the swimming hole

Sugar has an interesting habit of submersing her entire head in her water bowl, followed by a frantic "digging" in the water dish which results in water ending up ALL over the kitchen floor. Based on this observed behavior, we thought she might enjoy a trip to the lake. And by lake, I mean one of the muddy cesspools that dot the Lubbock landscape. The most memorable point in the afternoon was chasing her around in an attempt to remove the nasty rotting fish head from her mouth. When we could distract her from the fish head, she did seem to enjoy the swimming quite a bit though.

Sugar

So adorable little Roxie was adopted on Saturday, big surprise. I'll admit it, I got a little teary eyed when I said goodbye. Of course it only took them a matter of seconds to zero in on me as an foster-less foster home and I was soon asked to take another one home. Actually, they asked, could you maybe take two? Just for tonight?

Name: Sugar
Breed: Boxer mix-ish
Age: four months-ish

She does the superman thing with her front legs when she sleeps

Oh I suppose, just for tonight, I told them. That was Saturday...

We have a winner.

Two, actually. The winners of the Humane Society of West Texas's drawing for a free photography session from yours truly are (drum roll please)...

Sergio Larez

and

Norman Elstone

Congratulations to our winners! If you happen across this, feel free to send us an email, otherwise we will be contacting the winners on Tuesday. And, of course, thank you to everyone who came out to the concert to help support the Humane Society.

And while I have your attention, here are a few more lovable dogs that are looking for a forever home in the Lubbock area.

name: Bonnie

breed: Collie

name: Bo

breed: Australian Cattle Dog mix

name: Kendall

breed: Boxer mix

As always, please contact the Humane Society of West Texas if you are interested in adopting one of these beautiful dogs.

My first canvas

One of my clients from the session in Columbus ordered an 8x10 canvas wrap of one of her images. Its the first time I've had one printed and I was so pleased with how it turned out. I think I'm going to have to get a few larger ones to have on hand for displays.




I think, in the future, for smaller wraps, I'm going to go with a slightly shallower frame; while this depth should be fine for the bigger sizes.



And, of course, I ordered a ton of prints, both for clients and for my own use.

Roxie

aka: Roxarelli, Turd Bird, Little Dog... I've picked up my sister's habit of calling dogs by anything but their actual names.



Roxie is a boxer puppy, probably six or seven weeks old. She was found by a guy just outside of town, who kept her for two weeks before he found out about the Humane Society. Everyone else he called was going to put her down if they didn't find a home in three days. He said his landlord wouldn't let him keep her once she got big, and he knew if he kept her any longer, he wouldn't be able to give him up. I can see why.



She is hilarious... all floppy legs and wrinkly skin. And she jumps when she walks. She also has her whole tail. I think it might be the first time I've ever seen a boxer with an intact tail. It very rarely stops moving.

she loves to play with toys.

She's constantly harassing Kodiak and Nizhoni, who are trying to teach her how not to be the most annoying dog ever. Their barks and snaps of reprimand are generally ignored in favor of continuing to run around like a mad woman. Or she barks right back at them, much to Kodiak's distress.




We are trying to crate train her. She's good in the crate while we're at work and she'll wander in and out of it when we're home. She just doesn't like to sleep in it. And against our better judgment, she's been sleeping in our bed. Its just that she's so damn cute, I can't say no. And I figure we'll only have her to the end of the week, then someone else can break her of the habit. I'm a terrible foster mom, I know.



One minute she's running around all spasmodic, then next she's out like a light. And she's uber snuggly when she's sleepy. Unfortunately, right this minute, she's tearing around the house like a bat out of hell. Oh, and she chews everything... but not until she's paraded around the house with it for a good five minutes. This is especially true of shoes and slippers that are bigger than she is.



The nice thing about fostering is that we get the cuteness of a new puppy, without the obligation of a big dog. She's awfully precious now, but she's going to be a good sized girl, and we do NOT need another big dog.

Can you tell I love her little tail??

But if YOU are in the market for a big dog, she is perfect... in a hilariously obnoxious, delightfully cuddly kind of way. Seriously, I can't even explain how snuggly and adorable she is.

Puppy love

I'm not even sure I needed to bother with pictures of these cuties. Surely they aren't going to be in the system long. I mean seriously, how can you look at these faces and NOT take them home??

Tom

Tammy

Toby

Tank

Tank had some outdoor pictures too, but is this not the cutest "take me home, PLEASE" face ever? All four of the T's are litter mates. Their dad was an Australian shepherd, though Toby is the only one that really looks it.

This fellow is a few weeks older, and a little bit bigger, but that didn't stop the T's from starting some wicked wrestling matches.

Nightcrawler

Everyone just wanted to be on the other side of that baby gate...

Rescue me!

Adriana is another beautiful dog up for adoption from the Humane Society of West Texas. She's a bull terrier mix and as sweet as can be. And she has the cutest bat ears...


One of the volunteers said that HSWT has over 140 adult dogs in the system that need homes. There are so many advantages to adopting an adult, I wish more people would consider it.

And, whether you've got an adult dog or a puppy, every dog needs some stylin' gear. So hop on over to April Ziegler Photography for a chance to win a super stylish new dog collar.

Doppelganger

We had our first Humane Society of West Texas event this morning and it was awesome! We had to take pictures in the parking lot, which obviously wasn't ideal, but everyone was SO nice. There were a couple of youngsters there who were excellent assistants, and who could recite each dog's stats from memory. I was very impressed.

We got lots of cute pictures, which I will most likely post once we get our arrangement with them all nailed down. But I had to post this cutie.


Her name is Starlight, and she's a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. But more importantly, she's Nizhoni's Doppelganger! Ok, obviously her color is different; but her face, her ears, her tail, and even her stance are dead on. If Ken hadn't been there, I would have adopted her in a heartbeat. Not even kidding.

If you live in Lubbock, and want a dog (or are even thinking you might possibly want a dog at some point) you should adopt her. Immediately.

#1 Buddy Holly fan

Turns out Kodiak is a big Buddy Holly fan. Who knew??


He actually sat. And stayed. (Two skills we have failed to cultivate and at which he usually fails dismally) But apparently he too was mesmerized by the giant glasses, because he sat for a really long time.



Since I had a few days between getting into town and reporting for duty at my next rotation, we decided to drive around to see what kind of cool locations we could find for future photo shoots.



Some of the framing and processing on these (particularly on the first and last images) is inspired by a wedding photographer team that I have a secret photography crush on. While I in no way claim to have anything close to their mad skillz, a gal can dream :) If you're getting married, check 'em out. Seriously.

Lyla

Lyla is Zabu's more sociable counterpart. She was all about her day in the spotlight.



She was a tiny, skinny little thing too; none of that belly fat that my cat's are always dragging around. Maybe she stays fit by chasing Zabu around the house.



Not even kidding with the eyes here. A little boost in contrast and that's it for the editing. Seriously.


Thanks again Tricia, I hope your daughter likes them!!

Zabu

Zabu and her sister Lyla belong to one of the technicians at the hospital. Tricia helped me survive last month by providing lots of girl talk and chocolate; so to say thanks, I offered to take some pictures of her cats.




The post-processing on this next one was somewhat inspired by this photo. Its not nearly as awesome as hers, but I really liked the look of black and white with a dark colored animal and it seemed to work with this image.



Zabu did NOT want to look at the camera, but right before I gave up he stopped in the doorway and I managed to snag a few.