Tag Archives: pets

6 Funny and Humorous Books For Photographers

4 Dec

Sometimes a photographer just has to laugh at themselves or the industry, or else they would go crazy. So what is a camera buff do when they don’t have a camera in their hands? Read about photography, and not just serious technical stuff either.

Here are my favorites, again, Christmas, Birthday, Mothers Day, anniversary, or just any time is perfect to give a gift to someone you love, or want to poke fun at  just a little.

1. What the Duck: I’ve been reading this comic online for quite sometime and it’s well worth having on the coffee table.

What the Duck

2. What the Duck, Rule of Nerds: If you haven’t gotten enough of the first book try adding another to the collection.

what the duck, rule of nerds

3. Awkward Family Photos: This series has gone viral and taken the industry by storm. What poses, props, and settings we once thought were cute have now become a bad joke. Really good for a laugh. There are now Awkward Family calenders, games, and even puzzles. But the puzzle might be stretching it a bit.

Awkward Family Photos4. Awkward Pet Photos: The partner to the Awkward Family Photos, just as funny and we wonder why our kids grow up weird and our pets look at us funny.

Awkward Pet Photos

5. PhotoJojo: Now it’s time to get off the couch and actually create some unique and funny photos. This book is full of DIY (do it yourself) photo projects that will keep anyone busy for the afternoon. Even the dog. Is that a camera cam on his head?

Photo Jojo great photo projects and DIY ideas6. I Can Has Cheeszeburger: Now it’s the cats turn. Why is it cats are so funny in posed photos? Maybe because they can be posed and propped with everything from beer cans to books and everything in between. Dogs won’t do that, that’s why they wear the video cam on their head (see above). If cats were to wear a video cam it would be VERY boring.

I can has Cheezburger LOL Cats

All of these books and more great photo stuff can be purchased directly on my 3 Quarters Today Amazon Store. If you’re going to buy it online, might as well click through a friends page so she can earn some extra $$$ for a new lens or two.

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My Boxer, No Longer a Puppy

24 Sep

My Boxer, Leah, is not longer a puppy as she officially turned a year old in August. She has gained that regal Boxer look, and she is still very sweet. Thinks she’s a lap dog, and owns the couch, but that’s my spoiling showing up.

Unlike Brody, my Jack Russell, she doesn’t chew and destroy her squeaky toys, nor does she jump on people or bark like crazy when the doorbell rings.

Purebred Boxer

My Princess “Leah”

No, she wasn’t named after the Star Wars character, Princess Lei , but after a boxer we knew named Princess, and a derivation of my Leo, my Dad’s name who loved Boxers.

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Introducing Leah the Boxer

3 May

Leah, a Brindle Boxer

Introducing the newest member of our family, Leah a brindle Boxer. She’s now eight months old and I’m a little late in posting her pictures,but here’s a snapshot of her life so far.

She’s a sweet little girl, smart as a tack, and  extremely gentle. Only heard her bark twice, she learned to walk on a loose lead in just a few days and that in itself takes some getting used to as my Jack Russel, Brody is like a freight train at the end of the leash.

Speaking of Brody he took to her right away and is extremely tolerant. At first I thought he was picking on her. Nope the other way around. Leah used Brody’s hind legs as teething toys. Literally, as Brody would walk or run by Leah would take the opportunity to grab at his hocks. Most of the time my ferocious Jack Russell would roll over and let her continue to chew, all the while “growling and complaining.” He really does love her.

At one time Leah could easily walk under Brody’s stomach, now it’s the other way around. She’s almost done growing, at least in height, but based on her food intact she has a lot of filling out to do before she’s mature.

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Sometimes A Picture is NOT What it Seems

13 Apr

I have to admit, I really like Photoshop.  I’m amazed at how I can improve a photo that has distractions or just didn’t turn out like I hoped. Most photos I don’t manipulate but some call for just a little more work than others.

My dog Brody, a Jack Russel, is a perfect example. This is a before and after of a previous post from my 365 Project

Jack Russell dog, before and after Photoshop

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Day 192/365: Cats Paws

17 Jun

Kitty Paws

Kitty Paws

Meet Tom, like any typical cat  he’s stoic, independent, and does that funny little thing with his paws when he purrs and is happy. I was being lazy and randomly pointing the camera at various locations while we were on the couch. He didn’t like the lens right up in his face, kept batting at it, so kitty paws is what we have today.

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Day 166/365: Meet Romeo the Basset Hound

21 May

Romeo the Basset Hound

Romeo the Basset Hound

Thanks to my friend Julie, who suggested I take a tangent from my flower photography, I got this wonderful photo of her Basset Hound Romeo. Isn’t he a darling?

I’ve never been too successful with pet photography it’s always been purely by luck if I get a good picture. My digital camera has a very slow shutter lag that causes me to miss the perfect shots. But, I was using my son’s Canon Rebel EOS while he was on home from the Marines.

