In March I spent a long weekend in New York City with my good friend. There was certainly no shortage of dogs to photograph as everyone seemed to have their dogs out on walks. Every dog we came across seemed so well behaved. There is either something in the water there or people do an excellent job socialising their dogs from a young age.
Over the Christmas holidays I spent three weeks in Central America. One night while in Guatemala I stayed with a local family in a tiny village called San Jorge La Laguna. The father was a Mayan priest and the eldest daughter had been crowned ‘Miss Maya Guatemala’ earlier in the year. We enjoyed trying on her crowns and taking some photos of her. Who knew we’d meet a celebrity?
The next morning as we waited in the village square for our transport, I decided to find some dogs to photograph. I came across a small pack with some pups. This dog was extremely protective of this puppy. Who knows if they were related, but I guess dogs treat their pack as their family. He kept an eye on me the whole time and when he started emitting a low growl, I decided to back off.
Every Sunday I sit down at my computer and read PostSecret. If you haven’t come across it before, PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. Some of them really get to me, and the one I’m sharing with you today really tugged at my heart strings. I’m sure anyone who has truly loved a dog would understand the feelings of the person who wrote this.
In May, Brendan and I spent eight days in beautiful Switzerland. I can’t even describe how much I loved that trip.
First of all, it’s true that every vista is postcard perfect. Just when you think you’ve seen the most beautiful view of your life, another angle trumps it. If you’d like to see some non-dog photos from our trip, check out my photos in this Facebook Album.
Secondly, Switzerland has to be the most organised country ever. Their systems are excellent….every train ran perfectly on time and everything just works! For an engineer like me I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the sense of order.
Thirdly…the hiking is brilliant. You can get off a train and hike in any direction you like for as long as you like and then catch another train or post-bus to return you to your hotel for the night. Every little path is sign-posted so you can happily wander the countryside with no plan and no concern about getting lost. Truly, I loved every minute and would go back in a heartbeat!
I’ve decided it’s time to come back to A Dog A Day. It’s been over four months since I last posted and I now feel refreshed and ready to get back into blogging.
A few things have conspired this week to show me that it’s time. You know how little things in your life happen, almost like they’re trying to point something out to you? Well, that’s been happening this week. People were starting to ask me about A Dog A Day, I was getting emails regarding the use of my images in a magazine article and then Jamie from Cowbelly Pet Photography came to San Diego and invited me to dinner. I’ve admired Jamie’s work since before I even became a pet photographer so to say I was excited to meet her is an understatement.
Last night I went out to dinner with Jamie, Nicole from dane + dane studios and Tamandra from Heart Dog Studios. It was so great meeting these fantastic pet photographers and to be honest I’m completely inspired to get back into my dog photography after speaking with these wonderful ladies. We were later joined by Bernie from A Place to Bark animal rescue who is doing some amazing work rescuing dogs in Tennessee, where the euthanasia rate in shelters is 98%!
So, what have I been doing these last four months? Well, some of that can wait until another day, but I have been travelling a lot. During March I was in Alaska, New York City, Washington DC and then Cape Canaveral, Florida. In April, our little family spent a long weekend at a cabin in Big Bear, California for our birthdays. In May I was in Virginia Beach, Virginia and then we spent a week in Switzerland. I haven’t even had time to look at any of the photos from those trips, so now that I’m back to blogging it will force me to go and have a look at them.
At this stage I don’t think I’ll get back to blogging every single day…but I’m back and I’ll take it from there.
I’ve decided to take a little time away from Dog A Day. I have some other personal projects which are taking much of my brainspace and I just don’t have enough inspiration to bring forth new photos and witty repartee every day. I think the blog is suffering from the lack of attention I have been able to give it. I really need to give myself permission to have a little break and hopefully I’ll be back soon with a new enthusiasm.
If you are on Facebook, I’ll still be there. Check out the Thousand Hound Photography Facebook page.
After a few weeks of dogs from Central America I thought it was time to go back to some beloved pet photos. I think Cocker Spaniels are one of the most photogenic breeds with those happy smiles and cascading ears.