Horsin' Around

Once again, one of my animals insisted on a place in the spotlight. This time it was Splash, my spotted saddle horse. My subject, this handsome young guy, was instantly distracted and lost all interest in the photo session when Splash wandered up to the gate. After introductions and some shared oatmeal cookies, Splash proceeded to show his affection for his new-found friend. After several more minutes of bonding, I finally pursuaded my young friend to resume the session, but only after promising that he could come back and visit Splash anytime. And I'm not sure who will be the happiest when he does!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Gidget Goes Glam

Here's Gidget in her new winter jacket - a dramatic black and pink concoction, stylish yet warm enough to keep a girl from shivering in the cold. The planes of the stiff black fabric combined with
the pink fur fluff intersecting across the back, gives the jacket a very modern and glamorous look. The cut is extremely flattering——showing off the shoulders, neckline and legs. It's a must-have for all fashion conscious girls this winter!

Gidget is a 10-month old Chihuahua, the best friend of a good friend of mine. She posed prettily for her first portrait, but not for long. The excitement of the camera clicking and the strobe flashing got to be too much for her, and she jumped off the table and hid under the sofa. After some coaxing and with the temptation of a cookie proving too much for her, she finally joined us again. We decided by the dirty looks she was giving the camera that we were lucky to have gotten the photos that we did and gave up for the night. It's not good to upset a fashionista!

Oh Joy!

Little Miss "M" came with her mom this weekend to get some images for their Christmas cards. What a cutie! She just turned three, but she seems older and wiser and was a joy to work with. It just seemed so fitting to let her play with those letters - and without any prompting or suggestions from either her mom or me, she knew exactly what to do. I have a feeling at least one of these images is going to be on their cards this year, and I'm pretty sure they're going to be spreading quite a bit of Joy!

This Crazy Little Thing Called Love

There is nothing I can say that these

images don't already convey. Oh to be

young and in love!

Feline Mystique

This image of Misty makes me think of a

poem by Richard Garnett:

She moved through the garden with glory because,

She had very long claws at the end of her paws.

Her neck was arched, her tail was high,

A green fire flared in her vivid eye,

And all the Toms, though never so bold,

Quailed at the marital Marigold.

-- Richard Garnett

Old Blue Truck

Here in the rural South you’ll find a generous sprinkling of old abandoned vehicles, left to rust away by themselves into obscurity. And while most of them are eyesores and should have been hauled away long ago, this old gem caught my eye one afternoon while I was wandering around a few miles from the house. It sits tucked away among some trees, still quite handsome in a faded and dusty way, and looks almost as if it would start right up if I had the key to start it with. I captured this image of it, and of all a sudden it has become a favorite among my customers.

Everyone wants their picture taken with the Old Blue Truck, including my latest senior, a sweet, quiet girl with deep green eyes, who seemed right at home perched on Old Blue’s fender.

She and I enjoyed nearly a half hour on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the company of Old Blue, and I’d swear that old truck enjoyed it, too! Now I’m on a mission to find out who owns Old Blue, or at least the land it sits on, to make an offer to buy it. I think the old guy deserves a home in the spotlight, don’t you?

All Right, Mr. DeMille, I'm Ready For My Close-Up

Duke and Lucy most always tag along on shoots, and often wind up as props or backgrounds. This day Duke decided it was time he was the SUBJECT of a photo (as if! I

only have about 100 photos of him already!) As soon as we set the chair down on the railroad tracks he hopped up in it and struck a pose. I swear the dog carries a little human DNA in his genes!! He was relunctant to leave his comfy throne, but soon took off after the stick we were throwing (like any good redblooded Weimaraner would do!) and

left us alone to play by ourselves. Which was fortunate for me, because this is the fun shot that Misty came up with:

All in a day's work!!

Of Kings and Kitties

Homecoming in our town is a very big deal. Besides the Homecoming Queen and her underclassmen attendants, we also honor the littlest Homecoming King and Queen, who ride on the senior float in the homecoming parade. I had the distinct honor of photographing our little King this year in all his royalty. He made his appearance as if he were on the red carpet at the Oscars, along with his stuffed kitty "Charles". Charles also rode on the float.

The King was very poised and reveled in the attention he was getting, and seemed to understand the importance of his position, pretty remarkable for a guy his age, wouldn't you agree?

I took a cue from the movie theme of the float and added a little grain to this photo.

The King and his sidekick.

Haunting Season

We've all heard the stories - the wraithlike images of a girl in a tattered white dress, the soft cries in the night, the roses mysteriously appearing on abandoned graves - but no one has ever been able to capture a photo of our local ghost girl. I had some free time Sunday evening (well, not actually FREE time, but I was sure tired of editing photos and needed a break!) so I grabbed my camera and tripod and wandered down to the old cemetery just down the road. I know ghosts are notoriously shy and any disturbance in the air would frighten our girl away, so I set up the tripod, adjusted my camera settings, and waited. Just before dark I fired off a few shots. The results are, well, as you can see for yourself, well worth the wait. She seemed to be looking for something? someone? and at one point she turned and looked at me, and as you can tell from her expression, she was not very happy at the disturbance. She immediately got up, wandered out of the cemetery gate, paused to caress some wildflowers nearby, and was gone. She left me with an impression of loneliness, melancholy and wistfulness and some incredible images, which I am delighted to be able to share with you! Happy Hauntings from Cabin in the Woods!

Many thanks to Misty for helping me make my haunting images. I used my Canon D40 with 85mm 1.4 lens on a tripod (sans flash, of course-we couldn't have flash chasing our ghost away!). The ISO was 100, aperture was f/11, and I set it for an 8 second exposure. Misty stood perfectly still for the first four seconds of each exposure, and then dashed out of the frame for the remaining four seconds, leaving just a "ghost" of herself in the image. Cool, huh? And especially cool because there's no editing involved - nope, no photoshop manipulations in these photos, guys - the magic was all in the shooting. And many, many thanks to Bryan Peterson, the "rock star" of photography, for sharing his ghostly technique with us.