The road trip that went east before it went south... part 4

Evan and I ran to the nearest Walmart for some supplies. I brought my handy dandy camera with, and though I didn't snag any pictures of the mild, pink sunset, I did capture a collection of light paintings. (If you are curious, light painting is capturing a light source with a slow shutter, resulting in a painting effect.) What did I use for the light paintings? Car headlights & taillights, lights on buildings and streetlights. Don't mind the distortion in the blues, it is from saving and uploading.

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Spent the following morning meandering about, in search of the elusive fall colors of Maryland. There were a couple of minor oranges and yellows, but the greens still outpaced them by a ton.  Visited a very creepy old cemetery and ancient tree that was home to a flock of vultures and a cute little pond that had peepers that squawked and scared the poo out of me. (I think they are a type of frog...)

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Bunkered down for the midday sun, while capturing more images of Jen's dogs (this time with treats!) Jen made me a pair of continuous, not remotely to scale pair of maps that would lead me to Tuckaho State Park where I would get a good view of the Bay Bridge and possibly some water birds. Not much luck with the birds, though I did see a male cardinal and an egret. The sun lazily started to go down, so I made my way back to the parking lot, the mosquitos nearly as thick as the swarms in Minnesota. Around a curve I came across a yearling dear, as well as his mother and smaller sibling. We gawked at each other until they moved through the grass. Or at least mother and smaller did. Finally the yearling decided to dash through the grass and into the brush.  

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As I was leaving, the light started to brighten into a sunset and I scurried, half lost and a Minnesotan amongst Maryland drivers, to a restaurant called Hemingways. Though I missed the shot of the vibrant red fireball just before it crested beneath some clouds on the horizon, I did manage to snag some shots of the sunset and water of the bay.

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Keep your eyes peeled for part 5!

Halloween - 52 Week Project

For this week's challenge, the theme was Halloween! This past weekend I photographed a dog birthday party that not only featured a doggie cake and cookies, but a couple of outfit changes including a pair of halloween costumes! Butters was the star of the show as it was his birthday, sporting a plaid bandana, then a superman costume, and a pumpkin shirt! Butters' friend Frodo showed up in a bright orange tiger punk outfit!

Continue to Los Angeles based, Spotty Nose Pet Photography! And happy Halloween!

The road trip that went east before it went south... part 3

Up with the sun, hoping that Jen's back had miraculously cured through the night and the leaves had changed into vibrant colors in celebration. No such luck on either. But the weather was nice, and Jen had 3 dogs that I wanted to meet and photograph! A few better light shots with Brie, the doglike cat, and then outside to be introduced to the gang.

Brie, the talkative 17 year old cat who is more like a dog than a cat.

Introducing Jen's gang of dogs: Bosco, Chakotay and Townsend!

Bosco and Chakotay are brothers. They are 14 years old and very different in personalities! Bosco is the woe is me type, whining when he's sad, lonely, mellow and happy. He's soft and fluffy, enjoys as much attention he can get.

Chakotay is much more of the proud type dog. He's laid back, easy going and keeps an eye on the yard and his wimpy brother.

Townsend is 7 and the bratty baby of the three. She bothers Bosco to play, she bothers Chakotay to play, she grabs pant legs and tends to be mouthy like a puppy. But man is she silly! She also doesn't hold still very long, and loves to chase frogs!

This was the best picture I could snag of Jen's gang all together!

The road trip that went east before it went south... part 2

Woke up in Buck Creek, to gloomy rain threatening skies. No sunrise for us! Meandered towards the interstate, making sure to get gas before we headed out. The road drew us nearer towards the east coast, the clouds moody and occasionally breaking with either rain or sunshine. We stopped for food at a Wendy's, and encountered a heavy southern accent that rambled on about the tiles on the floor. In the bathroom. When had we made it to Alabama?

We continued to move forward, pausing at a pretty little rest stop in Ohio (not exactly sure where I was most of the time driving, just kept moving forward towards Maryland.) There were some fall colors, some interesting little bright orange flowers and a collection of mushrooms. A great place to stretch and limber up the legs.

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Once more we were road bound. The road had pushed us through a tiny bit of West Virginia to a ramshackle town called Wheeling. The older part of town is built on Wheeling Island and showcases empty, run down, enormous and ornate houses as well as a huge southwest (with palm trees) themed casino. On the mainland side of Wheeling, the city is packed together in a unique mix of old and new building spanning alongside the river.

(All the images I captured are from Wheeling Island.)

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From Wheeling, we continued on the road into Pennsylvania. More roads, and scenic little farms with cute little barns. We passed a pasture full of little horses and big horses and made the decision to deviate from our current path. 

The road to the horses was narrow, bridged by trees full of color. We crested a small hill, a rolling pasture to our right with cows. And a... zebra?!? Not only was there one zebra but there was a second one, a pair of camels and a pair of wildebeests! I snagged my critter lens (telephoto lens) thinking that the exotic critters would turn tail and run to their barn to hide. Instead they meandered right up to the fence line to see who had come to see them! I pet the bigger of the two wildebeests, and almost got eaten by the zebra. Hooray for deviating from the main road!

