Week 13

I have had a photo like this in mind ever since I saw a similar photo/caption with a German Shepherd.  I wasn't sure how this lighting would work out, but I'm very happy with the result.  I like all the black and the portrayal of the dog waiting in the dark. Had to shoot this in "manual" to get the effect I wanted.  Took this one in my basement with a piece of black fleece as the backdrop.

I don't know what he would actually do if someone broke in, but hope I don't find out!  Besides, the adage of "Forget the dog- Beware of the (well armed) humans" comes to mind.

I have been sleeping in the spare room to try to avoid catching the week-long "bug" my husband caught.  The spare room also happens to be the cat's room.  As I was getting ready for bed, they both jumped up and laid down. Had to get some photos.  

I think Splash is contemplating bopping Dazzle in the head here. She decided it wasn't a good move- smart kitty! :-)

For the Facebook group, I wanted to get a "panning" shot (subject in focus with background blurred).  I'm really happy with how this came out!  I think the years I spent keeping fast moving, jumping horses in the tight video frame for 3-day eventing helped a lot :-)

 Another shot I like, but I like the "flat out" shot better

Whenever Dazzle gets two toys, he tries to defy the laws of physics (regarding two objects occupying the same space at the same time) and wants to shove them together. I'm not sure what is so enjoyable in this impossible act, but even though it hasn't worked for 3.5 yrs now he doesn't give up trying- vigorously!

Who is THAT?  He better not get MY ball!

This would probably work better with more sun, but the clouds weren't cooperating.  I'm sure I'll revisit this one.

Week 12

Just had to do a "re-do" of the cool shot I got last week.  I think it came out great, though the reflection of the sky on his face makes it look blue. 

The challenge on the facebook group was "short depth of field" so I played around and got this shot.

This was a runner up shot I really like

Another shot I am really happy about. Love the reflection of the sky.

We had company at the lake this time.  This pair of geese was curious about Dazzle at first but kept their distance.  I'm very surprised that Dazzle ignored them! 

There was also a family in a small boat fishing around the cove.  Dazzle ignored them till they caught a big fish and it was flopping in the water.  Dazzle really wanted to go "help" get the fish, but I called him back.
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Dazzle managed to drag a branch in from the sandbar and had a great time breaking it up into small pieces.  When I saw this photo, I knew removing the stick would result in an interesting shot.

Here is what I did with the result...

Yesterday I drove around Brookville and got some interesting photos you can see on www.Flickr.com/photos/scoutdogs
There are more photos from our day at the lake as well.

Week 11- happy St Pat's day!

I took a lot of photos this week.  I started out getting some for the two 52 weeks groups, then went to a new spot at the lake yesterday and got several more :-)  Since the 52 weeks groups run Mon-Sun, yesterday's photos were just for fun, but I got two I really like.

For the Flicker Group: ("The original 52 weeks for dogs")

"Taste the rainbow!" 

I had this idea, but wasn't sure how I'd pull it off. Trying to find a spot with a nice background, nose height spot for the "pot-o-gold", view of the skyline and the sun in the correct spot was a challenge.  I had a different spot in mind, but tried this spot that was closer to home first. I was pleased to see it would work!  I set the pot on the bench and got it all set up, then brought Dazzle out.  I tried several different poses, but loved this chance shot of him licking the ball.  The "rainbow" was added during processing.

The runner up:

I asked him "Where's your ball?" thinking he would reach out and point with his nose, but instead, he offered his paw "point". 

This was the idea I had for the Facebook ("Working Dogs") group, but I just wasn't happy with how any of my shots turned out.
"Looking for 4-leaf clovers"

I really liked this shot though, so it's the one I chose. I just love the colors in it.  I was sitting in the grass, enjoying the beautiful weather and Dazzle took a break from playing fetch to enjoy a good scent on the wind.

Other shots from the day in the yard:

I was trying to get photos of him rolling in the grass, but he had other ideas.  Here he was enjoying the cool grass.  He wasn't actually sleeping, I just happened to catch a blink. :-)

Dog over-bored... still trying to get a rolling shot, he just wanted me to throw the ball!

Bear was enjoying the day too!  He decided he wanted to have his photo taken and sat right in front of me when I was waiting for Dazzle to roll.

I did get a cool close-up shot of his eye too.

WATER DAY

This is a photo showing a bit of the little alcove off the lake that I found yesterday.  It was over 80 degrees, so swimming was definitely in order.  We had the place to ourselves and the shore was surprizingly clean. The close shore was all rock, but the far shore was sand/silt and Dazzle went over there several times to roll.

Dazzle got quite a workout running, trotting and leaping through the chest deep water over the huge sandbar. There was also a big area that was quite deep where he swam.

Close-up:

 This shows the opening to the big lake in the background. Dazzle was on a forced time-out rest break, just waiting for the cue that he was free to play again.

The sun was in and out of the clouds, so the lighting and colors in the shots really varied.

One of my favorite shots

THE BEST shot of the day!  I was sitting on a rock on the shore for all the lake photos and Dazzle set this up right in front of me!  He was waiting for me to throw the ball. I have not seen this view before, so I think it was a combo of my low position and his position on the sloped bank that made this happen.  I was just SO glad my camera was ready to shoot!  He only stayed in position for two photos.  The other focused on his tail and made his face a bit blurry. It's a cool shot too, but I like the focus on his face.

And some recent non-dog shots:

First flowers of spring

The first dandilion of many to come in our yard. This is straight out of the camera (no editing)

In todays overzealous "PC" world, I was surprised and glad to see that the phone company had the balls to show their pride in America and what she was built on.  The constitution and the bible.

On facebook, several people were posting photos of their freestanding brooms.  They said it had something to do with the alignment of the planets over a few days time. I figured it was a joke, but had to try it anyway.  Here is proof that I got the broom to stand up on it's own. I just tried it again and got it to stand on it's own, so I don't think it's related to the planet alignment, but it's still kind of cool.  Who knew a broom could stand up on it's own?  

Storms have been rolling through on a regular basis.  I saw this out the window and had to set aside my dinner to go take a few photos. It started pouring heavy rain as soon as I got back on the porch! Thankfully we have eluded the severe weather . I'd enjoy springtime a lot more if it didn't threaten to kill us! Several deadly tornadoes in the area lately.

Last Saturday, we visited a model train show.  There were several really detailed diaramas and I got several interesting photos.  But to see the detail, you need to be able to view the photos extra large.  So if you're interested, check them out on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scoutdogs/sets/72157629564540149/

When you click on the photo, you'll see a link on the top right to "view all sizes". Click on that, then select large or original.

Now I'm going to go enjoy today's warm weather!

Week 10

Wow!  We're already at week 10 of the 52 weeks project!  I took advantage of the nearly 70 degree sunny day today and got some photos. 

It was REALLY windy and I was hoping the winds would die down before the sun faded, but no luck.  I had to move the platform we were sitting on into the neighbor's yard so the house could block some of the wind (otherwise my hair was standing straight up on one side!) LOL

I also jumped on the bandwagon with this style of photo collage (like ones that several people posted to Facebook).  This is a few of Dazzle's favorite things...

Click on photo to view it larger

Back to normal- H&G show visit

I'm finally able to open my mouth normally again!  Whoo Hoo!  Off all the antibiotics and pain killers and my digestive tract is slowly getting back to normal too.

Just about everytime I got off the couch, Dazzle decided it was a good time to try to reclaim his spot (or maybe he was just keeping my pillow warm for me) :-)

We had a scare with the tornadic storm cell that passed over us WAY too close for comfort on Friday! Luckily we didn't have any damage.  But Holton Indiana, where several people were killed and the little town was basically flattened, is not too far from us.  A very scary, everyone in the basement, moment for sure!

Since I was feeling better and no storms were predicted, I spent several hours on Thursday at the HUGE Home and Garden show downtown.  It was SO nice to see and smell all the wonderful spring flowers, the mulch and the moist dirt.  Not to mention seeing some amazing garden displays and dreaming of what our yard could look like if we had the funds :-) 

Below is just a small part of one half of the show. It continued under the wall on the left and about the same amount of vendors/floor space was on the other side of the skywalk. Bless the mobility products vendor that let me borrow the mobility cart (free advertising for them). Not sure why the convention center didn't rent out scooters or wheelchairs.

Dazzle got LOTS of compliments on his calm and well mannered behavior, especially when he helped me as needed.  It's so normal for me to ask him to pick up something I drop or to help me up a flight of stairs that I forget how impressed people can be with a well trained dog :-)

Dazzle was very patient with me as I posed him in several places to get photos.  I had a couple people ask if they could take photos of him too :-) I did find a booth with all natural dog treats and found some beef jerky treats he liked even more than the freeze dried lamb lung I brought, so he got a big "paycheck", payed out in small portions during the show. And it was very reasonably priced as well as buy one get one free, so I bought enough to last a long time.

My Favorite:

This was a display by "Back tree services" depicting an Emeral Ash Borer in mutant giant form.  Out of all the weird sights and sounds at the show, it was this display that made Dazzle hesitate to approach.  Can't say that I really blame him! :-) 

Once I touched it, he got brave enough to give it a sniff (from the side) and then he was fine with it.  The owner of the display took this photo for me and emailed it to me. I think Dazzle was thinking that I was either really brave or very stupid for reaching for this thing's mouth :-)

Dazzle did a LOT of meet and greet.  Most people asked before putting their hands on him, a few didn't.  Just about every vendor had a comment like "Beautiful dog!" or "So well behaved!" and many stopped me to ask questions about him. Several of the attendees had the same reactions.  I probably could have seen the show in half the time if he was invisible, but I wasn't in any hurry and enjoy chatting with people about my favorite subject- "All about Dazzle" :-). 

Enjoy the following "Spring preview".  I wish I could include the wonderful fragrances too!

I just had to get a photo of this. "Well... Which is it?"