Guarding Christmas Cookies

Dog Blog Post #549: Holidays really taking a bite out of time, but here is yesterday's Daily Dog Challenge

"56. Relaxation - Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, how are you and your dog relaxing?"

And the answer appears to be "Guarding the cookie jar filled with special Christmas cookies?"

This also works for:

Our Daily Challenge - Dec 20, 2011 - "Rope"
111 Pictures in 2011 - "#49. lock/key(s)"

Alas, it seems that Henry is "sensitive" to the chirps that the Speedlight makes when in remote mode. He nearly took out the (new) tripod with the camera trying to crawl into my lap.

Henry: "Ahhhhhh!!!! Save the Precious Puppy!!!"

(sigh)

I did finally figure out how to turn it off, but the "mood" was already broken for the shoot after exactly two pictures (see above)

(sigh)

Ah well, gives us something else to work on.

111 Pictures in 2011 - "#87. Square"

Ye Ol' Tradition of Bobbing for Cookies?
-or-
111 Pictures in 2011 - "#107.  In the Water"

That should complete 111 Pictures in 2011. In the end, I had to use a dozen or so shots from earlier in 2011, mostly take for The Daily Shoot, to complete the list. I had hoped to do the whole list with a dog, but ended up with 3 non-dog shots (Bicycle, Still Life, and Sunrise/Sunset.)

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© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Santa Cookies

Dog Blog Post #548: Uh oh - the boys snuck into the kitchen again, breaking out the sugar and spice to make Christmas Cookies for Santa.

The cookies must have been a hit, as Santa left them a cool new toy and me a snazzy Speedlight that enabled me to take the shots below by bouncing the light off the ceiling.

Cool!

Daily Dog Challenge #55. Enjoy the Day!

Share?

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Playtime

Dog Blog Post #543:

Daily Dog Challenge #50. Play Time -What does your dog do to have fun?"

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Traditions

Dog Blog Post #542: Today's Daily Dog Challenge...

49. Traditions - This time of year, most of us are celebrating some kind of tradition. Show us one of yours with your dog today!

... was most fitting for this time year. Alas, I didn't get what I was after. It wasn't the boy's fault - they were more than happy to cooperate - it was the dratted lighting issues. The yellow floor lamps clashed horribly with the blue northern light backlighting the Christmas tree, creating a lighting nightmare.

Oh well... perhaps I'll try again tomorrow, just for kicks.

You will note I trotted out the Evil Jingle Collar -- and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a sweet Precious Puppy without any fear. He stuck out his neck as I slipped collar on, then posed there quite proudly, as though nothing was wrong.

And here's a couple more shots from yesterday's set. You'll recall that the boys didn't want the shoot to end, so I looked over my dwindling options for 111 Pictures in 2011, and pulled out "#58. Metal", which also went with Our Daily Challenge "Silver and Gold" (assuming you consider the boys to fulfill the "gold" part!)

The belt dates back to my high school days (one of those "why do I still have this" things) but I thought it looked rather regal around Zachary's neck. Best of all, you could actually SEE it despite his ruff. I might have to give this some thought and see if I can expand upon the idea somehow.

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© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Candid Canine

Dog Blog Post #540: Today's Daily Dog Challenge...

"47 Candid Camera - Capture a candid picture of your dog today!"

... would have been easy, if the boys and I were in the same places at the same times today.

But we weren't.

Nope, they were off to the day spa, leaving me no choice but to shoot after they returned - meaning indoors and after the sun had gone down.

Which would have been fine, had they left me alone and gone about their business so I could catch them unawares.

But they didn't.

Nope, they followed me around like Little Bo Peep's found sheep - complete with the wagging tails.

So I finally just had to wait until they crashed, snuck up on them, popped up the flash, stuck the camera around the corner, and quick took a picture.

Hunting jungle cats is probably easier.

Now, I hate to use a flash, I don't like the way it makes things look (not to mention the little blue spots one sees afterwards) and so I ended up turning this B&W.

Shooting indoors wasn't a problem for my Scavenge Challenge shot:

4. Show us how you navigate with any map, compass, chart or GPS system

Except Henry complained, feeling much maligned (for appearing to be sleeping on the job) and insisted I upload a shot showing that he, too, studied the map.

He says it just didn't take him as long to figure the route out as it took Zachary.

Hmmm....

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Honesty

Tell us what you really think...

Dog Blog Post #539: Oh dear, perhaps we don't want Henry to tell us what he's thinking, do we?

Today's Daily Dog Challenge had nothing to do with that shot. No, today's assignment was...

46. Fill - Take a picture of your dog that fills the camera frame today.

... but I thought you might enjoy the lighter side of the Precious Puppy before we delve into to a more contemplative role.

And not to be left out of the Saturday Blog Hop, here's Zachary showing off his Easy Button pushing skills, for 111 Pictures in 2011 - #1. Buttons...

