meet and greet with a puppy. No problem. Cinder was scooped back up and put back into her kennel. Snagged some pictures of the tubby Misti, then Cinder and I ventured back to the room for more pictures!

Chubby cat Misti

Tooley the orange female!

Little miss Stella!

Next were the dogs! 

Spartacus was first! Small fluffy, maltese mix I believe. He was a panting, I want to get out of this place mess until I brought out the cat treats (I didn't have any dog treats on me!). He proceeded to sit like a gentleman as well as stand on his hind legs!

Tisha was next! She's a pointer mix, who is very smart! She could smell the treats I had in my coat even before I had shown them to her! She would sit well, though taking treats involved practically eating my whole hand!

The last of the dogs I got to take out was Ronnie. (All the others had red cards or deposits on them) Lucky Ronnie has had his picture taken a bunch of times! I hadn't realized that he had had pictures done, so I snapped up a bunch more! He's a small cute little character and is a playful little dude!

I also snagged some pictures of Deedles and one of the pittie mix Roman who was a giant baby!

Deedles (D)

Roman

Humane Society Pictures with Snow!

The Tuesday humane society session rolled around and I was super excited to be able to photograph all the new dogs that had come in! I was told to wear boots as I would be able to take each of the dogs out in the snow! Nothing better than a neutral background with natural lighting! Minus that most of the dogs were super super super excited to be outside and complete leash yanking, wiggly butts! Aside from one soggy knee, the outdoor pictures were super fun! They turned out great, especially with the new treats I had with me! Pays to have yummy treats for attention!

First up was the lovely miss Bella!

Next was Bow, an big energetic cow of a lab!

Kaiser was next, a lab mix with hints of speckles

Paused for some shots of the sponsor plaques on the kennels, then got to the rest of the dogs.

Sniffer, the ginormous lab mix. I have a ton of pictures of his tongue...

Yogi, the shepherd mix, who had been adopted and brought back. Snuggler but with tons of energy!

This picture cracks me up....

Blue the lab retriever mix. He is a puller so he uses an Emily Weiss Walkie. 

Fluffly little Casius 

Sweet Cherry, the pittie! She is a tubby bundle of moosh and mashing! Currently in isolation for having the ickys, hope she gets better quickly!

The baby pittie, Cypher! His only color is on his nose and spot on his eye! He is super cute and shy!

Millie, lab. She isn't a fan of other dogs, but she loves her ball!

This sleeping beauty is Xander! He's an older guy, but was super busy on Tuesday! He went to a radio station, chilled with the staff and was my best friend because I had treats!

The Truth About Cats...

Is that they are not dogs!

Last week I volunteered twice at Tri County Humane Society. Tuesday was a challenge being the first day of cat portraits as well as having a new lens that I was still figuring out the quirks of. Also didn't help that Buzz, an Am Staff, was a ginormous baby and constantly barking. The pictures turned out, but the results weren't as numerous as I had hoped.

Got home and did tons of research. Most would blah about light, eyes in focus, get them out of their cages - which most of this I already had a handle on. A couple of them mentioned to let the cat do what it wanted. Hmmm...

Thursday rolled around and I was stocked up for snagging pictures of the cats, and excited about it. Chaos, whom I had met on Tues, was my first portrait set. He was so laid back and nosey! I let him wander around the room and basically followed him with my camera. So much better than the frightened cats I had worked with two days prior. After we were done with our session, Chaos was adopted by a wonderful young lady! Hooray!

Misty, a torti, and Sissy, a calico, we just as laid back and easygoing as Chaos. Misty roamed the room, even jumping up into the tub where all the dogs get baths! Sissy was a little spooky at times, but she purred as she explored.

So by letting cats do their thing and letting them explore and nose around, I was able to get a solid handful of super awesome pictures of them.

Thusly, the truth about cats is that they are not dogs!

Tri County Humane Society, 2nd day

Yesterday went well at TCHS. One of the ladies who works there had concocted a list of cats and dogs that needed pictures. Perfect. One by one I located the animals in need of portraits. Most were cats, and most had red cards (red cards are for animals that are new or nervous and can only be handled by TCHS staff).

The all in one room was being used for some cutie patootie puppy play and visitation, so while I waited I scoped out the dogs available for adopting. Millie was still there, hiding in the corner as she is very frightened of the shelter. Next to her was a big collie/aussie mix of sorts named Prince, who also wasn't a fan of being in the shelter. Blue followed, a big happy lab/retriever mix and the last was a little terrier who was a mean barker.

Kennel room A still had Buzz, the biggest baby ever Am Staff. He sported an inflatable cone and looked hilarious in it as he cried and whined for attention. Charlie was next to him, super sweet, shaking but friendly. She had a beautiful brindle coat (couldn't tell from the website!) Etta was next, a cute white and black pittie mix, followed by a brother and sister pair of hound mixes, Boone and Remi.

The all in one room cleared, and I was able to photograph the animals. Little Joe was first. He's big, fluffy grey, full of static and super weirded out that he is in a new room, with a strange floor, cowering as Buzz barks and whines from the otherside of the door. Unfortunately kennel room A's door is basically across the hall from the all in one room, so photographing cats while there's a noisy dog doesn't work.

This is when I came to the realization that shelter cats are much much harder to photograph than the dogs. But with some patience and creativity I managed to snag some good ones. Might invest in a chair with cool legs that the cats can hide under.

Charlie was much easier to photograph, minus that she wanted to be in my lap, one paw on me anytime I was eye level and on my knees and she didn't have anything that would make her perk up unless someone was moving in the hall outside the door.

The cats with the red cards couldn't be brought into any of the other rooms, so I snagged some shots of them in their kennels.

All in all a good day of pictures and learning about photographing cats as well as using my new lens. And now pictures!

From the top left to right: Tubby, Tiger, Patch, Little Joe, Lia and Cali

The the lovely Miss Charlie!