St Tammany Humane Society's Woofstock 2010, Covington LA

Easter Bunny & Poodles!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending Woofstock 2010, which is a major fundraiser for our St. Tammany Humane Society.  Although the weather was brutal – 40° and very windy – spirits were high and the entertainment was superb.  If you get a chance, seek out Four Unplugged and Ghost Town.  Both groups put on a super show under difficult conditions.  They donated their time and totally rocked out.  The hardy souls who got to hear them felt very lucky indeed.   Of course we were there and we brought our number one bunny friend!  We have the humane, environmentally friendly,  real live Easter Bunny!

I want to remind those who are tempted to partake in live rabbit sales or promotions, rabbits grow, become hormonal at 4-6 months, and will not remain the cute bunny you first met for very long.  They can bite and scratch and are not suitable pets for very young children.  If you truly wish to be friends with a rabbit, there are organizations which rescue the discarded rabbits who desperately need homes.

Megan The Flying Boxer (Click to enlarge)

Last weekend Sisters Pet Pics was invited to photograph a fundraising event for the Louisiana Boxer Rescue and the Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue groups.  It was the Boxer Bash/Dobe Dash 2009!  We had a wonderful time.  Read about how we were touched by these heroic and yet fun folks on the Boxer Bash Proofs page.

This shot of Megan isn’t perfect, but her intensity overcomes some of the problems for me.  For instance the tunnel peeking out on the left of the frame.  I wish I could have placed myself a little to my left to have avoided that.  But I thought you may like to see what other athletic dog breeds are doing for fun.  Why … they’re flying!

Playful Painted Colt (Click to enlarge)

You met this little guy in The Painted Colt post and Mother & Child Reunion Home Home On The Range post.  I thought I’d post another look at this funny, playful, endearing person to remind those who do not have every day relationships with horses that there are 9.2 million horses in America.  Of those only 60 thousand are wild.  Of those 60 thousand, 33 thousand are already in captivity, languishing in Bureau of Land Management (BLM ) facilities.  Those in captivity have been terrorized by helicopters to the point of exhaustion and lameness in order to get them where the BLM wanted them.

I’ve written of this horror in the posts mentioned, but I’d like you to read The Natural Horse Blog’s September 16th post, Cloud, The Wild Horses, And How You Can Help.  If you cannot adopt one of these horses, please, please read the bottom of the post where it lists people to write to, people to call.

Please do what you can.  These lives are important.  When the indigenous horses are gone…well, they’re gone.  We can’t come back from that.

Sunshine The Rescued Retired Racing Greyhound (Click to enlarge)

So you have a nice camera and a fairly nice lens.  You want to photograph your pets inside the house, but the only light you have besides ambient is an in-camera flash, and you get the dreaded red or green eyes on your sweet little person.  To the naked eye they don’t look anything like a demon, but as soon as the flash pops, they look like Kujo’s sibling.

Flash portraiture is a difficult thing to accomplish if you’re only using an in-camera flash.  It is my recommendation that you spend $100 on a lens before you spend hundreds on a speedlight, which you can use off-camera. Here’s why.

I highly recommend that you purchase your camera body’s 50mm prime equivalent for low light situations.  They don’t call it a Nifty Fifty for nothing.  Some time ago I hemmed and hawed about whether I should spend $300 on the f1.4 50mm or $100 for the f1.8 version.  I can tell you now that I have not been sorry about saving myself $200 for the f1.8.  The Nikon version is a very nice piece of glass.  It’s sharp and fast.  That’s what you want.

This is Sunshine, a 14 year old Greyhound who lives with her mom and dad and 4 other dogs, 3 of them rescued Greyhounds.  Now, you know I’ve said how I think these Greyhound people are heroes for what they do, but this family is a double scoop of heroes.  They get the dogs that no one else can take: the old, the infirm, and even one who growls (I never saw a Greyhound who had been so abused s/he didn’t like people).  It was a surprise to me that Sunshine’s housemate cannot leave the property because she is totally traumatized.  Hence, the location shoot for the Greyhound Pets Of America – Louisiana Chapter’s 2010 calendar.

This shot of Sunshine was taken inside because none of these old folks (the dogs ) wanted to step outside in their lovely backyard because it was too dang hot.  This is a nice example of what the lens can do.  I’m sitting on the floor next to Sunshine and I’ve used an aperture of f2.8 allowing the background to just blur gently behind her.  Because the DOF is so slim only one eye is in focus.  Perfect.  The story of a tender aging dog is told in the eye of the soul.

What’s your favorite lens?

Family Dogs (Click to enlarge)

Are these folks lovely or what!  Posing a large group of dogs like this is a little challenging, but having their human in the frame makes it easier.  Their mom has rescued each of them from different sources; the latest – Lucy – was rescued from under the building where she works.  It took many months of patience to coax her out, then home and inside comfortably, before she felt as ease.  She’s still very shy, so she felt much more comfortable under her mom’s arm.  From left to right: Piglet, Buddy, Lucy and Lily.

