For me the most important element in photography is not composition or lighting, but the ability to “see”.  In other words, recognizing that there is an image to be made from the scene before you.  I’ve struggled with this off and on for years, but when it comes to photographing animals, I’m pretty confident that I will find plenty of opportunities to photograph.  On the other hand, take me to Child’s Park in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania – a spot loved by photographers who want to shoot waterfalls – and I won’t find much to shoot.  I don’t know why, but I just don’t “see” well there.  I was at the dog show last weekend and was focusing my lens on Beagles.  I turned around and caught a glimpse of the scene in the blog image.  I was able to react quickly and get the shot.  Had I been in any other position – slightly to the left or right – this would have been a completely different image.  I had seconds to shoot as just as I clicked the shutter, both the dog and handler moved.  That’s what I mean about seeing and reacting….I recognized that this was a good shot and thankfully reacted quickly in order to capture it because in an instant it was gone!  This is one of my very favorite shots of the day!

This is how I feel after eating a yummy Easter dinner…..yawn!!!  Time for a cat nap!

Okay, so it’s not an Easter bonnet, but it’s purple and very sparkly…fitting for the Easter holiday!  This Basset Hound is wearing a snood, which is placed over the dog’s ears to keep them from getting into their food or water or from getting dirty.  Many of the long-eared dogs wear them at the dog shows prior to entering the ring.  When I was little we had a black and tan Cocker Spaniel who was forever getting her ears into her food and water bowls.  At the time we didn’t know anything about snoods, but one would have come in handy.  My dog must have had the cleanest ears in town because we were forever washing them!
Happy Easter everyone!

TGIF!  What’s better at the end of a long and stressful week than a little pampering?!  Somewhere underneath all of that fur there is a dog …. a Poodle in fact!   You can see by the snips of fur on the left side of the image that the dog is in the process of being groomed.   Doesn’t he or she look relaxed?   How nice to have someone pamper you and make sure that you always look your best…that’s the life!  🙂