So happy I stepped outside my box. I did a series on pet photographers on the Dog411 blog I write for Pet and Kennel Supply and have seen some wonderful pet photographs.  If I ever get a better camera I’m going to try some more. I just LOVE this picture and it’s really becoming my favorite. The one below is pretty cute too, I caught him in mid howl.

Romeo the Basset Hound

Romeo the Basset Hound

So how do you overcome the shutter lag? Even when I press halfway down I miss “the shot”, this makes me want to buy a higher end camera in the worst way.

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Day 149/365: Does Your Goat Wait for You to Come Home?

3 May

Day 149: Your goat awaits (Olympus)

It just looks like this goat is patiently waiting for his owner to come back from work. No leash, no tie out, no pen. It would have easily been a yellow lab dog waiting for his owner. He even had a collar.

Last week I took a shortcut which  took me on gravel roads through Otoe, a very small town in Nebraska which only has a population of 205 people, don’t know if it includes the goat or not. This is the scene on the edge of town this is the scene that greeted me. Thought it was rather whimsical, and the type of photo opp that makes you stop, back up and shoot a few pictures. The goat was unfazed, didn’t even get up.

Photography Notes: I did play around with this in Photoshop Elements, the newest version that came with my new scanner last week, but I don’t remember my post production notes, sorry. There is an artistic filter added

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Day 129/265: My New Car, a Ford Escape

14 Apr

After ten years of driving Subaru Outbacks I wanted something a little bigger. You see my fiancee is over 6’4″ and an ex-defensive lineman, so a smaller car is not very comfortable. But from driving a Subaru I was also spoiled to all wheel drive.

My goal, a smaller domestic 4×4 SUV that got good gas mileage. I live in Nebraska, you might have seen a little of our winters, and I didn’t feel comfortable driving a 2WD. So after doing my research on www.fueleconomy.gov I decided that my decision was a Ford Escape. Isn’t she pretty?

2001 Ford Escape

I searched all over the internet  for a good deal on a pre-owned car. I had a price range where I wanted to stay and expectations on mileage. Sometimes you just have to throw that out the window when you find a good deal. This 2001 Escape had just been detailed and pictures were just uploaded onto the internet when I saw it. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time.

Facts: Baxter Jeep Dodge, Omaha (ask for Kenny), 2001 Ford Escape XLS, 69,291 miles, asking $8,950

I knew from all my searches that for an Escape in that price range I wouldn’t be able to find with less than 120,000 miles. I had spent hours looking at other Escapes in the area and none were in this good of shape or as clean. But I had to bargain, and I did, hard. After several hours of deliberation we settled on $7,995.

After driving it to Des Moines the next day it got 22-24 mpg on the highway, not bad for the size vehicle. My Subaru consistently got 25 mpg.

So I drove it off the lot that night. One of the first things I did was buy a Dog Pet Barrier for the back. No more dog hair in my back seat.  Below is the day I installed it and we went to the park to enjoy the sun and a good book.

Day 129: Off the the park!

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Day 116/365: Mighty Dog Ball

2 Apr

Day 116: Dog Toy testing

Brody my Jack Russel is at it again, testing dog toys. He loves this job. I on the other hand am getting tired of toys only lasting a few hours. Tried something a little different this time, The Mighty Dog Ball. This particular squeaky toy from MyDogToy.com had a hard rubber interior, no fluff. As usual Brody loved the ball, pushing on it making it squeak, chewing on it until the fabric was soggy.

That novelty lasted thirty minutes until his tooth punctured the fabric, then the tugging began. Within ten minutes the fabric was off. The ball inside would have been a good option for an additional play toy, if it were tougher, like  Kong tough. (Kong toys are the only ones he can’t destroy).

Back to the Mighty Dog Ball. He found the little squeaky device and purposely extracted the offending noise, then chewed it to bits. Time. one hour fifteen minutes.

Coming up in a special addition is a feature on the Kyjen Dog Toy Company. They have caught wind of Brody’s amazing destructive ability and sent him (and me) a whole box of toys to test and review.

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Day 93/365: Cat on the Porch

8 Mar

Day 93: Cat on the Porch

Day 93: Cat on the Porch

Another trip to the mailbox and a stop at my neighbors house, her cats will be a common subject as the weather gets nicer.  It was a drab overcast day and I was disappointed with the original picture. No sun, no oomph, so I worked some photoshop magic.

Photoshop CS2 Notes: Regular adjustment layers with smart sharpen, then went in and decreased the lighting, bumped up the contrast, and added a warming filter. What a difference! After adding some additional sharpening on the face and whiskers and  I was happy.

SOOC (Straight out of camera)

SOOC (Straight out of camera)

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