In October 2020, Nicole and I did a photoshoot with two of the horses she rides, Quixote and Sage. It was a lovely autumn shoot and created some awesome images. It's always a fun time working with Nicole!

2020 didn't come with many photoshoots for me. I spent six months in Naujaat [Repulse Bay], which is in the Arctic circle area of Nunavut from April to October. I'm looking forward to 2021 and hopefully having shows to photograph again. 

Below are some of the images from my second time in Nunavut. Two absolutely adorable husky pups; Boots, a husky x wolf [25% DNA tested wolf content]; and a gorgeous husky x wolf [Boots' mother] - she's an amazing dog that I would buy in a heartbeat. 

Maverick and Marley are both Springer Spaniels, bred and used as hunting dogs. Marley is now retired and enjoying a calmer life in her senior age, while Maverick is a young three year old full of drive and instinct. When he finds a scent, he goes for it! While house sitting, we have had our shares of run ins with wild animals. One time he went after a wild rabbit and broke through the underground fence. Another time a young beaver found its way up from the woods onto their property. It was intense getting Maverick to break the focus. No animal was harmed, but the poor beaver was probably a bit traumatized but neither were harmed in any way. I was able to separate Maverick from the situation. But boy did it show me his true instinct as a hunting dog. I love a working dog. 

​These two definitely have quite the personalities. 

Levi is a cute young three month old Mini Australian Shepherd Doodle mix. He's cute and playful and photogenic. He loves his toys and trying to take Maverick on in a game of wrestling. One of my favourite tricks to teach is spin, so of course if you leave me with your puppy, I am going to teach them spin. He's a very quiet dog, very different than the other two.

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The holidays are just around the corner. Kodak loves the cold weather and snow. I call him my little Tinsel Toes as he enjoys the holiday decorations. We've put off getting a Christmas tree yet as the amount of pine needles that would accumulate in his fur is a terrifying thought... 

Kodak turned one year old on November 11th and this is his first Christmas with us!

The holidays are a stressful time for us, but I always enjoy photographing things this time of year. 

This is a blog circle so head over to Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati, the San Fransisco Bay Area, and destinations worldwide to see more images from this weeks theme. Only one week left in the 52 Week Photo Challenge.

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In October, I did a photoshoot for a friend of mine who's horse was being put down. The autumn colours went perfectly with this lovely pair.  

Autumn is definitely my favourite season to photograph. The colours always make for the perfect backdrop. Take advantage of all the colours in the trees!

Head over to the next blog in the circle, Darlene Woodward with Paint the Town Photography, serving MA & NH to see more images for this week theme; Seasonal.

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Motion is a fun, but challenging thing to photograph. Whether you wish to capture the motion with a fast or slow shutter speed, it can take a great deal of knowledge.

Knowing how to properly use shutter speed is important with capturing motion. To stop motion, use a fast shutter speed (I usually use at least 1/600 or faster, depending on the subject), electronic strobes and flashes are also recommended to help with stopping motion. To show the motion, use a slow shutter speed.

Extremely slow shutter speeds are also called Long Exposure. Long exposure is popular with waterfalls, or any form of water scene as it creates a glassy, soft dream appearance. I personally enjoy photographing stars and use long exposure for it. Long exposure can be fun to play around with. Use it to photograph fireworks, or just to create a fun effect to the image. Photograph a car driving through the scene at night and capture the light trails; have someone walk through the image during a slow shutter; Throw some flowers in the air; really anything you want to create motion.

Panning: Panning can be difficult. It is when you move the camera along with the subject (usually parallel to the subject, not coming towards the camera) as you take the image, and continue to pan the camera after the shutter is finished. This allows the subject to be in focus with a blurred background that almost looks streaked. A slow shutter speed can be used during this. Move the camera at the same speed as the subject. This technique can create a feeling of movement, as if the viewer is moving with the subject.

I mostly use fast shutter speeds to freeze the motion of my subjects. I do enjoy photographing night scenes and water scenes, where I will use long exposure to capture the motion. 

The images I used are from Baxter's Cattle Penning show, where I used a fast shutter speed to capture and freeze the motion.

Remember, this is a blog circle so head on over to Pawparazzi Pet and Animal Photography presented by Shae Pepper Photogarphy to check out other blogs and images on this weeks theme.

Here are some past images I have photographed using long exposure. It's perfect for the Northern Lights!

My oh my, have I been lacking lately. It's been several week's since I last participated in the photo challenge. Life has been hectic, and I am getting ready to go back to school (which will definitely make doing this challenge difficult) in September. Enjoy the newest post, I hope to be more active with it.

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Wide open means shooting at your widest aperture (smallest number). It creates a nice blurred background, free of distractions. For these images, I shot at f/2.8. Shooting at a wide aperture allows for more light to come through the lens, allowing for better low light capabilities, faster shutter speeds, and more detail. It's useful when dealing with difficult locations as it creates a nice blurred background which it great for busy and distracting backgrounds, and brings the focus to the subject. 

Understanding aperture and depth of field is important when shooting wide open. Your focal plane is more narrow, so focus is important! 

I mainly shoot with wider apertures as I prefer a blurred background to bring focus on the subject. It's great when photographing my dog who is a Barbet (French Water Dog) as he is all fur, so I don't need all of that in focus; I like to blur what isn't needed, and focus on what is needed for the shot.

For this subject, I have some images of Kodak, focus on his nose as you can't see his eyes. And then I decided to photograph my cavy (guinea pig) Chewbacca (they sound like mini Wookies) who I have never actually photographed before. The wide aperture is perfect for him to focus on his eyes and adorable nose. 

To check out more blogs and images on the subject, head over to Nancy Kieffer Photography, serving Central New York, the Adirondacks, and Beyond.. 

Helpful links:
Iris Works
Cole's Classroom
Digital Photography School

On March 4, my mother, grandfather and I went to Oaklawn Farm Zoo. My grandfather has known the owners for a long time, they were good friends with his father. I've known the owners my entire life because of this, and knowing the owners of a zoo has it's perks. The grounds were not open to the public for the season yet, so the safety fences were open and we went up to and in the enclosures of the animals, including the lions. It was an awesome experience, you really want to reach out and pet them when you're standing that close to these majestic animals. 

​The female kept jumping up and pawing my camera lens whenever I would stop photographing her and photograph the male. She was a camera hog. Most of these animals have been raised from cubs. They love the owners of the zoo, that was clear as we watched the lions follow him as he walked around. They came running up to the fence as soon as they saw him.

I decided to go with a cooler, moodier edit on them. Enjoy these close up images of the lions. 

Blue. The colour. The emotion. Bleu, Azul, Blu, Gorm, Caeruleum, Glas.

Blue is a colour all around us. It's the colour of the sky. It's my eye colour. The colour of flowers, furniture, hair. I raise show rabbits, and blue is actually my favourite variety. Blue can be found anywhere and everywhere. 

It is also an emotion. To feel sad or depressed, or feeling a little blue. Feeling a little down in the dumps. Everyone feels blue every now and than, some more than others (I speak from experience). 

​​A lot has been going on recently, so I have not been able to participate in the 52 week photo challenge, but I'm back for week 23. Kodak is almost 7 months old! We have some lovely blue flowers in our back yard (we moved at the beginning of May) so for this challenge I thought it was fitting if I photographed him in the blue flowers. 

He is a Barbet (French Water Dog), so he has long curly fur. He gets the joys of wearing pony tails to keep it up out of his eyes. I was born to have a dog with long fur... he may or may not wear bows.... manly bows. 

This is a blog circle, so head over to Elaine Tweedy, I Got The Shot Photography, Northeastern PA Pet Photographer to see more images and blogs on the subject. 

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Patterns. Patterns can be found everywhere around us, whether man-made or made in nature. Whether you want to emphasize or break the patterns, they can be striking in photographs. 

Patterns are repetition; repeated lines, shapes, colours, or objects. 

Breaking patterns can be done naturally or by doing it yourself. Photograph a dozen blue balls with one purple ball in it to break up the pattern. Or photograph wall of windows, maybe one being broken or covered in vines. 

I enjoy using patterns more in nature photographs. It can be difficult at times, but keep an eye out and look for patterns. 

Patterns don't have to be perfect, your interpretations work.


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I am currently in the process of moving, so I don't currently have access to edit my images. So, please enjoy some past images and once I can upload new ones I will!


Remember to head on over to Elaine Tweedy of I Got The Shot Photography, Northeastern PA Pet Photographer to check out more images and blogs with this weeks theme of patterns. 

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This weeks theme didn't involve taking new images, just taking old images and re-visiting them. The majority of my old images I didn't change much besides the white balance... looking back I really didn't know much about white balance, and liked warmer images, sometimes too warm and too pink.

Editing styles changeover time, you may not notice. I definitely recommend going back through past images and re-edit them, see the difference from then and now.

The next blog in the circle is Kim with BARKography, based in Charlotte NC. Click on the link to see more images with this weeks theme and then continue on with the blog circle.