I’m posting this group today to illustrate a method of grouping that you can use with or without humans.  Any box, step or stairs can give you different levels to make your composition more interesting.  Small dogs or even cats can be posed on different stairs.  Two larger dogs can be posed with front feet on a step and back feet on the floor.  Any number of configurations may serve to make it more interesting.

I keep boxes that can be covered with the floor cloth, and the stairs can be used with or without a cloth.  Use your imagination.  Don’t think it takes dogs that will obey a “stay” command to make this capture.  It takes an assistant and patience.  Give it a shot.

Tinkerbell The Yorkshire (Yorkie) Terrier (Click to enlarge)

Is this tiny girl just adorable, or what?  Could you imagine this tiny soul being used to bait train an already double-her-size fighting breed puppy?   Cats were used with the young fighters as well.  That’s standard operating procedure for those in the business of fighting dogs.

You’ve read what I have to say about this in Why Michael Vick Cannot Be Rehabilitated; what say you?  He appeared on 60 Minutes tonight.  Is his contrition believable to you?  If you were a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, how would you react?  As any other football fan, how will you react when he appears in your stadium?

He keeps saying it was a mistake.  In my opinion a mistake is wearing a brown belt with black shoes.  What he did over the course of many years to countless animals is not a mistake.  It was unconscionable.  It is a crime like rape or pedophilia, evidence of a deep-seeded illness which cannot be repaired.  One cannot “pay their debt to society” for these crimes.  Society can only be warned of their whereabouts so we can protect ourselves from them.

Can you look in Tinkerbell’s eyes and picture the horror she might face if she was lost and then found by one of these fighting dog proponents?  I have heard others who are willing to “give him another chance”.  Can a perpetrator of extreme violence ever be rehabilitated?  What do you think?

Abigail The Rescued Retired Racing Greyhound

Well it’s about time for another Greyhound isn’t it?  I need to remind those who still want to get in to be eligible for entry into the 2010 Greyhound Pets of America – Louisiana Chapter calendar to make an appointment today.  Time is running out.  The deadline for calendar portraits is August 16th.  It’ not too late.  There’s no obligation to buy anything…it’s free.  Just make an appointment, and show up.  Easy .

I post Abigail today to show the stunning beauty of Greyhounds even when they don’t do what the photog wants them to do.  When these dogs run, they lay their ears back in this aerodynamic way.  After all, they’re built for speed.  We work hard to get their ears up and tongues in, but even when we fail…they’re just gorgeous.  Abigail doesn’t race anymore, but she is still ripped.

Compositional elements to note:  nice 45° angle to the camera and beautiful stretched stance.  I think this is stacked for a Greyhound.  Remember, Greyhounds don’t really sit.  It’s not that they can’t, it’s just that they don’t…much.  If they won’t down, stand them, but try to get that sweet 45° angle.  I usually like to pose dogs and cats collarless, but Greyhounds have special collars that are wide and flat and make their necks elegant looking, so sometimes we shoot them with their dress-up collars.  Abigail looks stunning in hers, doesn’t she?

As always, post photos or comments  to any entry.  Let’s see your successes or even failures; we all can learn from them.

Dixie The Brindle Pit Bull (Click to enlarge)

I’ve been discussing high and low key photography of late.  I post Dixie today for a few reasons.  Notably, she is a Pit Bull, but we’ll get to that shortly.

This image is an example of what I call the high drama of the low key shot.  When I set my key and hair lights at a 1:1 ratio, that is, both are set to the same power, with a dark subject against a dark backdrop – low key shot.  I could have even under-exposed this more to only show the highlights of her coat, but I liked it like this quite a bit.

The real reason I’m posting this sweet Pit Bull today is to talk about this breed and the horrors which seem to befall them more than any other.  Dixie is of noble stock; highly intelligent and fiercely loyal.  Do you see that here?  I think so.  Yet there are those who would kidnap her or any of her cousins to be used for fighting.  High prices are paid for certain dogs.

As people take interest in the ability of animals to make money, the lives of the animals become less important than the money they generate.  You’re not a believer?  In the racing industry,  winning records are of maximum import, not the health, happiness or well-being of the racers.  The more money that’s involved, the more likely that the animal may be drugged and pushed to execute commands they would not choose to do.

Just because Greyhounds are born to run does not mean they shouldn’t do other things…like live and play outside cages and crates.  The same holds true for Thoroughbred horses.  Animals do not exist for human entertainment.  You are probably saying, hey there, you’re preaching to the choir.  After all, my readers are not fighting Pit Bulls.  However, my readers are fans of football, as am I.

You know where I’m going with this, I’m sure.  Yep, the poster child for the worst humanity has to offer dogs, in the guise of a rehabilitated football player trying to get back into the good graces of the NFL.  On Saturday, August 8th, he appeared at a dog training class in an Atlanta inner city suburb to say to the hand-picked audience how sorry he is, and how he’s smarter now.

