Category: Project 52

Project 52 | Week 22 – Scenes From a Dog Walk

The theme for week 22 of the Project 52 Pet Photographer’s blog circle is “Photographers Choice”.

Our favourite walking path is right behind our house in this most glorious open field. The field is bordered by the Cordite Trail which takes us on a lovely walk surrounded by bulrushes on one side and prairie grass on the other.

My choice this week is to share some scenes from our morning dog walk here in “our” field.

Over the past 30 years, I have shared my life with some great dogs. I have walked and enjoyed this field with all of them.

Now it is Lacie, Odin and I who walk the trails.

We never tire of the path or the scenery as each new season writes its own story.

The summer brings daisies and butterflies.

The autumn shows off the prairie fall colours while Canada geese gather for their journey south.

The winter brings stillness and sun dogs and the spring brings a new green with the new promise.

The field is also a place to meet up with friends.

Maple is a young Labradoodle, roughly the same age as Odin. He and Odin met in this field and were quick to become best friends. Nothing brings more happiness to Odin’s day than spotting Maple trotting towards him across the open field. Nothing is more fun than a romp in the field and through the bulrushes.

“No walk is lovelier than the walk you make inside a field!” ~ Mehmet Murat ildan

Project 52 _______________________
This post is part of the Pet Photography Project 52 blog circle. To see what the next photographer is sharing for the weekly theme, “Photographers Choice”, visit Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography fetching portraits in Coppell, Carrollton and the greater Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex. Continue to click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here. Enjoy!

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Project 52 | Week 21 – Black and White

The theme for week 21 of the Project 52 Pet Photographer’s blog circle is “black and white”.

This week I am digging into the archives for photos of one of my favourite subjects for black and white photography, my beautiful Sadie-Girl.

Sadie entered my life as a 5-year-old English Springer Spaniel who had recently lost her elderly owner.

I had been tentatively searching for a second companion for my little Shih Tzu, Coco. My hope was to find a smallish dog to be his playmate.

A friend emailed me about Sadie’s plight and wondered if I might be interested. I knew nothing about the breed but it sounded like she would be a bigger, more active dog than what I had envisioned as a playmate for our little Coco Bean. None the less, Roland and I decided to go and meet her.

Roland fell instantly in love and, sure enough, Sadie joined our family that same day.

She was indeed larger than what I had planned for, with energy to burn and an insatiable appetite to play in water, but she was also the most gentle of souls. We quickly came to realize how blessed we were to have her.

This last photo is one of my favourites… Roland, Sadie and Coco.

He loved his dogs. And they loved him.

“Tu me manques.”

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!” ~ Ted Grant

Project 52 _______________________
This post is part of the Pet Photography Project 52 blog circle. To see what the next photographer is sharing for the weekly theme, “Black and White”, visit Jo Lyons Photography, the down-to-earth dog-loving photographer for cherished dogs of the Great Lakes NSW. Continue to click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here. Enjoy!

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Project 52 | Week 20 – Golden Hour

The theme for week 20 of the Project 52 Pet Photographer’s blog circle is “Golden Hour”.

The golden hour in photography refers to that short period of daylight just after sunrise and just before sunset… shadows are long and soft, colours are warm and more evenly dispersed, often resulting in a golden glow.

As it happens, the early morning is often when you will find Lacie, Odin and I out and about, enjoying the first light and our first walk of the day. This week was a little more challenging as the early temps dipped unseasonally low, well below freezing. None the less, here are some photos from a gorgeous cool spring morning earlier this week.

Lacie is my perfect little model, but she often looks like she could use a pair of sunglasses. Yes, it’s true, dogs will squint in the sun and find it a bit uncomfortable just like us humans. Not sure why I was surprised by this, but I was. So now I try to capture Lacie with her face turned slightly away instead of directly facing the sun.

Odin doesn’t quite have a handle on this modelling business yet, so when I was able to capture this pose, I was excited, and a little more accepting of Lacie’s squinty look. Sorry Lace… some doggie sunglasses are in the works, I promise.

“The golden hour – that hour of sunshine where the world looks the way it looks in your dreams.” ~ Danny Wallace

Project 52 _______________________
This post is part of the Pet Photography Project 52 blog circle. To see what the next photographer is sharing for the weekly theme, “Golden Hour”, visit Elaine Tweedy of I Got the Shot Photography, watching pure gold from her patio in Northeastern PA while social distancing. Continue to click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here. Enjoy!

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Project 52 | Week 19 – Leading Lines

The theme for week 19 of the Project 52 Pet Photographer’s blog circle is “leading lines”.

In photography, leading lines refers to a composition technique where lines are used to lead to and/or emphasized the subject, thereby enhancing the story. Leading lines can be found everywhere… roadways, fences, shadows, rivers, the list is endless.

Here are some examples captured, with Odin and Lacie, on our morning walk.

For fun, here is a quick outtake of Lacie and Odin as they broke their “stay”.

Still within the lines. :)

“Every line tells its own story, even the very tentative ones.” ~ Gillian Redwood

Project 52 _______________________
This post is part of the Pet Photography Project 52 blog circle. To see what the next photographer is sharing for the weekly theme, “Leading Lines”, visit Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography fetching portraits in Coppell, Carrollton and the greater Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex. Continue to click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here. Enjoy!

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Project 52 | Week 18 – Let There Be Light

The theme for week 18 of the Project 52 Pet Photographer’s blog circle is “let there be light”.

Without light, there is no photography and it is the art of playing with the light that brings life and emotion to an image, thereby creating a story.

The first light that comes to mind, and especially with my camera in hand, is the gorgeous morning light. With the longer days, capturing the sunrise is becoming more ambitious, but walking with my dogs in the early morning is something that we do every day.

Spring is starting to make itself known. The snow is gone but it is still too early for the green that is promised.

None-the-less. the new warmth and lovely light bring fresh stories every day.

“What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time.” ~ John Berger

Project 52 _______________________
This post is part of the Pet Photography Project 52 blog circle. To see what the next photographer is sharing for the weekly theme, “Let There Be Light”, visit Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography fetching portraits in Coppell and surrounding communities in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex. Continue to click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here. Enjoy!

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Project 52 | Week 17 – Before and After

The theme for week 17 of the Project 52 Pet Photographer’s blog circle is “Before and After”.

During my 10 years of volunteering and photographing the adoptable dogs at Winnipeg Animal Services, the comment I hear the most is… “I could never do that, I would end up bringing them all home.”

This reaction does have some validity and it is hard sometimes. But nothing can match the joy that comes with knowing that what you did may have helped a homeless dog find it’s forever family. It is witnessing the before and then seeing and hearing about the after that keeps us coming back week after week. Nothing beats these “before” and “after” tales.

Both of my pack started out as shelter dogs… here is a little bit of their before and after stories.

Before

A little over a year ago, I was asked to photograph a terrified, 5-month-old pup that had been brought in from a northern community after being found at the garbage dump, living as a stray. This poor baby was so fearful and shut-down that adoption was not yet an option.

Believe me, I had NO intention of bringing home another dog, but after showing this pup’s photos to Roland, that is exactly what we did. The plan was to foster ONLY! But it wasn’t long before we knew that Odin was home.
.

After

Lacie and I first met 5 years ago when she was brought into Animal Services as an unclaimed stray. She was a very timid girl trying to hide at the back of her kennel, tail tucked.

After a little time and many treats, I was able to coax her out of her kennel and we headed to the outdoor enclosure in the hopes of getting some adoption photos. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get a good photo of this scared little gal so I tossed a squeaky ball and hoped for the best.

As soon as her eyes spotted the ball, the fearful shelter dog dropped away and this lively happy pup appeared. My heart didn’t stand a chance and three days later we brought Lacie home.

Before

I think anyone who has loved a shelter dog wonders about their “before”. I know I do, especially with Lacie.

She was thought to be about 4 years old when she arrived at the shelter, she wore no identification, was not spayed and her coat had been severely clipped. When I took her home it quickly became apparent that she had had little experience riding in a car and/or walking with a leash.

Where did you come from girl? How did you end up at the shelter? Is someone missing you?

So many questions with few, if any, answers.

But in the end, her past doesn’t matter. We love her and she is home.

We are her “after”.

And, to this day, she loves her ball more than anything.

After

And, just for a smile, here’s a little “Then” and “Now”.

Then

Now

“After was better. Before was only there so After could happen.” ~ Augusten Burroughs

Project 52 _______________________
This post is part of the Pet Photography Project 52 blog circle. To see what the next photographer is sharing for the weekly theme, “Before and After”, visit Pawparazzi Pet and Animal Photography presented by Shae Pepper Photography. Continue to click the link at the end of each post in the blog circle until you eventually find your way back here. Enjoy!

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