Forgotten dogs.

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything on my blog.  I've had to focus on things other than photography for a while, but I'm getting back into my groove.  I am starting work on my tintype series again, and should have posts soon.  In the meantime, the one thing that I've been doing photographically is shooting rescue dogs and cats.  I volunteer at the SPCALA and am one of the photographers that shoot the animals that come in for adoption.  They post the images on their website in hopes that people viewing the site will see a dog or cat that they want to take home.  This has been so rewarding.  In addition to being an obsessed dog lover, I also love the idea of being able to help these guys find their forever homes.

Today I buried my best friend and old boy, Buddy.  He was 11 and a half, and battled a very aggressive cancer for the last couple months of his life.  This journey that he and I went on together this year made me think about all the things that I've learned from him, and all the animals that have passed through my life.  I put together a blog that I call "10 Lessons from Buddy," a tribute to him and all my teachers.  Yesterday he let me know it was time, and I loved him too much to make him suffer any more even though I wasn't ready to let him go.  I can only hope I can be half the man he thought I was.

Today he's at peace and I'm on my journey of healing.

                 www.lessonsfrombuddy.blogspot.com

Please take a minute and check out his site.  Thank you.

On a lighter note.

I recently added a puppy to my family, and my house has taken on the cluttered look of a nursery with new toys strewn about every room.  I was playing with Max the other day, and I took a look at some of these toys and suddenly saw them in a new light.  All of a sudden I saw foreign objects and landscapes in an alien world.  Always seeing the world in images, I wanted to try to capture these toys in this new light.

The dogs are our kids; they're family.  When we're home, there is always one or both hanging around close to where we are.  They are perfectly content to snooze while we're doing other things because they know that soon it's their time.  I should learn that patience.

 

Joe is an incredible cook, as is shown by my every expanding waistline.  Most of the recipes he has are from his mother.  He is the only one in his family to have all her old recipes and to be able to cook the Italian dishes that the family remembers from years ago.  One of his favorite recipes is his mom's recipe for homemade pizza.  This recipe her mother brought with her from the old country.  One time before she passed away, his mom tasted Joe's pizza and exclaimed, "The student is better than the teacher."  Joe's always cherished that moment.

Buddy, my Golden boy.  Just got a 100 mm 2.0 lens and I've been enjoying all the different opportunities it gives me.  Sometimes very overt distinctions and sometimes very subtle.

Portrait of a Golden.  This is a photograph of my female Golden Retriever, Rosie, who is four years old.  Most of the time she is a regular Tazmanian Devil, but she has these rare moments where she quiets down into a beautiful creature.  Dog owners always believe their dogs are the best, but I firmly believe mine are.