The 23 months Mr. Vick served cannot erase the horror hundreds of dogs suffered at his hands.  He is not remorseful.  Everything Mr. Vick does has only to do with getting him back to making multi-millions of dollars.  It is folly to have him be a spokesperson for the Humane Society, speaking against dog fighting.  Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society, said they want to be open and reach as many people as possible with its anti-dogfighting message. Do pedophiles get rehabilitated in pre-schools?  Do rapists get rehabilitated in women’s gyms?  Don’t get me started on a possible rehabilitation for Lorena Bobbitt.

Read this, Mr. Vick:  If you want to rehabilitate yourself, you need to spend long hours doing the anonymous, thankless work in the hundreds of thousands of animal shelters around the country, caring for abandoned, neglected, abused and mutilated pets, with the true knights of valor who struggle to make ends meet, because their time and resources are spent trying to heal the pets you’ve hurt.  You do not fool me, Mr. Vick.

Painted Mare & Colt (Click to enlarge)

You’ve already met this stiff legged little fella in the Painted Colt post.  I thought I’d post him with his mom today to celebrate  what is being called a huge victory in the fight to save the wild mustang from near extinction.

The Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, has championed the cause of ranching conglomerates in their quest to eliminate the wild mustang herds.  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been tasked with the removal of the West Douglas Herd of Wild Mustangs from their range in Colorado.  On August 5, 2009, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the United States District Court, District of Columbia, ruled as follows: “For reasons explained herein, the Court finds that BLM’s decision to remove the West Douglas Herd exceeds the scope of authority that Congress delegated to it in the Wild Horse Act. The Court will grant in part Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, deny Defendants’ cross motion for summary judgment, and set aside BLM’s decision.”

Judge Collyer further slaps the BLM with harsh statements reminding them that it’s against the law to remove a wild free-roaming horse or burro from public lands, convert a wild free-roaming horse or burro to private use, or kill or harass a wild free-roaming horse or burro.

You may say to yourself, “What is this to me? I don’t have, love, ride or know horses.  I live in a city, town or suburb with my beloved dog/cat/bird.”  If you cannot grasp the meaning of extinction of a wild species; if you cannot know how related to our own dear causes this horse slaughter is, then you probably landed on this blog by accident or you’re a photographer wanting to pick up a few extra bucks by shooting pets.  You may not have learned that capturing good photographs of animals means knowing, understanding and loving them.  Perhaps I can point you to some information which I hope will open your heart to the plight of another animal.  If I can’t…well, bye, bye.  But if you understand how linked to our own human history these great herds are, join us.  If you can embrace the wrenching fear and sadness these animals face as they are trapped and held for slaughter, then cheer this victory with us and write to your congressperson and senators and tell them you want more.

In the Painted Colt post you will learn more about the cause and the plight.  Joe Camp’s blog entry on August 6th, Federal Court Slaps the BLM – Says Mustang Removal Illegal, gives more information about the ruling.  If you are owned by a little dog and think that you don’t love all dogs, reconsider, for the heart which loves one will flourish with the love of many.  The heart which can love many species can soar, but the heart that loves all can heal the world.

Pedro The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Click to enlarge)

My first dog as an away-from-the-nest young adult must have been of Spaniel descent.  She looked very much like Pedro, pictured here.  Loyal and true with an almost knightly honor, Moya was my friend, my confidant, who joined me willingly on roads less traveled in the late ’60s.

I haven’t met many Cavs, but I have met a few Spaniels.  Whether of mixed or pure heritage, they have eyes that are pools, which seem to hold secrets only they know, but which weigh heavily on their souls.  Would they share if they could?

Dogs with eyes like Pedro’s and Moya’s make me wax poetic but somber.  My hope for the plight of animals seem to rest as secure as wishes bought with coins dropped in fountains, which go unanswered every day.  When you meet  a caregiver, a rescuer, who seems to have sharper edges than most, who is of short temper, who may be unyielding and seemingly uncooperative, do not judge.  These are the unsung heroes.  These are soldiers still willing to fight the war of abuse, slaughter and neglect, but for them we have no front liners.  They need our support.  Our time.  Our money.

While picking your battles may be prudent, the fronts are vast.  While the rescue of humans from the pervasive poverty which afflicts them can bring a nation to its knees, we also must remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated“.  I fear our nation has a long way to go.

If you cannot volunteer, these organizations need your monetary support: St. Tammany Animal Resource Team (START), St. Tammany Humane Society, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), St. Francis Animal Sanctuary, Greyhound Pets of America – Louisiana Chapter, Greyhound Pets of America – National, Animal Welfare Institute, Front Range Equine Rescue, and many more too numerous to mention.  If you have money, and would like to help but don’t know where to donate, please contact Sisters Pet Pics for suggestions.  We will help you find a cause near and dear to your own heart.