I was inspired by Zack Arias’s GOYA posts.  If you don’t know what GOYA stands for as Zack says google it.  Both boys have an interest in photography and photoshop, which of course makes me happy!  We have 6 Summer Photo Safaris planned, where we GOYA and shoot.  We each have planned 2 of the safaris.  I picked the first and last.  I had heard about Idle-Hour Ranch and thought it would be a great photo opportunity.  To make things fun we are selecting one of our images, we submit them to a guest judge, we ask the guest judge to give us feedback, and to choose a winner.  All photos are submitted to the judge anonymously.  The winner get’s to pick where we eat lunch on our next Summer Photo Safari.

We asked our friend Paula Wessells of Doxzen Pet Photography to be our guest judge.  If you live in the Pacific Northwest and have a pet you need to call Paula.  Paula loves animals, has a unique style, and has a wicked sense of humor.

Here are our submissions and Paula’s comments:

Photo A:  Fish

Color is just amazing and love the movement in the water. My favorite part about this photo is how the photographer captured a single gold fish amongst all the red ones. Great patience! Only suggestion I have on this one is maybe would have tried shooting more wide open so the lily pads would have blurred.

Photo B: Bird (Peaches the Cockatoo)
Cockatoos are a favorite in this house! Gorgeous bokeh – just yummy. Great focus on the beak and eyes. Only suggestion on this one is to maybe not shoot so wide open or check your distance so the entire bird (head to toe) was in focus.

Photo C: Giraffe (Sam the Giraffe)
Love the humor in this one – the tongue and teeth… great capture! So much texture in this shot and great focusing. Because I know that you were probably limited on where you could position yourself I can’t think of any technical suggestions.

This is a hard choice because all of them are so good for different reasons! My choice for a winner is Photo A – Fish.

And the winner is “Crash” the 11 year old who loves photoshop. Congratulations!  Please remember that your brother really is not a fan of Asian cuisine. K?

“Burn” had a great capture of Sam the giraffe and I submitted the photograph of Peaches.

A big shout out to Paula for being our guest judge this week.  Thank you!

What we learned about photographing animals is patience and timing.

I’ll be sharing more about Idle-Hour Ranch and our experience in a separate post with more photos.

Our next Summer Photo Safari is going to be “Sunsets” in a couple of weeks.

We love comments.  Please leave some comments and let us know which photo you like.
XO,

Sherry, Crash and Burn

I have had a really difficult time getting good photos of Cosmo, especially inside.  That is until I met Paula Wessells of Doxzen Pet Photos. Paula has given me several tips on how to photograph a black dog with all black features. Take a look at her portfolio, her photography is inspiring.

In the studio we’re still making decisions on lighting.  Hope to have something on order when I get back from the One Light Workshop with Zack Arias. Lights and a few more construction details and we’ll be booking studio sessions.

I love that his left eye is prominent.  (Spike, Ike, and I are all left eye dominant and right handed).

I’ve been wanting to mess around with ttvf and haven’t had a chance.  This will have to satisfy the want for now.

This capture was a happy accident.

Spike leaned against the wall while I was photographing Ike.  Thankfully I looked up to see this.  Spike was told not to move.  Then it was Ike’s turn.

We ended up north of town at a vacant motel.  I’ve been wanting to photograph a session here.  Unfortunately by the time we got to the motel both boys were over this session.

Ask any portrait photographer you know and they’ll tell you the hardest subjects to photograph are their own children.

I’ve been to the mall 2x in less than 72 hours.  First we had to pick up a pair of converse at Journeys.

Last night we went to AEO because Spike had to have this.

And Ike had to have these.

This morning was ugly getting ready for school.  Spike thought he could wear shorts with his fedora.  Ummm… it’s 27 degrees outside.  Let the drama begin!

{Names of been changed to protect the innocent… M&M is my husband, Spike is our oldest son who is 13, and Ike is our youngest son who is 10}