12 Months of Jasper: September - The budding artist

This was my Submission for September. I had a vision of how I wanted this photo to be, but I'm not sure that I was able to capture it fully. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, and Jasper was a perfect model and an artist! On a side note, I really want to get back to doing some traditional artwork...

"Here's Jasper and his altered self-portrait. He tells me his inspirations were Picasso and Margaret Keane. :)"

12 Months of Misty & Jasper: September - "Hold my paw, I'm scared of the dark!"

My submission for the 12 months group. This was a tough shoot--trying to keep the headlamps on the dogs while balancing the ambient light and the headlamp light for the right exposure proved to be more difficult than I initially thought. At the end though, I was able to salvage a couple of photos which I really liked, especially the one of the two of them with their touching paws.

On a side note, we really like these headlamps and I promise to do a review post soon!

"One of the adjustments to a city life is having to walk the dogs three times a day, rain or shine, and now in darkness as daylight gets shorter and shorter. Safety trumps vanity, and headlamps are now our new favorite gadget! :)"

touching paws...so sweet :)

submission for 52 Weeks: 38/52 - "I can see you~"

12 Months of Misty & Jasper: August - spa time!

This was our first "structured" photoshoot since our move. We're now living in a much smaller place, and the limited space does pose a pretty big challenge, but what we lost in square footage, we made up in the amount of natural light we get. Overall, it was such a cute session and the photos constantly crack me up. The only mistake was in not checking my camera setting beforehand and my ISO was set way high for no good reason, resulting in some degradation of quality...live and learn.

For August submission to the 12 months group:

"Inspired by jjimjilbang, a Korean sauna/bathhouse that I see sometimes on the international channel, I just had to figure out how to make those cute sheep-shaped head towels and of course, to put them on my dogs! I think I could've done without the draped towels though--they remind me of Princess Leia! LOL"

ready for the sauna...or the star wars audition

submission for 52 Weeks: 35/52 - Girl's gotta lamer herself!

12 Months of Jasper: August - "I've been missing out..."

Submission for August:

"Recently, Jasper has figured out the function of a pillow...smart boy. :)"

12 Months of Jasper: July - First encounter...

Submission for July:

"This is Jasper's first ever encounter with ducks. He watched them timidly for some time, then after awhile, of course wanted to go in after them!"

"what is that floating thing?"

12 Months of Misty & Jasper: July - Yin & Yang

This was my July submission for the 12 months group. I wish I had more natural light to work with for this shot, but all the blinds were drawn and I did not want to do anything to disturb the moment. This will probably go down as one of my all time favorite shot of my babies...

"Our dogs typically prefer having their own space, so this little moment was so unexpected and special--I had to grab my camera quickly but quietly to try to capture it. They actually slept in this position for quite some time--very sweet..."

12 Months of Misty & Jasper: June - our new home

June has been a hectic month...lots of unpacking and adjusting to our new life in a new city. Here are couple of pictures from this month for my submission to the 12 months group:

"After making a cross-country move at the end of May, most of June has been spent unpacking and living among boxes..."

moving is tiring...

"Taken just a few days after arriving in Seattle. Movers were delayed, so we had to live with nothing for about a week...somehow we survived! Dogs did great throughout this whole ordeal...we're pretty amazed and so thankful!"

"umm...we're where?"

12 Months of Jasper: May - "You looking at me?"

Submission for May:

"While packing, I found a pack of these fake mustaches...why I have them...I have no clue! Anyways, they provided a good break from working, and we had some good laughs over them!"