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After our exotic critter adventure, we continued on the road towards Maryland. I drove across the Bay Bridge, which was super exciting and slightly frightening, then maneuvered to Jen's house in the dark. It was too dark to meet her dogs, but I did get to meet Brie, the doglike cat. I also met Jen's husband Evan, and got my own room in her house!

Fall - 52 Week Project

I just got back from a travel filled two weeks and was greeted by the theme of Fall for the Beautiful Beasties Network. Here in Minnesota we are at the tail end of peak season for color, so a fall backdrop came naturally! Here's a collection of sneak peeks featuring some awesome dogs and the fall leaves.

Luna was the first session on a chilly morning in Brainerd, MN. She's an energetic, well trained and super food motivated Australian Cattle Dog. Plus she is stunning and adorable!

The next session featured the sweet Belle, who ventured out despite the weather threatening to rain and snow! Luckily the little bit of rain that had been occurring during the day cleared in time!

The final fall images feature a pair of brave and spunky dapple dachshunds, Mickey and Penny! Not only was it damp, but it had snowed for most of the morning! These little doxies didn't mind at all!

Next up visit the wonderful Pavlina of Pavlina Sanborn Photography and see how fall looks in Florida!

The road trip that went east before it went south...

It had been planned out a few months in advance. The fall would bring Jen of J. L. Gould Photography, from Maryland to Minnesota, where she would snag me and we would venture forth to the Badlands, Grant Tetons, Yellowstone and southern Colorado. It just so happened that the government decided to shut down and Jen's back went out roughly upon the same time as her arrival to Minnesota.

Halt the plans! Now put them in reverse! Jen was doctored and loaded up with a loopy pill regimen, sent on her merry way and told to go easy on her back. The best bed for her back was located in the eastern state of Maryland. So we packed up my things, loaded up and I took the wheel of the Element.

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Our evening stop was in DeForest, WI. Quaint little town with a cute but hard to find KOA behind a cheese chalet and a subway. Jen limped to freshen up and I manhandled the tent. By the way, please don't ask me to set up a tent. It took me a solid 20 mins to figure out how to get it to work like I had seen it done numerous times before.

Tent up. I babbled with the loopy Jen before we called it a night. Morning was cold, almost frosty. I meandered a bit, wishing I had grabbed my camera from the Element prior. Jen woke, the sun started to come up and a lovely thick fog rolled into the wild field just behind our campsite. Snagged a couple pictures, tore down the tent, then ventured towards the cheese chalet with a giant holstein cow and a mouse climbing the sign.

Down the road was a gas station with a large, nearly life-sized... PINK elephant with hipster glasses!!!

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We continued down the highway, watching the scenery as it passed. Suddenly Jen asked me how long we  had been on E for gas... I hadn't even noticed! And of course now that we needed gas, the towns became smaller and spread further apart. A tiny town of PawPaw, IL was our saving grace. All gassed up, and me more conscious of the gas indicator, a pause in the road to watch a spike buck in a soybean field and then we were back on the highway.

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Roads, weather, construction and random detours greeted us and passed us down the way to Buck Creek State Park in Ohio. We snagged a campsite and raced towards the water we had seen in hopes that the clouds would catch the sunset and make for a pretty setting. Alas the sunset fizzled out, but the clouds were still interesting.

Keep an eye out for part 2 featuring a rundown old town, and some exotic animals!

Tri County Humane Society's Companion Walk!

September 7th, 2013 marked Tri County Humane Society's annual fundraising 5K Companion Walk (aka Woofstock). The weather was warm and humid, but there were plenty of kiddie pools and cooling off stations to make sure no people or dogs ended up over heating.

This was my first year at Woofstock, and I was lucky enough to be able to have a booth showcasing my photography at the event. Granted, I tended to meander and photograph all the dogs instead of manning my booth, but I believe it generated some solid interest or at least shade for people!

The walk started, but I did not get a chance to get to the front of the pack, so instead I jogged to roughly the middle, maneuvered between walkers and dogs and plopped down in the middle of the path and started shooting. Some dogs pulled their owners so that they could meet me before passing, while other dogs looked at me like I had gone crazy. One little pomeranian almost walked right into me, then growled at me because it was my fault it hadn't seen me!

Not only did dogs attend, but a cage of rats, some turtles and a pair of hermit crabs also made an appearance in support of Tri County.

The temperature kept rising, but that didn't stop the awesome frisbee dogs and agility dogs from showcasing their talents! Axle would do well at both, I wonder if there is a agility frisbee course?

The event was tons of fun and I took a bazillion pictures! I can't wait to attend next year's Companion Walk! If you'd like to join in, next year's even will be on Saturday September 13th! I might have my own frisbee or agility dog to show off!