Tallulah & Abby The Adorable Pugs (Click to enlarge)

Well, school’s back in session.  Summer’s over.  Vacation’s have been taken and photos have been processed.  Did you get the shots you wanted?  Are the results of your shutter trips what you had in mind?

If any of the above answers are ‘No’, then you’ve not been listening.  There are two documents which I would never leave home without.  The absorption of the information in each is absolutely necessary to taking really good photographs consistently.

First – YOUR MANUAL.  Your manual is not expendable.  Even if you came to me with your camera and wanted help, the first thing I would ask is, where is your manual.  I would have to read it in order to help you with your problem.

Second – Bryan Peterson’s Exposure.  I’ve mentioned this book many times since I began this blog.  In my opinion, it is the best, most succinct document ever written about the basics of photography.  If you understand every page, you could use your camera not only to capture snap-shots to document your vacation or trip, but to make artistic creations that are suitable for any wall display.  Something you can be proud of.

Tallulah & Abby don’t have to worry about such things.  All they have to do is watch with those engaging eyes and ”Voila’!  Sweet portrait.

Santa & Allie The Shih Tzu (Click to enlarge)

Spoiler alert!  Get the kids out of the room.  That’s Terry as Santa .  This was Sisters Pet Pics’ 5th winter holiday.  We’ve offered Santa as an option before, but this year we had the three dimensional French Quarter scene as an option too.  We just thought some of those shots were just as cute as can be.

Allie is one of the sweetest Shih Tzus ever.  Sweet and inquisitive, she always brings it when she comes into our studio.  Oh yes, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen her.  Just type her name in the search feature (upper right on this page) to see other shots of her.  She loves the attention she gets when she’s dressed up, but her dad still prefers her naked self.  I’ll be posting more of Allie soon.

In my opinion, when a small dog or animal is posed with a person it’s best to get the heads close or you’ll lose the dog.  You will have to be aware that at the moment when the ears go up or the head tilts, part of the human face will be obstructed, which may impact negatively on the composition.  So set the animal up to allow for this, because when you make your noise and you get the animal look you want, you may not get another chance.

Yorkie With Family (Click to enlarge)

I hope you made many captures over your holiday season.  They will allow you to have those feelings as often as you desire.  It is the only sure way to capture a moment, yet it still amazes me that families get together once or twice a year or less and neglect to record the experience.  Life is short…memories are frail.

Meet Sweety and her family.  You could call any one of the three sweetie and you’d be right.  I loved these folks and though the humans aren’t wearing the same color on top as I’ve recommended in past posts, you can see that it works nevertheless.

I want you to notice the triangle the three faces make in this photo.  When you’re composing your shot look for the lines and shapes your composition makes.  This shot would be a lot less interesting if the heads were in a straight line.

I’d love to see your holiday shots.  Post them here!

Afghan Hound at Lure Coursing Event (Click to enlarge - click twice to enlarge again)

My best wish for all you aspiring photographers is that you get a chance to photograph an Afghan at a full run.  There is something about their coats that stops me dead in my tracks.  I was one of the spectators at a Lure Coursing event in southern Louisiana in November.  It is a joy to watch these running dogs because no one teaches them to do this…it’s just what they want to do.  All the humans have to do it sit back and watch them.  Either they do it or they don’t. This fella did.  Doesn’t his tail look like an integral part of the run?

The photographic technique is stop-action, not panning.  Though I moved the camera with the dog as he ran, my shutter speed was too fast to streak-blur the grass as would have happened if I shot at perhaps 1/60 or thereabouts.

I didn’t want much of a depth of field for this (f5.6) and I didn’t want a smidgen of blur on the dog, so I used a shutter speed of 1/1000.  We’ll talk more about panning soon.

If you’re interested in seeing more of these shots they can be viewed at Sisters Pet Pics Proof Section – Lure Coursing.

