I'm so easily amused.

Big nose of another sort

I really have to go visit these horses when the light is better. Both times I've been by there it has been early morning. Check out the shadows in this photo (I wish I had noticed the shadows when I took the photo, actually, because then I wouldn't have chopped them off).



And finally for what might be my favorite shot of the day.

First day with the new camera

I used to be a bit of a snob about photos shot straight down onto a dog but lately I've been getting a kick out of them. I am going to redo this once I'm a bit more familiar with my camera - and once I have three similar shots where the eyes are actually in focus - but this amuses me non-the-less.

Fall, not here

Here the colours of fall are golds and browns. It can still beautiful but doesn't come close to the glory of maple trees. Last weekend I was in Massachusetts where the fall colours are much more spectacular.

Lines in stone

I was taken on a whirlwind tour of Harpswell Maine the other day. These rocks fascinated me.

Strawberries

The strawberries in our garden have started producing again in the cooler fall weather. They taste pretty good, and they look like this, so I really don't mind their plans for world domination.

Curious

These cattle were more interested in me than I was in them. I could make the whole herd move by taking a couple of steps along the fence line (they were moving with me, not away from me) and kept me amused for at least 10 or 15 minutes.

Backlit black cattle are hard to photograph. Did I say that already? Well, it is worth saying again.

Cattle

Backlit black cattle need a better photographer than me. That said...



And, because I'm learning to do this and trying it on every photo that stands still for a minute, here's a black and white version.

Backlit horse

This is something like the view that made me stop the car.

Fall in farmland

I've decided to take this blog in another direction. It's my blog and I can if I want to...



The other morning I went off looking at the gorgeous colours that show up in early morning light. This field had the most delicate green striping and I couldn't resist it.

A little further along I stopped to take a photo of horse with outlined in sunlight. He promptly came over for a visit and got much too close for the photo I was imagining. We had a conversation instead and I took a bunch of photos like this one.

Raisin box

Raisin box
Originally uploaded by OSD

"Yum num num num. Cardboard..."

Silly girl.

More photos, and agility

Late last night I hauled out my new toy again and took some more dog photos. I'm loving this flash! I'm trying to work in RAW too, and I really don't know what I'm doing, but I'm having fun.

The dogs killed a rope bone earlier, so there are bits everywhere. These first two photos are of Rivet. Isn't she pathetic?



And here is one of Caiman. He really just wanted me to go away and let him sleep.



I took the boys to drop in agility on Sunday. Kona's brain flew right out the window when we first got there but gradually returned. I was very impressed with him, actually, as far as the agility parts went. I think it has been almost 9 years since he saw agility equipment and he obviously remembered some of it. He knew the weaves needed in-out movement but skipped poles and missed the entrance, obviously remembered what to do in the chute, and enjoyed the dog walk (staying on to the very end!).

Funny face!

First day with the new flash

Kona
Originally uploaded by OSD

I treated myself to a new flash today. I got a Canon 430EX, which might be overkill for the camera I have now but will hopefully be useful for the next one(s) as well.

This was a quick test run. Straight out of the camera - no processing at all. I bounced the light off of the ceiling. The ambient light was too dim to read by but it wasn't completely dark.

I'm pretty happy!

Agility!

Caiman and I got to play at agility this morning - the first time in years. We had fun, and he did very well. When he was offlead he stayed with me and didn't get distracted by the other dogs and people. Rivet came along more or less for the ride, although I did get her out of the vehicle briefly.

A new drop-in just-for-fun agility group has started up right near where I live. I'm used to driving across the city to train my dogs, and this group meets less than 10 minutes from my house. Heaven!

It was a good weekend

This weekend all three of the beasts made me happy. I celebrated by buying a new leather leash and taking some photos of them.

My little Rivet got her second point on Saturday. Isn't she pretty?


Caiman hung out nicely in an xpen on Sunday afternoon. That might not seem too impressive to you if you didn't know Caiman when he was younger, but I was apprehensive about putting him in it at all, let alone walking away and leaving him there unsupervised. Turned out fine - he's a good dog!


Kona was absolutely the bestest of my beasties. He was in a rally-o sanction match on Friday. I had no expectations of anything, as he's been worked maybe once in the last year and had never been to this show site before. Kona does not handle strangeness well, and I find that either he is working his tail off or he has no focus at all.

He was a trouper. I made an error, had him sit on a finish where he shouldn't have sat (a little APTD/CKC sign confusion), and cost us 10 points. I thought I failed us, so that was good news. Kona's score - including my 10 point deduction - was 88. That's 88 out of 100. If I had done the right thing he would have gotten 98 and possibly a second place.

Unfortunately I couldn't take a decent photo of him to save my life yesterday. I got this... (nice tongue)


And this... (elegant, no?)


And this...


In the end this was about the best of the bunch. His eyes are open, really, but the sun was bright and he's squinting. Honest.

First point!

This is a photo of the photo so please excuse the quality. Rivet got her first point a couple of days before her first birthday. As nice as the point is I'm more happy with how comfortable she was in the show building. She'll do fine with a bit more exposure!

Robin's five day challenge revisited

I'm doing Robin's challenge again, but with a non-dog subject. As that strays too far from the point of this journal I won't be posting the photos here, but if you want to see them they are going up on flickr. You can find them in the Ode To Trevor set.

Caiman, day five

Outside on the deck, today. Bright sun, strong shadows.


Macro shot


Copying Robin




Too bright!


Thanks for the challenge, Robin! This was fun. I'm going to try to do it again with a different subject soon.

Caiman, day four

Missed a day yesterday. I could have missed today too easily but I forced it. Nothing I'm thrilled with, but here are my required five photos: