Pet Photography
I absolutely adore taking photos of my dogs. It’s definitely one of my favorite forms of photography. Lately it’s been too cold for me to be motivated enough to go outside to take pics. We also haven’t had much sunlight these days to give me good natural indoor light. I’ve taken some pics using lights from the apartment, but I haven’t mastered the white-balance settings on my camera so the pictures have a yellowy look to them (honetsly, I haven’t tried messing with the white-balance much). Since I wasn’t happy with any of those pics, I didn’t share any of them.
Well, this weekend we had some good sunlight! I didn’t take any outdoor shots, but I did indoors. I had a lot of fun. All of these were taken with my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens. LOVE this lens. I think I was generally shooting at 3.2 and my ISO was up at about 1000 (I’m too lazy to find out exactly). One thing I love about the Nikon D90 is how ISO 1000 is actually a low ISO and there is no sign of graininess!
Ok, here’s my favorites 
(more…)
A Day at the Park
Yesterday, I was home alone all day without a car. So instead of sitting at my computer for the entire day, I decided to walk Ally and Epsilon to the park in a nearby housing development. It was such a beautiful day for it too! Ally got to chase a lot of squirrels and Epsilon rolled on random stuff… good times. Anyway, I brought my D90 along and wanted to share some of the pics I got.
You may notice that Epsilon got a haircut and I left his mustache. I’m not too sure how I feel about it. I think it’s funny, not necessarily cute 
My First Blizzard
On Thursday, Denver (and most of Colorado) was hit with a Blizzard. All the schools shut down, so I also had my first snow day
My husband was supposed to teach a class at 8a and didn’t realize school was canceled. He found it odd that the building was locked, but just let himself him. He went to class and wrote all his intro stuff on the board. While waiting for students to arrive, he checked his email: “The University of Denver will be closed today due to high expected snowfall”. He got home around 8:30a and I flew out of bed with excitement of the news! But then I couldn’t help but laugh at him when I checked my phone.
The University had sent a text message and left a voice mail in addition to the email. You see, my husband and I are always arguing (playfully, kinda) about how he never has his phone with him, or it’s off, or it’s lost, etc. If I didn’t make him, he wouldn’t even have a phone. Well, since he ignores his phone, he wasted his time going to school that morning and I got a good laugh
I know that this blizzard was mild as far as blizzards are concerned, but I was amazed by it. Remember, I’ve lived on the cenral coast of California all my life, I’m still getting used to snow in general, let alone blizzards!
Well, Ally absolutely loves the snow and she couldn’t get enough of it. She’d be out there shivering but still not want to come inside; She just continued to wag her little nub and look at me with that happy little face. Epsilon, on the other hand, found Thursday to be a rather terrible day. He was cold and miserable. Since he’s so little, it was very difficult to find places for him to go to the bathroom without him drowning in snow.
Anyway, here’s a video I put together of our blizzard experiences. Enjoy! (yes, I know I’m a dork).
Please Don't Say That About My Dog
There a some things that people say regarding Epsilon, my Yorkshire terrier, that really piss me off. Here’s the top 3…
Epsilon - Yorkshire Terrier
Look at the little rat! – Excuse me, no! He is not a rat! Just because he’s only 3 pounds doesn’t mean he’s not a dog. If you got to know him you’d realize he has quite the attitude and has the same qualities your “big dog” has. I didn’t call your 100 pound 3rd grader a whale, so don’t call my dog a rat!
My dog could eat him in one bite! – Have you not heard about small dogs being killed by larger dogs? You may not be trying to be insensitive, but you should seriously think before you speak. ESPECIALLY if you KNOW me and that I have had a yorkie killed by another dog. Thanks for reminding me of that absolutely horrific day.
Oh, so you’re one of those (when seeing Epsilon in a sweater) – Yes, actually, I am one of those pet parents who care about the well being of my dog. You see, yorkies have actual hair, not fur. This means that they get cold/hot very easily. Quit being so damn judgemental.
Yorkie Hates Booties
The original music to this video was MUCH better. But now YouTube and even Facebook are cracking down on copywrite infringement.
Hope you like it!
My Dog Poops Diamonds
My Ring
So I recently got my wedding/engagement rings repaired and buffed. They’re super pretty and my diamond looks extra big now! Yay! Anyway, having been thinking about my ring lately, I remembered an event that happened a little over a year ago and thought it would make a wonderful blog post.
My husband and I lived in Rohnert Park, CA at the time and we were getting ready to drive to Salinas, CA for my uncles wedding re-dedication ceremony thing. It’s about a 3 hour drive and we were planning to stay the weekend with my parents. Well, my two dogs get really excited when we go on trips. They know they’re going when they see me pack their bag. They start running around the apartment playing, growling, howling, and crying. It’s quite a show.
Well, the dogs are always the last to go into the car and at this point Ally, my mini schnauzer, was jumping up all over the place in excitement. She’s like a little kid bouncing up and down yelling “don’t forget about me!”
Back up for a second. I should give you a little info about my ring. It’s a solitaire with a very high setting. There is just about as much space under the diamond as the diamond is tall. It makes for light creating beautiful brilliance, as well as giving plenty of space for things (like teeth) to get under.
Ally - Miniature Schnauzer
As you’ve probably just figured out, during Ally’s episode she jumped up on me and just happened to get her little tooth hooked under my diamond! I immediately looked at my ring then went strait for Ally’s mouth. I pried it open and searched in there for a few minutes with no luck. My husband and I searched the carpet within an 8 foot radius of the incident… still no luck.
We concluded she swallowed it! Wow, first my ring gets destroyed and now I have to search dog poop to get my diamond back! We did figure out a nice clean searching method though.
How to retrieve diamond from dog poop:
- Purchase appropriately sized zip-lock bags.
- “Wear” zip-lock bag inside out.
- Pick up poop.
- Zip-lock the poop in.
- Smash up poop while it’s in the bag.
- If diamond is found, bring it to the top, near seal.
- Push the rest of the poop to the bottom of bag.
- Rub diamond with bag until as much poop as possible is removed.
- Fill a glass with hot water.
- Open baggy right above diamond.
- Drop diamond into water filled glass.
- Let diamond soak.
- Throw away poop filled bag.
It took Ally 3 DAYS to finally poop out my diamond! I have never been so excited about dog poop in my life!
In conclusion, 3 days of agony, stress, poop and $200 later. I had a beautiful diamond ring back on my finger and the ability to brag that MY DOG POOPS DIAMONDS!
Does yours?
Snowy Puppies
Here’s a little video of my babies in the snow. Ally, the schnauzer doesn’t seem to care about it, but Epsilon, the yorkie, is quite bothered by it. He gets soooooo cold. It’s pretty sad. But I’m gonna buy him some booties so that his little feet don’t get frostbite
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymrs3eFhHG8&rel=0&ap=%2526fmt%3D22]
Chapped Tongue
My parents have a rather strange Yorkshire terrier named Ruckus. He almost always has his tongue sticking out. The problem is: he’ll fall asleep with it out and it’s gets all dry. So I went ahead and put some chap stick on it for him…
The Puppies of the Family
Here’s a little video of all the puppies in my family. Ally and Epsilon are my two babies and Ruckus and Beast are my parents’ doggies. Enjoy!
- Beast – 2 years – Yorkshire Terrier
- Ally – 2 years – Miniature Schnauzer
- Ruckus – 1 year – Yorkshire Terrier
- Epsilon – 1 year – Yorkshire Terrier
Oh, How I Love the Beach
I was going to try to write some nice beautiful blog about how I love the beach and blah blah blah. But I have a bad cough right now and am not really in the mood. Instead, I’ll just share some pictures. This is Carmel Beach. Our puppies had the time of their lives and my feet were so happy to be in sand once again.
