Merry Christmas! We are at week 52!  I hope you have enjoyed following along with the weekly themes.  I have enjoyed participating.  I've learned a lot and got to see others interpret the themes as well.

To my fellow Projectites:  Thank you for sharing all of your lovely work, your animals, and your passion!

I thought for a long time on this week's theme.  Celebration comes in many forms.  I celebrated every day of December on my Facebook business page by remembering things that touched my life during the month or the year.  I celebrate nature many times as I am surrounded by it.  Mostly I celebrate my animals (our horses, dogs, cats and chickens) because they make me smile.

I did some photos for a friend within the last week, and she celebrates her animals as well.  Thinking along those lines, I decided to go with the traditional colors of Christmas (red and green) and use her over-100 year old barn as a backdrop.  Meet Hannah and her sisters (the Border Collies--Mia and Lena).  They celebrated every moment of this shoot because they love being near the barn (so many things to smell) and there were treats involved.  Now I ask you, can we get any more festive than this?  Just look at the faces on Mia and Lena!

Celebrate every day!  Happy whatever-your-holiday- may-be!  AND....Project 52 returns in 2016 with a whole new set of challenges and since we have a bonus week, there will be one more week coming up before the end of the year.  I hope those of you that follow the blog will continue to check in to see what's up.  If you are local and would like an appointment to discuss a photo session, hit the contact link and fill out the form, or contact me by phone or email (also provided).

A big thank you to all of my wonderful clients.  I've met so many new folks this year and I just loved spending time with each and every one of you and your pets!

Technicalities on this photo include off camera flash (camera left), white reflector camera right to fill in some shadows.  Shot with a 50mm 1.8 lens.  It was raining and overcast the day the photo was taken.  To see more of the celebration theme, start with Kathie Ono of Ono Pet Photography in Fairhope, Alabama, then work your way through the links.  I hope your day is Merry and Bright!

Well, we are closing in on the last week of the year with Project 52 images.  The year has just flown by, and we find ourselves in an unseasonably warm holiday weather pattern.  Instead of snow we have rain and 60 degree days.  This is unheard of in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and we broke some weather records.

Because of this weather pattern, it doesn't seem like hat and coat, ear muff and glove weather at all.   With the theme of "dressed up," my original plan for an ear muff and sweater shot just didn't seem feasible.  We also have no snow for my backdrop.  With that in mind I decided to go a completely different route.

Billie visited the groomer's this week for her holiday spa, and she looks so nice, I decided to feature her in the blog.  I have a snowman scarf which I received as a gift a few Christmases ago, and decided this would be a festive color for Billie.  She also fits nicely in my studio Christmas box.

I created the background with sparkly garland, a few overlays, and star effects to add to the ambiance of Christmas.  I think she looks like a great gift in her holiday scarf, don't you?

To see more dressed up photos, start with Ono Pet Photography of Fairhope, Alabama.  Let's see what Kathie Ono has in store for us.  From there, follow the blog links until you have traveled through the loop and land back here again.  Enjoy!

I had fun experimenting with light for this week's theme.  While I have done a number of high key photographs, I'm not a big user of low key imagery, so I used this opportunity to play around with light quite a bit over the weekend.

My first image is of a friend's black lab.  I used a solid black background in a darkened room with one off camera speed light set to low power.  That's easy to say after the 12 attempts are over.  I tried a number of different diffusers and different power settings, thankfully read up on using the model light in my camera, and finally ended up using my beauty dish set just above and off the right ear of my subject, pointing downward.  Max was very patient, and he is one of the dogs I am photographing for an older dog project, so we know each other a bit and he trusts me.  I did convert this image to black and white in post processing, as I thought it worked better without a really pink tongue.

I then decided I had not had enough fun, and wanted to try to photograph a very light colored cat, hoping that the mistakes I made with my lighting set up in round one, would be resolved more quickly.  What I did not count on were the very basic facts:  (1) cats want to explore dark rooms, (2) cats are very suspicious of lights that flash on in dark rooms, and (3) a cat's eyes will process this flashing light in a different manner than a dog's eyes will process it.  I ended up having to use my off camera speed light on the opposite side.  I also used a toy motivator (feather on a stick) to have the cat turn a bit away from the light source.  I am still not totally happy with the eyes, but I have to live with this image because (4) cats aren't as patient as dogs about lighting mistakes.  I also could not decide whether to convert the image to black and white or leave it as is, so I've given you a sample of both below.

 I really enjoyed experimenting this week.  The theme had me totally outside my comfort zone, but I now feel better equipped to handle future low key images, should I choose to go that route. There are really wonderful effects to be had with low key images, so I am eager to practice this method a bit more.

More "low key" fun is in the blog loop.  Start with Kathie Ono, Ono Pet Photography of Fairhope, Alabama and work your way through the links until you are back here again. 

It's been a rainy last few days.  The very days I planned to get out and shoot some urban scenery with a dog or two turned into a mass mess of wetness.  There was no let up in sight, so I combed through some of my photos that I had yet to edit, and realized that I had done a shoot at an urban mall, which is quite a bit safer than taking a dog to the Scranton metro area.

 I like the vibe in this photo.  Everything from the sneakers to the dog looking down the street. I chose to crop this photo to show only body language, the sidewalk, and a large portion of the street.  It is clear that the person standing is having a conversation with the person sitting, and she is using hand gestures.  The dog is interested in something other than the conversation.  They could be waiting for a bus, or just taking a break from walking the outdoor mall venue.

This was a totally random shot of people I do not know.  Their dog caught my eye immediately.  I did ask permission to take the photo.  I always do. But I had already snapped this candid from a distance before approaching.  I'm not sure I would have gotten this randomness if I had approached them first and snapped later.

My original plan for this week's theme, was to go to one of the smaller side streets in Scranton where there are some cute shops and take a photo of one of my own dogs in the doorway of a store, as well as walking down the street in front of the large decorated shop windows.  I may still do that nearer to Christmas, as this is the perfect time of year for bright store windows.

The young owner of the dog above allowed me to snap her photo as well.  I love her peace earrings. Although this photo was taken in the same spot, with the same benches, it has a different feel.  A moment shared.  I gave it a little warmer treatment during the edit process. At this point the dog was ready to settle on a lap for a nap.  Lap dog?  Maybe not quite the right size, but a very adorable pair, don't you think?

To check out more of the Urban theme, start with Cincinnati pet photographer, Suzi Pix Photography.  Then check for the next link in Susannah's blog to move forward to the next photographer in the loop.  Have fun!