As you read the blog post today, I will be heading back from what I assume will be a G-R-E-A-T vacation!  As I am scheduling the post a week ahead, I am hoping I had nice weather and got rid of the pesky head cold.

In the meantime, because I have been traveling, I did use some images I had taken previously, but I did some different things with them to meet the goal of the weekly theme.

The image above, of the handsome Vizsla, was easy enough to make a reflected mirror image, using no mirror.  Instead I used a little Photoshop magic by extending the canvas, copying the dog and flipping the image, then placing it on the opposite side.

I love dog profiles, and by using an unpatterned background, it makes the process so much simpler to create a fun photo like this one.  I did have to "smudge" out the writing on the bandana.  When you flip an image, the writing appears backwards--a dead giveaway that something fishy just happened.

This final image was taken in February of this year.  It's of our cat Barney sitting in the window "reflecting" on all the snow outside. (Remember snow?)

The thing about window images is that there will always be a reflection, of what is going on outside, on the subject inside.  Actually, that's okay.  It verifies there was indeed a window there, and tells the story.  You can see the distorted reflections on Barney's back end.  I think window images, and their resulting reflections, make for some interesting photos.  What do you think?

Now, for more "reflections" you can see how others interpreted this week's theme by checking out the rest of the blog circle, starting with Kim Hollis of BARKography, serving the greater Charlotte NC area.  At the end of each post will be another link for you to click.  Keep clicking until you find yourself back here, and you've made the full circle.

This week's theme is Happy!  I took a bit of liberty with the title, because I got to thinking about my own dogs, most of whom come from rescues.  When they come, we hope to give them happy lives, where they won't have to worry about food and shelter, and they will be solid members of the family.

So this week I did some candid shots of a few of our dogs enjoying themselves. Because they are candids, I am not going to any great lengths to edit them.

Little Luke is a glass-always-all-the-way-full dog.  I am not sure he could ever be unhappy.  He has brought a lot of joy to a few of our pack who might not have played much with each other.  EVERYONE plays with Luke.  Give Luke a ball and you have won him over.  He is happiest chasing it, or running the fence line looking for squirrels.

A few words about the photos this week.  I forgot we are (dare I even say this?) nearing the end of summer (aaauuuugghh), and that means at 7:15 p.m. mother nature starts turning the big lights off.  I had to crank up the ISO to grab these shots, so you will see noise in the photos, and odd, late-in-the-day colors.  It was the only day I had to catch photos this week, so it is what it is.

Lilah, to be honest, is a worry wart.  And she whines.  A LOT.  ALL - THE - TIME!  She needs some of Luke to rub off on her.  But when she is outside in the evening playing, she stops worrying (and whining).

Here she is doing one of her gangly, orangutan-like, quick turns.  You never know where an ear will end up when you turn abruptly.  She wanted the ball you see in Luke's photo above.  She has no idea how to really play and get things off other dogs.  She tries to distract them into dropping whatever she wants, but that hardly ever works.  The entire escapade always makes us laugh.

Finally, there is Moe.  Moe simply takes what he wants and then sits there barking at it.  What could be better than two Kong balls?  Seriously?

.The Kong balls have become a favorite in our dog household.  They squeak, and seem to last for quite a long time, as we have very strong chewers.  They aren't expensive, come in packs of three (for the regular size) and two (for the larger size), and can be easily brought inside as contraband by dogs who already know that ball playing isn't allowed in the house.

On the technical side, I used a 70-200mm 2.8 lens cranked up to 800 ISO, with a shutter speed of 125.  With this lens I was able to sit on the ground and get eaten by mosquitos.

I hope this glimpse into our pack made you Happy, and that you have a very Happy weekend!

To find even more happy things, stroll through the blog circle starting with Jessica Wasik of Bark & Gold Photography, celebrating the joy and love between Pittsburgh pets and their people.

The thing I love most about being a part of the blog circle, is that each week you are pushed to look at things and interpret them in your own style, to be creative, to learn something new, and of course to take back some great thoughts and perspectives of others.

This week I pondered "wood."  Should I do a pet in the woods?  A pet on something wooden?  Hmmmm...

I decided to use this week to learn something new.  So I made this.

This is a wood textured background.  I am so proud of myself I could scream!

I used two separate YouTube videos to learn how to make this.  The first is here.  The second is here.  I used what I could from each, because my version of Photoshop Elements is a bit different than what is discussed in the video, but I got the general idea from each video and then used the parts that worked for me to make this background.

To challenge myself even more, I decided to take an existing photo that I had previously left unedited, and pull the subject from it and place him/her on the background.  This is where things got real.

As anyone who edits can tell you, this is painstaking work.  Cutting the dog out of one image and placing them over a background in a realistic way means the use of shadow and light.  Everyone has their own way of getting there, but I typically use a "reveal all" layer to get rid of everything I don't want to see and bring out the background I have just placed the subject on.  I work at about 400% to blend the edges well.  I then use a dodge and burn tool to add shadow and light where needed, and where it would seem plausible if the dog were really sitting in front of a piece of wood planking.

This is not the type of image I would do for a regular pet portrait client.  This is a client dog, and one you have seen already in another blog post.  I felt he had the best coat color to use with the background I created.  This image would be good for commercial use.  So with that thought, I created this as my final rework of the image.

I "WOOD" encourage you to try it.  LOL!  I was happy to have tried something new this week.  You never stop learning where photography is concerned.

Check out the rest of the blog circle by starting with Danyel of Wag To My Heart serving the Portland Metro area, OR.  Enjoy the rest of your Friday, and have a wonderful weekend!  As my grandfather used to say:  "Don't take any wooden nickels."