... and pulling a "training" basket for Scavenge Challenge:

14. Find something artistic or functional created from scrap materials.

Precious Puppies prefer posing to pushing or pulling...

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© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Proud

Dog Blog Post #534: Today's Daily Dog Challenge was a challenge, as I noted in the photo description...

"42. Proud - Capture a proud moment or a look of pride with your dog today!"

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure Golden Retrievers can "do" pride. At least, none of mine have ever shown a drop of it. They are excited when they do something right, but I think that's more because they've pleased you, or get a cookie, than that they feel any sense of accomplishment themselves.

BUT

The challenge is pride, and so I give you…

… Henry's tail. It swishes. It swirls. He can wrap around my leg like a cat. When he's excited, it wags. When he's concentrating, it's very very still. Usually it's held in a neutral position, parallel to the ground, but occasionally he raises it up like a merry flag, as if to show it off to all the world.

Surly an object so versatile, expressive, and frankly gorgeous is something to be proud of, no?

My alternate shot was just plain luck...

Well, can YOU touch the top of your nose with your tongue?

Finally (at least for today) we have:

Our Daily Challenge - "Corner"

"I'm sorry"

And once again stealing from my description in flickr (as today has already turned into tomorrow)...

Oh, come on. You don't honestly think I sent Zachary to the corner because he did something bad, do you???

I don't think Zachary is capable of being bad. Probably never crossed his mind to want to, and if it did, I doubt he would know where to begin, having had no experience at it.

In this case, he's being a very good boy by sitting where I asked him to sit and looking where I asked him to look. But then, being good is what Zachary does best. :)

111 Pictures in 2011 - "57. wood"

Zachary and the copper doorknobs are the only things in this shot that aren't made of wood.

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Profile

Dog Blog Post #533: Today's Daily Dog Challenge assignment was...

41. Profile - Let's see a side view of your dog's head today.

I love Zachary's profile, especially when he is looking down at something. The way he arches his neck and his ruff sticks out, makes me think of a knight (horse) on a chess set. :)

This should have been an easy shoot. I pulled out the backboard and fabric (back in the poorly lit kitchen, as the dining room now houses the tree) then decided to drag a floor lamp in from the study to see if that didn't help the lighting at least a little.

Did it?

Then added a dog, a Christmas bag, and some cookies. Easy, right?

The first thing I discovered is that I didn't have a long enough delay set on the camera - so my first picture came out something like this...

(Well, how would YOU get a dog to look in a bag? I was putting a bowl of cookies in it!)

After I fixed that, the shots with Zachary mainly went off without a hitch.

And Henry? Well.. Let's just say he got off to a rough start, earning him a Mischief Monday Montage all his own...

Once we got the kinks worked out of the that I discovered a bit of a flaw in my Perfect Profile Plan...

... it seems that in profile, Henry is All Ears. Oh well, perhaps a 3/4 look suits him better. :)

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© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

City Dog Country Dog

Dog Blog Post #532: Today's Daily Dog Challenge assignment was...

"40. City Dog or Country Dog"

... and I couldn't quite make up my mind, so I thought I would do both. The boys were really getting into it, the lighting is finally coming round in the room I like best to take pictures in, and a good time was had by all.

Alas, all good things come to end, and a few hours later we picked out our Christmas tree and plunked it down just about right there.

(sigh)

While the tree is lovely (and will be even more so after we decorate it tomorrow) it somewhat breaks the heart that I can't get another decent shot in the house until after the first of the year.

(sigh)

The again, it could be worse. The tree could spontaneously fall over 20 minutes after we finish decorating it, like the tree a few years back did.

Complete with the gallon of water I had just added to the base.

As my son likes to say, "Fun times, fun times."

I also ticked off Scavenge Challenge #20. Create a photo which in some way is a reflection of the past year as it pertains to you...

... and a truly hideous shot for 8. Create a photo with a meditative, calm feeling...

... which shows why I hate taking pictures in the kitchen and much prefer the dining room - where all the rest of the shots on this page were taken!

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© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Mom!!!

Scavenge Challenge December 2011 - "7. Create a photo which conveys an emotionally stressful and nervous sense."

111 Pictures in 2011 - "#48. Spooky"

Alas, today's Daily Dog Challenge turned out to be more about checking off an item for "111 Pictures in 2011" than anything inspired on its own. I had good intentions, but getting the autofocus to work with me just wasn't happening, and holding a camera in one hand and my son's Lacrosse stick (long pole) in the other, precluded going manual.

DDC - "39. Through - Take a photo of your dog as seen through something -- be it plants, a screen, a curtain, or whatever you can find!"

111 Pictures in 2011 - "#8. web"

Three guess who is behind the pocket, and what he's doing...

Dog Blog Post #531: -- Like the idea of a daily prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us! © 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved