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A few weeks ago I shared some photos from The Wells Pack.  Today, I am sharing some friends of The Wells Pack.

These dogs are either being fostered by or are closely associated with my client.

First up is Maci (Sorry!  She’s not available for adoption.)  I wanted to take this dog home with  me so bad.  She is a 3-legged pit bull with the sweetest personality EVER!  Someone has obviously done a horrible crop job on her ears…but somehow it endears you to her and gives her face even more personality (I by no means endorse this practice.  Please don’t take that comment the wrong way.)

Kingston

This lil guy is available for adoption!  He likes to live free and play hard!  He’s got a lot of energy and a lot of love to share.  So if you’re looking for an energetic dog with sweet as candy personality…look no further.  Contact me for more details.

Cici

Also available for adoption!  Cici stands for Cookies and Cream.  Can’t get more adorable than that, people.  Again, if you’re interested in meeting/adopting Cici, contact me.

I know it’s taken me a while to bring you the final installment, but better late than never.

For part 3, we are going to talk about…

Composition

1.  The first basic rule of composition is the Rule of Thirds – “an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.” A lot of people are tempted to put their pet in the center of the frame…and there is a time and a place for that.  But don’t make it every shot.  Try different things.  Experiment.

Center

Rule of Thirds

2. Find a different perspective.  Don’t just stand and point your camera at your pet.  Get down on the ground (worm’s eye).  Stand on a chair and look down (bird’s eye).  Try different things.  Experiment.

Human Eye

Worm’s Eye

Bird’s Eye

3  Pay attention to your background.  One of my favorite photos from my wedding is of my dad and my brother.  The only problem is that my brother-in-law’s head is right behind them and (thanks to the 2-dimensional world) appears to be growing out of my dad’s shoulder like a second head.  So many great images are ruined by the photographer not paying attention to the background.  Don’t worry…we all do it.  I still do it from time to time.  But keeping this simple rule in mind can save many many images.

*All photos in this post were taken with a point and shoot camera*

This past weekend we photographed a pack of…um…well…technically 5 dogs.  But they have some extra foster pack members.  So we photographed a total of 8 dogs.

For now, here are the 5 permanent members of this particular pack.

Hank

Emiria (mmm…yes…scratch my belly!)

Jada

Pook

Tyson

Hank, Elmiria, and Pook are all participating in our Pit Bull Project.

For the past 2 years we have donated our time to the Accelerated Cure Project’s Calendar for a Cause to benefit MS research.  We were given the same honor again this year.  We got to photograph 4 precious greyhounds.  Here’s a small sampling of our session…

Be sure you order your 2013 Calendar for a Cause and support MS research.  Plus you’ll have a super swanky calendar with lots of beautiful photos of adorable local dogs!

Welcome to Part 2 of my “How To Take Better Photos of Your Pets” series.  You can read Part 1, here.

Today we are going to talk about…

Lighting

This is super duper extra duper important.  This may be the #1 most important thing to consider when doing any type of photography.  So use this information to your benefit.

1.  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use natural light.  This gives your images a real and “natural” look, hence the name “natural light”.   This is the most important tip you will take away from today’s lesson.

2.  NEVER EVER EVER EVER use your camera’s flash.  This will give your pets “white eyes”, washed out fur, and honestly, a cheapo icky look.  Refer to #1.

3.  If you are not used to using the Manual Mode on your camera, you have another option.  Look for the “P” on your dial.  This stands for “Program” Mode.  This basically puts your camera in Auto Mode without using the camera’s flash.  Refer to #2.  This means the camera will set the correct aperture and shutter speed to give you a nice, well-exposed image.

Here is an example of using your camera’s flash…

Same exact location, same exact time…using natural light…

I hope these tips are helpful for you.  Keep checking back for our 3rd and final installment.

*All photos taken with a point and shoot camera*

I’ve finally joined 2012 and got myself an iPhone.  I couldn’t be happier with it.

And today my new adorable paw print case came!  So excited!

Hey gang!  Today I’m starting a 3-part series of posts that will help you get better photos of your pets with whatever camera you have at home.  We’ll start today talking about…

Preparation:  What to do before you start shooing

1. The number one most important thing to do before you photograph your pet(s) is to relax and stay calm.  Pets will pick up on whatever vibe you are putting out.  If you’re stressed, they will know and they will be stressed too.

2. You must have patience!  While your dog may listen well to your commands of sit, stay, and play dead…that doesn’t mean you will get a great shot out of them right away.  So just be patient and take your time.

3. Exercise!  Take your dog for a walk, run, or rousing game of fetch before you begin shooting.  Get out your best cat toys and laser pointers and let your cat go crazy.  The key here is to drain them of energy so they can focus on you and what you want from them.

4. Let them see and sniff your camera/phone/whatever.  They are going to want to look at it anyway.  And sometimes large electronics and the noises that come from them can be scary to pets.  If you make them comfortable with your camera, it just means better photos for you.

5. Find your pet’s “Kryptonite”.  Pull out the toy, treat, person, whatever thing it is that grabs your pet’s attention and use it to your advantage when shooting.

6. And finally make sure you shoot ALOT!  You’ll likely have more bad photos than good ones…but that’s ok.  That’s why God created digital cameras!

I hope these tips have been helpful.  Happy shooting!

Keep checking back for the second and third installments.

*All photos in this post were taken with a point and shoot camera*

During the past few weeks I’ve been busy with family things.  So I apologize for the lack of animals in this post…but human family is also very near and dear to my heart.

First I’d like to share some of Jude’s 12 month photos.  These photos were taken by my favorite local children’s photographer, Kim of Moments Photography.  She did an absolutely outstanding job.  If you are looking for a children’s photographer, contact Kim!

This is our absolute favorite photo from the session.  Sorry Reds fans, when you grow up in Illinois, you are a Cubbies fan at the moment of conception!

Our new family portrait! (Minus the critters of course.  Hard to get cats comfortable at Sharon Woods.)

And no 1 year photography session is complete without shoving lots of cake in your face!

And finally, one of my own photographs.  My sister and my nephews were visiting from Illinois this weekend…and it just so happens that all 3 boys have matching pajamas (which are adorable because the bottoms are lil boxer briefs and they are SOOOOOO cute!!!)  So we couldn’t resist getting a photo of the 3 of them together.

I know I’m about 3 weeks late on these photos, but better late than never.

This is part 2 of Jude’s 1st birthday party – the Ohio part.  (You can see part 1 here.)  We had some of our closes friends here to celebrate with us and we had a blast.  I hope you enjoy the photos.

What better way to start than with the birthday boy himself!

Cake #1

Cake #2 (sorry Reds fans! – we’re from Illinois!)

Cake #3 – Jude’s cake

Ivy – getting a massage from my friend Rhonda (who incidentally is a masseuse at NVogue Medi Spa in the Streets of West Chester – seriously…check her out if you are looking for a good massage!)

Cake Time!!

Clean up time!

I am so excited about this session because for the first time I was able to photograph pit bulls in downtown Cincinnati without fear of citation or dog confiscation.  And it was soooooo much fun!  The irony is, these 2 handsome gentlemen are 100% country dogs!

Meet Murphy and Dexter

“Sexy Dexy” (love that nickname!) He’s part pit/part weimaraner.  He has the most gorgeous eyes!

Murphy – Part pit/part bird dog

Family photo time…on Fountain Square

They were very curious about the camera…

On a hot summer day in the Queen City, we were fortunate that Murphy and Dexter’s mommy manages Lunar.

And apparently Murphy enjoys getting into Lunar phone booth!