Pets!

Now, here's a topic that I KNOW Haley and I will have no problem finding photos for: PETS.  We like our pets quite a bit; some may say we even love the flea-bitten varmits.  Not only do pets provide good companionship, but they also provide good model material for a semi-bored photographer.  Allow me to show you some examples:

Double Poppet!  What does it mean?!

One particularly warm February day, I sat outside with my parents' dog, Poppet.  Poppet is a lovely pup of about seven years, and she's always been a favorite animal model of mine.  I love how in each photo one can see the gentleness (or lazy aloofness) in her eyes.  This particular couple of shots is another result of one of my studies--in this case, taking two photos together and splicing them for a double shot o' Poppet (with some tinting and lighting experiments, too).  I used a slight orange tint in these photographs, since the browns of Poppet's markings and eyes were enhanced very well with this tint.  The left shot in particular displays Poppet as she is: a gentle, mountainous clutz of a dog.

Poppet and the Stick

Poppet also happens to like sticks.  This shot was taken in the same photo study above, but by this time Poppet had found a delectable gourmet stick on which to munch.  With her distracted as such, I had an easy time getting photos of her, and this one turned out pretty well, I think.  I like how her nose is in sharp focus, and you can also see the flecks of saliva coming from her mouth from nomming on her high-end treat of tastiness.  Her whiskers also provide a nice contrast to the shadows in the background.  Basically, it's a study of Poppet doing what she does best: eating anything and everything.  She's certainly a dog.

"I am unamused, human."

Disgruntled cat is probably not disgruntled, but hungry and/or demanding attention.  This is that rare instance when flash is acceptable and actually benefits the overall photo quality.  This shot was taken in the daylight, though I was in a poorly-lit room, thus requiring flash.  The result provides a richly black background, which emphasizes Teazer's beautiful markings (she's a cali-tabby).  The whiskers, as in the above photo, make a nice contrast to the black background, and the various shades of grey in Teazer's markings contribute to the photo's interest.

Plus, she's a cute widdle kitty.

That's all on my end (though I have scads more pet photos to show you).  I'm thinking Wednesday's post can center on candid pet photos, rather than the Ahtsy ones I've shown here.  See you Wednesday!