Wanda and Max

I had the pleasure of filling in for my pet sitter while she took some time off over the holidays so I got to see Wanda and Max. I've pet sat for them before but it has been awhile and it was great to spend some time with them. Wanda is a great little walker (even with her short legs, I had a hard time keeping up with her!) and Max loves his outdoor time too. I was really surprised one morning when it was raining pretty hard but Max still wanted to go outside. He seemed to like being out in the rain more than Wanda and me! Max may have a learned a thing or two from Wanda: he comes when he is called. All I had to say was "Max" or "kitty kitty" and he'd come back to the door, ready to come inside.

One of my favorite things about doing these visits was my greeting from Wanda. When I walked up to her house, I could see her through the windows in the door and she was always in a full body wag... that is quite the greeting and it made my day every time I got to see it. Being privileged to have a job that brings me such gifts as the full body wag is just awesome!!

Happy New Year Wanda and Max!

PS I am going to give a shout out to CCP Web Design. If you like the new look for my website and blog, it was done by CCP Web Design and that is Wanda and Max 's mom.

Posting Pictures on the Blog

Since I am now offering pet photography as a service, I am finding myself reluctant to post pictures on the blog that I've taken that I feel are less than perfect. Unfortunately I feel like most of them are less than perfect and I am now hyper critical of any photos I take and quite frankly photos that others take too. I've been told that this is a common occurrence with photographers but it really bothers me. (And if I'm being honest, the fact that I'm calling myself a photographer is a little uncomfortable too.) My biggest issue with my photos is that I only want to post pictures that show the catch light in the pets' eyes. Perhaps this isn't something I should point out because I'd previously never paid attention to it but in the post above of Wanda and Max, in the first picture of Wanda (the one marked as my favorite), you can see the catch light in her eyes. It's the sparkle in her eyes. In the other two photos of her, her eyes look dark. While I like those photos of her and I think she is super cute in them, I don't love that I didn't capture the catch light in her eyes.

To remedy this problem and be able to post pictures on the blog that I am happy with, I need to purchase a different flash for my camera. The standard flash in my camera doesn't work from very far away and if I did have it on, most likely the pets' eyes would then glow and not look very natural.

So while I am continuing to hone my photography skills, I will continue offering my photography services at a discount and maybe I'll always stay below the current market rate. One of my biggest regrets is not having professional photos of Sloan and Sam but in my 20's when I had Sloan, I couldn't afford $300-400 to have pictures of her taken. Affording those prices for photography for some might not be an issue but perhaps some people just don't want to spend that kind of money on photos of their pets. I'd like to provide a more affordable option so anyone who wants photos can have them. While I might be super critical of the photos I take and the pictures I post on the blog, I do LOVE the process of taking them. I really LOVE doing it!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Here is a note about our visits and what I think they might each say if asked what they are thankful for: Molly and McKenzie - McKenzie has loved her walks and hopefully she will settle down since we got the beeping on the security system to stop. I did let Molly off leash this morning so she could take care of all of her business. I let her off last night but she started to go over to the right side of the house so I called her back. Poor thing... now this morning I realize that is where she poops. I didn't know there was a fence over there and it was so dark, I didn't want her to leave my sight. We generally don't let dogs off leash in unfenced areas and especially since it was my first time seeing them last night, I was overly paranoid about it. :) Molly is thankful to anyone who will pet her and McKenzie is particularly thankful this morning that the beeping of the security system has stopped. She is also thankful for anyone who walks her.

Hampton and Blitten - Hampton is enjoying his walks. He is eating well and I've been giving him all of his medicine. Blitten is eating well too - both her hard and wet food. Hampton is thankful that the rain has stopped. Blitten is thankful for anyone who pets her. They both say Happy Thanksgiving!

Harley and No Name - Harley hasn't been as interested in playing. No Name has more than made up for that though. She is always up for playing.... unless of course she is eating!! Harley is thankful for comfy cozy warm places to sleep and No Name is thankful for food and toys.

Sparky - This morning she wanted to her Thanksgiving breakfast before even going outside. As soon as she finished she went zooming around the yard. Sparky is thankful for being able to be outside.

Simba - Simba always likes to it before going outside (just like Sparky) so I fed him this morning and gave him his pills before we went outside. He walked around a little bit and he took care of all of his business. Simba is thankful for food.

I hope all of you have a safe and very Happy Thanksgiving.

Hampton and Blitten

Hampton and Blitten are both doing just great. Blitten is loving meal time and getting pet. Hampton is enjoying his walks.... or at least he was until last night. It hasn't rained when I've been with him in quite a while but it started last night and it is fairly obvious that he isn't crazy about the rain. He just wanted to go out and potty and then come right back in. I made him walk some.... until he took care of all of his business. He was more than happy to turn around and get back inside the house as quickly as possible. It was still raining this morning too so we took a shorter walk - just long enough for him to do all his business. According to the forecast, it is supposed to stop raining this afternoon. I hope it does by our next visit so he will want to take a longer walk. Fingers crossed.

Hampton and Blitten are very thankful for being inside pets.

Photos

Here's a quick photography note. As I scroll through the blog, I can definitely tell which photos are taken on my phone and which ones are taken with my "real" camera. I am kicking myself for not upgrading my phone at no cost when I could have because I know the camera is better on the newest Iphone. The quality of some of my recent photos isn't great. The photos of Henry and Maggie just below were taken around 6:45am so it wasn't very light outside so the photos look grainy and they just aren't very good quality. Ugh.... but the pups are still cute!!!!

Henry and Maggie

Henry and Maggie were just great! Thank you so much for asking me to care for them while you were gone. I had to laugh at Henry. He is a messy eater but he cleans up after himself. That's a pretty good deal! They enjoyed sniffing around the yard each visit and they both took care of all of their business this morning too. I was hoping that Henry would b/c he didn't on either of the visits yesterday. After we'd hung out in the yard and came into the house, I'd immediately get what I will now forever refer to as "the kong look." haha. Both Henry and Maggie know how to give a good "kong look." I picked up on it quickly and complied with their requests!! Henry and Maggie were perfect pet sitting clients this weekend!