Zeke, Whitney & Reba The Who Dat Dawgs! (Click to enlarge)

It seems Who Dat fever is spreading far and wide.  As the weeks wear on and the home teams falter even the most zealous out-of-state-fan begins to look for a possible contender.  And when they do:

What to their wondering eyes do appear, but 11 at any one time without fear!

They throw e’m, they run ‘em stoked with more zeal than before.

They stop ‘em, they block ‘em and still they bring more!

On Henderson, on Colston both Thomases too.

We love some Bell ringing and Gay talkin’ with our hero the Drew.

On Scotty, on Willy, with Darren and Mike.

There’s still more in the wings just waiting to fight.

The smell of brown bags seems distant today.

We look over our shoulders, is there a piper to pay?

But no, there seems none, our boys keep comin’ instead.

Don’t worry folks if punting is done we got Morstead.

So to all who have waited for days such as these,

Don’t let them tell you the best is not Brees!

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!

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Click to enlarge)

For those anxious to view the snap shots we took at the Fest, they’re up!  Visit our Proofs page to view them.  You’ll see a link to Pet Fest 2009 to see the collections.

I mentioned the challenges I confronted in the post Over Stimulation Is Not Just For Children Any More.  You may think that bright light is easy…but it’s not.  I much prefer an overcast day for events when things are happening at break neck speed, as they were at Pet Fest 2009.  No sooner had I been speaking with Angela Hill of WWL-TV (she was just wonderful!) than a wagon-load of Chihuahuas and Papillons would stroll by.  Some subjects were in the blinding light, some in deep dark shadows, but all of them just needed to have their picture taken.

It was a journalistic photographer’s dream.  Stories all over the place.  For the studio portrait artist…a challenge.  I changed my settings so many times my fingers hurt.  I worried constantly about whether I was capturing the story in front of me…they were certainly bringing it.  Although I was supposed to be promoting our studio and our new location, I forgot about that most of the time, and just tried to record what was in front of me.  And it occurred to me; this was the best exercise for any aspiring photographer.  Whether you wanted to be a pet photographer or a journalist on the war front, this would have been a good start.

There was so much to photograph one didn’t have to walk about to find it.  I never found the time to check out the rest of the Fest as I had wanted to.  As far as I was concerned it was happening right in front of — or in — our tent.  This engaging little girl on the right was one of the souls I met that day.  I worried aloud about her to her dad.  My concern was about walking around with her unrestrained in such a madhouse.  I shared with him that I live with two cherished large parrots I would never expose to the dangers of all the people and animals at an event like this.  He assured me he does this all the time.  “What fun is it to have one of these guys if you can’t take them everywhere.”  I’m not passing judgment, I’m only voicing my concern for unconfined, unprotected animals.  It wouldn’t take but one strong breeze for even a clipped-winged bird to catch it and be off.

Nevertheless, I talked with and photographed this wonderful little creature.  I wish her and her dad long-lived safety, health and happiness as I do all the great new friends I met that day.  Enjoy the Proofs !

Dixie & Darlin' Christmas Yorkies (Click to enlarge)

I know you know these two.  Heck, I just posted them in their LSU outfits last week.  They’re all over this blog — just search for Dixie or Darlin’ in the search feature on the upper right to see them.  The reason I’m posting them again in different outfits is to illustrate a point.

When you looked at the holiday photo a few days ago with the three Shih Tzus you had to smile, didn’t you?  Come on, you just had to.  They’re all about intensity and Sebastian (the one on the left) has his lip all funny…and it just makes you smile.  These two as well.  With their little red top knots, but with just enough sincerity to spread joy.

In my mind a holiday greeting is supposed to spread good will and cheer as well as keeping friends and family updated.  This is Sisters Pet Pics’ fifth winter holiday season.  When people come in to our studio to have their portraits taken for cards, I can’t help but think how many smiles they must spread with their human and animal family photographs.  I just know the people receiving the card with Dixie and Darlin’ on it will smile broadly and will feel the warmth of cheer sent by Dixie & Darlin’s mom and dad.  I just love my job .

