Experimenting....

Okay so I'm terrified of Photoshop and do most of my processing in Lightroom, but I'm realizing that this is becoming rather limiting...I'm switching over to a new lab so I will not have the convenience of the Pictage album designer, which means I'm going to have to make friends with Photoshop, if for no other reason than to be able to make album layouts.  I was messing around the other night and put this lil baby together:

I'm not trying to save lives with my compositions here--I want to do some basic, minimalist layouts that showcase the images.  It's intimidating with all this talk of album contests and "professional album designers".  I want to concentrate on making designs that really show off the images as much as possible, not on having the cleverest album layout. I figure if people are paying as much as they are for their books--I want to make the pictures fill the pages as much as possible.  Ya think?

Huzzah!!

I did it! For the past few months--well I guess as long as I've had this damn thing, I have been struggling with my image sizes--I feel like they come up really small, and when I would try to set them to "Extra-Large" they would get cut off vertically.  I tried resizing the image manually before uploading, but no success. Blargh!

So then I decided to start digging through the Blogger help forum, which I figured would be anything BUT helpful, as those FAQ's and forums usually are, and lo and behold, someone was having the same issue.  The solution: PICK A NEW TEMPLATE. D'oi. So...finally...a nice big image to stimulate your little eyeballs.

Mac: aka: Mac Attack; aka: Macadoodle (that's mine); aka: Tutes (?); aka....The Old Man.

Oh Mac...where do I begin?

Mac is the beloved extended house guest of my dear friends Molly and Rager--Molly found him as a scrappy little stray running about the streets of Watertown, and has since been her resident guy-on-the-couch for the past 10 years.

Mac is getting up there in years but you might not tell by the ADORABLE fluff-ball puppy face of his. Despite his age, this senior citizen continues to live life to the fullest, engaging in a wide variety of activities and hobbies, including but not limited to: using his doggie steps, groaning to be helped down off the couch, eating his food one morsel at a time, and peeing in the kitchen (it's okay he's got a pretty small tank).  He's also an avid exercise enthusiast, who maintains a strict daily regiment of jumping for Cheezits and walking circles in the bed every day. Cheezits are also a big source of activity and interest for the old man, who enjoys all Cheezit related activities such as eating them, begging for them and of course, jumping for them!

 

Ahh Mac...everyone's favorite dirty old man. Thanks Molly and Rager!

Theo in Cambridge!

So, I haven't done a lot of baby photography.  Part of it is because babies generally scare the crap out of me.  However, my good friends Ben and Katie have this little mushball named Theo and our mutual friends Emily and Adam hired me to do some family/baby photos for them.....so here we go....

I think in general what typically freaks me out about doing baby portraits is the pressure get them to do something, or pose or smile etc, on the spot.  Which is why I was THIRLLED when Katie said "Hey, come over for soup on Sunday afternoon and you can take pictures of Theo while we decorate the tree."  Soup? Made by Katie, who's vegetarian cooking can satisfy the most vehement of meat eaters (including this one)? Tree? Add some Mimosas by us and we were in business....

All rise for his Highness Theo, King of Lunch!!

 

 

ZZOMG PONIES ELEPHANTZZ!!!1!

My Sock.  I has one.

My personal fave of the day:

 

Theo was fantastic--no crying, no tantrums, just this bouncy giggly ball of ham-dom who loved looking/grabbing my camera.  Roast Squash Soup + Mimosas + Happy Baby Boy=WIN!

Rory!!

Today I got the pleasure of romping around at Danehy park with one of my favorite dog park regulars: Rory (Or Rorschach, when he's being full-named by his person, Zach).  This big, gorgeous wall of a dog is a Catahoula Leopard Dog (yes)--as you will see from these here pictures, Rory has the most bizarre and beautiful markings, not to mention the enviable one blue eye one brown eye thing (LOVE that). 

Rory is my first attempt at dog photography--something I've been toying with for a while, and after a few of my dog park friends asked me to take pictures of their dogs, I decided I should start experimenting.  I'm just so obsessed with dogs to begin with, I don't know why I didn't think about this long ago!

The other reason I did photos if Rory today is also as a favor for Zach, who has made a very difficult but thoughtful and responsible decision to put Rory up for adoption.  Rory is one of my FAVORITE dogs at the park and he and Olive are best pals (as you're about to see), so anything I could do to help out was all my pleasure.  If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting a dog and you like the looks of Rory, just shoot me an email and I can put you in touch with Zach.  Zach will be keeping Rory until he finds him a proper home.

So, without fruther adieu: RORY!!!

The black one here is my Olive.

 

See, they're best friends!! 

Comments and feed back on my first dog shoot is welcome (please!!) And also--if you are interested in Rory, please email me directly for more info and to talk to Zach.  I meant it when I said that Rory is one of my favorite dogs at the park; Olive goes absolutely bananas when Rory and Zach show up.

Thanks, everyone!!