52 Weeks/12 Months of Misty & Jasper: May - Northwest, here we come!

Things have been very hectic and happening at a lightening speed...our house went under contract within couple of days after listing it, and we had to quickly shift our focus to packing and planning the move. Trying to stay focused and not overwhelmed has been a bit of a challenge, so taking the time out to do this photo session was actually a good thing. I actually envisioned this photoshoot for awhile, ever since our move became more of a reality at the beginning of the year and have plans to use the photo for our moving/new address announcement card. I'm really happy with how they turned out and was quite amazed at how well the dogs tolerated wearing the coats...I think it was a good practice for them for the real rain that awaits us!

our official moving announcement card

submission for 12 months of Misty & Jasper: 5/12

12 Months of Jasper: April - peaceful...

Submission for 4/12:

"Even with the weather warming up outside, Jasper still loves to snuggle up under a blanket..."

52 Weeks/12 Months of Misty & Jasper: April - The dog shredder

We had accumulated quite a collection of leftover wrapping papers over the years and it was finally time to let them go. Our dogs absolutely love unwrapping gifts and in the process, shreds the paper to million pieces...fun for them, not so much for me to clean up afterwards. So, this was one time when I actually encouraged this behavior as it would make it easier to recycle all the rolls of paper...and of course, make for some fun photo op. Misty had a blast and tired herself out pretty good after about 10 minutes of shredding, and when Jasper decided to come and check out what all the excitement was about, it made for a real cute picture of "who done it?"

submission for 52 weeks - 17/52: the dog shredder

Who's the guilty one?

52 Weeks/12 Months: March - Our very own book!

I recently received a photo book I had ordered--it's a collection of last year's "Happy 10! Project". It turned out really well and I'm happy with the quality and it was a perfect subject for this month's submission to the 12 Months for Dogs group. I hope to do a full review of the photo book soon...

"We're stars!"

52 Weeks/12 Months: March - St. Paddy's Day 2015

While going through boxes in the closet, I found some St. Paddy's stuff that I never used, so it was a perfect reason to do a quick photoshoot:

submission for 12 Months of Jasper

Submission for 52 Weeks of Misty: 12/52

52 Weeks/12 Months: February - Love!

A bit late in posting...
Last Saturday was Valentine's Day, so of course we had to do something a little extra special for our weekly photo. All the props used were things I already had around the house, so this photoshoot ended up costing me nothing--nice! The cupid theme was a last minute idea and I had to get a little crafty to make it happen, but I think it worked out pretty good at the end.

I'm reminded once again to really cherish those I love and not to take things or time for granted. Lately, I've been a bit preoccupied with my own thoughts and worries and neglecting the more important things in life...time to refocus!

Submission for 12 Months of Jasper: 2/12

Submission for 52 Weeks of Misty: 7/52

Jasper the cupid hunting for love...

My favorite shot...12 Months of Misty & Jasper: 2/12 - "You're Mine!"

52 Weeks/12 Months: January - Alter Ego

Last week of January...and boy, was it cold! I got these animal hats last year thinking that I would like to use them for the "Happy 10! Project", but I never got around to it. Well, it was the perfect weather to do this photoshoot now and I think the dogs actually liked wearing the hats to keep them warm! It was absolutely the cutest thing when they actually fell asleep during the session. I think the plushness of the blanket combined with the warmth of the hats really hit the spot and within minutes they were snoring away, oblivious to all, including my shutter clicks. I actually sat still for a good while, not wanting to disturb such a sweet and tranquil moment, and it was picture perfect...

Submission for 12 Months of Jasper

52 Weeks of Misty: 5/52

It just doesn't get any sweeter...

52 Weeks/12 Months: January - Hello!

On my last post, I mentioned that I was in the process of searching for a new photo project to do with my dogs, and I found couple of Flickr groups that were perfect for us: 52 Weeks for Dogs (Misty) and 12 Months for Dogs (Jasper, Misty & Jasper). I was a bit late in my search and these groups had already commenced for the year, but luckily I was still able to join. So, like a proud mom on the first day of school, I got the dogs all signed up and did this "Hello my name is..." photoshoot as an introduction piece.

Misty: 52 Weeks for Dogs 2015 - 2/52

Jasper: 12 Months for Dogs 2015 - 1/12

Misty & Jasper: 12 Months for Dogs 2015