Happy Working Boxer - Tristan (Click to enlarge)

Okay, folks, most of you missed a really wonderful dog day today.  It was the Boxer Bash – Dober Dash 2009, an event put on by the Louisiana Boxer Rescue and Doberman Rescue Groups.  It seems my days have been filled with rescue groups, and I have been overwhelmed with stories of heroic and touching rescue.

But there is fun too, and these folks know how to have it.  A costume contest (of course), but there was also a musical sit game.  What a hoot.  The dogs and their human companions walked around cones until the music stopped, and then they had to sit…the last to sit was out.  It was fun for all, including the dogs!

There was an agility course set up and a couple of the Boxers were really, really good.  I was surprised because I usually see other breeds doing this, but I stand corrected.  Boxers are great athletes, as you can see in this shot of Tristan.  Every muscle seemed like it loved to do what he was doing.  It’s always a joy to watch dogs doing what they love and the people following their endeavors.

Today’s light was this photographer’s dream.  Overcast all day.  Even light everywhere.  I had many options for settings.  Busy background?  Slim depth of field, making the subject the only thing in focus.  Action?  High shutter speed.  I didn’t struggle much at all.  It was as much fun for me as it was for Tristan here.  1/1000 allowed a tack sharp action shot.  I loved this.

As soon as I catch my breath, I’ll be posting more photos from today, as well as all those photos from last week’s Pet Fest.

Pet Fest 2009 Poodle (Click to enlarge)

First of all, perhaps you regular readers have noticed that I haven’t posted to the blog every day as I was.  Yes, I fully expected this to happen.  The last 100 days of every year is when this photographer stays very busy.  Portraiture is in demand.  Many more events are held during the time the weather cools.  Some call it the party season and it doesn’t let up until after the New Year.  In southern Louisiana we notice another flurry of partying around Mardi Gras, then the summer doldrums. Well, that’s a photog’s life as I know it.  So I continue to post photos to hopefully inspire your best, but I won’t be posting every day again until March or April.

Having said that, I want to talk about what I call real world shooting.  It’s the kind of photography most – not all – of you are interested in.  You know, it’s the journalistic documentation of a day.  It could be indoors or out.  Much of the time it’s an outdoor event such as the one Sisters Pet Pics attended this past weekend.  Pet Fest 2009 in Metairie, LA.  What a hoot!  It was the largest event that I tried to photograph.  Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of dogs were present.  It would be an understatement to say I was over-stimulated!

Although the day was marvelous weather-wise, it was a challenging lighting situation.  I was getting carpal tunnel syndrome from changing settings as I walked in and out of sharp shadows and blinding sun.  A lot of the time the dogs were walking by our tent half in and half out of shadows.  This is the most challenging.

If I followed my rule about getting on the animal’s level to shoot I would have been crawling in the dirt all day.  Alas, my knees wouldn’t have allowed such.  This is an example of “rules were meant to be broken”.  Some dogs were in arms and some were on the ground, but they all were moving and excited and to document their costumes and coats was difficult at best.

Here’s a plan of action.  Try to get yourself in a position where the sun is not directly behind you, but over a shoulder.  Watch your own shadow.  It is not always possible to run around a shot (you tennis players will recognize that reference ).  Try to make sure you are not blowing out the coats of light dogs.  If you have their faces in shadow and the tops of their heads in blinding sun, come as close as you can to the subjects, meter the shadowed area, shoot and hope for the best.

This is a good and worthy plan that should work if you are not trying to photograph hundreds and hundreds of dogs who are all around you as you are also trying to talk to their human companions.  I would love to see some of your photos from the day.  I know you took plenty and I’m not buying the premise that you’re intimidated.  I’ve seen some of your work offline and I’m impressed, so come on.  How did you do in that challenging lighting situation?  Talk about your experiences with shooting family get-togethers and events.  That is the reason most people own cameras and my reason for writing this blog.