Melvin-Dancing with a Squirrel!

Love at first sight!

Meet Melvin, my new muse. He just ran out of the back bush up into a tree beside our back deck and into our hearts. The boys decided to name him Melvin (I guess that's a good name for a Squirrel- and no, I do not know if Melvin is actually Melvillina).  I just know as he clutched his little furry spot over his heart, that I too felt a little tug at my heart. 

Our backyard backs onto a large bush area, so a day without wildlife is highly unusual. I've given up gardening as the deer an rabbits eat it up before it even has a chance to do much(Yes, I have tried every repellent -human hair, Irish Spring Soap, fences, etc) And now, it appears I can add a Squirrel to our list of co-habitats. I suspected that this guy was around as I dug out my planters in Spring to re-pot and discovered stashes of peanuts and sunflower seeds. I also suspect he was a little tame as we did the "trust me" dance this morning. I started taking pictures of him only to discover that instead of running away he came closer! I quickly ran inside the house to rummage through my cupboards to see what tasty morsels I could find for him. The only thing I could come up with is a sweet and salty Nutri-Grain bar ( Now, I have all the animal activist rolling their yes! Even my boys gave me a lecture on how not to feed chocolate to animals-Oops, okay I'll go shopping and buy him some peanuts for next time!) I don't think he minded the tasty treat and he came to get it right in front of me allowing me time to take some pictures -every once-in- a- while scooting up to a higher branch and then returning back down to me. I'm sure I'll see him again and I'll keep you posted on how the relationship grows!

Checking each other out.

Checking me out from a higher position.

That was worth a treat.

Creative Imaging Final Project-Dog Portraits!

Ziggy

 

Well, here it is! I've had a few request to post my final project- dog portraits- to my blog so friends and family of these GREAT Models can view the final results. As school wound down for the year we were assigned different, larger final projects. For Creative Imaging we could choose to complete a project of interest to us. The stipulation was that it included at least 15 images and was worth 20 % of our final grade for the course. My Major was Portraiture and I decided  that I would like to investigate Dog Portraiture. I thought- In people portraiture, the photographer tries to capture the individual's "essence" or personality-can the same be applied to an animal such as a dog?? My goal was to photograph many dogs both known and unknown to me as well photograph them in different settings- Home, in natural light, in a studio setting, yes, and even at a dog show. I tried to think of some words of wisdom to give to photographer's photographing dogs and just came up with a few tips. Have treats ready (3 of dogs I photographed actually loved carrot pieces!) crinkled up bags ie:chip bags got their attention and sometimes key words they understood like"Walk" worked well in getting them to pick up there ears. Some of the dogs I spent lots of time with, going to the park, and usually I tried to photograph them in a spot that they would naturally gravitate towards in their home, like a big chair, front stairs, etc.. Some of the images , When I felt the dogs character was fun or they had an animated look to them I did a little "Edgy" processing to the photo to make it look more painted and less photo like. It was really fun to do and I think what struck me the most was that each dog had it's own personality and I could really see how much these animals were loved by their owners. 

 Mia

Sammy

Liebie

Sporty

Digger
Missy
Rocky
Zoe
Wilkie

Abby

Beemer

The rest of the images where taken during a March dog show. It was a great place to go to learn more about breeds and and the competitive dog world.

At the Lake- Self Assignment

                   Flying Bee to the blossom tree

Today was the first day we made it to the Lake this spring. There is nothing like hanging out at the parent's cabin, just relaxing and breathing in the fresh air. It was also a great time to reflect on this past years school experience. Only 4 MORE DAYS, till graduation! I had my camera with me at the Lake and realized that I no longer HAVE to do any more school assignments for marks. Then I began to think- maybe I should give myself self-assignments- challenges to help me continue to develop as a photographer. My first self assignment was to try and photograph a flying Bee. I stood by my Mom's apple tree for 1/2 hour to try to capture the Bumble bee's working hard on the blossoms. (Okay, my Mom is beginning to get a little worried about my photoholic tendencies). Then I thought, let's look around at the everyday things I've seen a thousand times at the Lake a see it in a different way and spend some time working on the editing. When I looked at the final results, I had to laugh- pictures from previous years were nothing like this years! Maybe I have learned a thing or two at school this year! Here are a few images of the Lake this year.

                         Bee busy at work

                                          Tree bark

 Maggie, the Neighbor's  dog who just wonder's over for a snack, every now and again.

  Missy, sad because she got dirty and wet in the Lake and had to be chained up outside!

  Bird in the tree- I loved the contrast of the blue and yellow!

                   Iris's at the side of the road.

                 View down the Lane

                                   Mom's flower's

Teenage fun!

So school's coming to an end and I'm entering into the final weeks. It's a little sad, but I can feel a well needed rest coming on. I still had an opportunity to rent the studio at school one last time last week.(Sniff, Sniff) I've really enjoyed my time in the studio playing with lights and have decided I'm certainly investing in a Studio set-up! I had the pleasure of photographing two dynamic young women, Ariana and her friend Kristyn. It was a lot of fun and we had some great laughs! They were great sports and  shared their talents of dancing and modeling. I also had a chance to do a promo shot for them for this summer's Folk Festival at Bird's Hill Park. Kristyn is an up and coming song writer and Ariana has the most amazing voice! WOW, to be so young and talented! They will be performing on July 9th-check with the Festival's info. which should be out shortly for more details! 

 
                                               Ariana

                                                      Kristyn

Springs great, let's get into Summer!

I love Spring and Blossom time! I had a chance to do some weather therapy this week. It's been horribly cool still in Winnipeg- Frost warnings tonight! I ran around to a few apple trees today and shot off some pics. I didn't realize just how different the blooms are on each tree. Nothing's better than  the smell! Hopefully, there will still be some blossoms left after the frost! Enjoy! It's got to get warm soon!