Dog Day Afternoons

People 'say' they own a dog. But, is that really true? I think it's this: 'Our Dogs Own Us'

Dogs. I just LOVE dogs. Mixed, purebred, big, small, shaggy, short-haired but not 'the yappy ones'. My suggestion to camera flicking fanatics is to 'take your camera where-ever you go'. Those Starbuck coffee shops always have a rotating line-up of dogs left 'for you' to enjoy and capture. Also, I went to this dog park (sans dog) and just sat on a log capturing dogs mid-play, sulking, wading in water, making friends and sometimes....doing the nasty.

I have an entire album devoted to dogs...yes, they are that special. I even print pictures of dogs from coffee shops and give the owners copies. THEY LOVE IT and you get a free coffee in return. Remember, most people just don't bother to take snaps of their own pets, their buddies, their best pals..it's criminal.

I'm a bit of a dog park junkie now. When I left the Lagoon I started to hang out at the few dog parks with my camera 'ready' to go. I'd interact with the dog owners and many 'dog walkers'. The dog walkers LOVE to go on about each dog. This is their living. They even go to the trouble to get the dogs to 'do' what I think they should do for a photo. This is not true of course, I'm just happy to see dogs in play mode and running off leash. I hate seeing dogs wrapped around bicycle stands and bus stop posts. It's just wrong.

A roaming dog is a happy dog! Just down the street from my condo is a mini-dogs 'only' park and I go there to embrace the joy these strangers take letting there mini-p0uches free to chase a ball, hump a stranger, do tricks for treats or just 'hang' with the gang. It's magical. I'd love to be a dog...a loved dog. Just getting unconditional love 24/7 and sniffing everything from flowers to butts. It's a magical world. It's a Dog's world.

The Cat Walk

The feline factor. I should mention that I first started practicing with my digital camera on my 3 cats. Yes, I have 3.... probably 3 too many, but I'm a sucker for saving animals. To be direct, I'm much more a dog lover than a cat lover but, back in the apartment days I wasn't allowed to have a canine so, I won this white cat at a family Christmas and it's just became a hot mess!

So, I took many pictures of them licking dew off plants in my garden, coiled up in my quilt and posing on the stairs. To protect their identity I will not be posting pictures of them on my blog. I'll turn to the neighborhood cats to fulfill that obligation.

Cats are such posers. Seriously, what is their purpose in life? They sleep most of the time, threaten our song-bird population and they can burn a hole in your wallet when it comes to vet bills.

Once I had this naked cat that lived across the street. I just called it 'the naked cat'. It is a genuine breed called the hairless cat but I just want to stick to the naked cat. It really creeps me out. I guess I'm vain that way but I prefer pretty kittys. The way he/she would stare at me through that window gave me the chills. The naked cat is 'in my eyes' the ugly cat. It would have been like Kitty porn, so I refused to take a picture of him/her.

I continued up the street with my camera and just looked for cats doing absolutely nothing. I didn't know how to make a cat 'interesting' in a photo but I tried. Dogs can be so animated but the cat just stares. You feel very thoughtless zooming in on a cat who is just staring at you. Shaming a photographer seems to be one their purposes in life. I felt like I was insulting them or invading their personal space. Still, I needed to experiment as I had only spent a week with my camera and they are a subject you really don't have to go on the prowl to find.

Maybe this was the lazy photographer side of me. I found excuses to avoid marching to the Lagoon or the Ocean. Just do the cat walk on the cement , in the hood and hope something clever rises from the hairballs.

I realized it wasn't that easy to be clever with cats. You have to really work at it. What seemed so simple was actually very complicated.

I would challenge many photographers to come out of the woods and just try to produce 'interesting' cat photos. I'm still way off the mark but, I'll continue down the cat-walk of shame until something 'clicks!'

And yes, to be corny I had to post a picture of a 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'.

Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Chirp

Circling the trail around the Lagoon with my camera swinging madly, I missed out on the smallest of the heavenly creatures: the song birds! Ah, the song birds..the ones that dressed Cinderella and helped Snow White clean the little people's hut..or was that the 3 PIGS?

With Hitchcock's Murder of crows lurking and multiple Seagulls, you wonder how the little guys survive? They, like the raccoons and squirrels, have their amazing talents of merging in my woodland world.

In-between the thorny bushes and the leafy branches are these BIRDS...just spewing out hatred at anything passing by. Bitchy yes, but for good reasons. It's not easy picking up a seed with 12 predators lurking...and we add the feral cats to the list.

I wondered if I could ever get photographs of these mini-marvels. They move so quickly and hide so wisely. So, I went and bought some wild bird seed. In the merry old land of the Lagoon, they're happy for handouts. Then, it happened. I was like Cinderfella with all these birds coming out of the woodwork with animated charm. I almost expected music to circle me and make it more magical. The whole thing was so Dr. DoLittle on a mission.

So delicate, so tiny and fragile ...until you actually see these feathered friends battling over a sesame seed. It got ugly. I get the small man complex now. Even birds puff out their chests and attack. Disney's 'Small World After all' isn't as charming as I dreamed it would be.

So, with my camera cap off and the birds in a frenzy, I started to snap away. I had muscle spasms waiting for one chickadee to just 'freeze' for at least 3 seconds. After taking pictures of the Lagoon Darlings, I needed a good rubdown and hour long massage.

One jogger goes by and they all disappear into their hiding places. I silently curse the jogger, the dog-walker and the town pervert as they mess with my new hobby.

But, in the end, I have flown the coop, planted new seeds and framed a few song-birds. It was worth the muscle spasms and long waits. Best of all, I have leftover chicken in my fridge. I walked home wondering if I'd ever get a picture of a hummingbird? Not likely .... I'd need a bigger, faster camera with a thicker manual. I don't think I could endure that...yet!

LOST in COON Lagoon

I know, get my camera and move on! But, there's so much lost life in the Lagoon and around it that you really have to march on. So, I did my squirrels R us segment. Now, it's time for the frightening art of Raccoon Photography. I kid you not, it's no easy feat to take a picture of a masked bandit. These creatures are everywhere.

As I was snapping pics of squirrels and ducks , an entire family of rabid raccoons were pulling at my backpack and sliding their wicked claws down my very handsome legs. Yes, I do have handsome legs. That's another story.

I thought raccoons were nocturnal most of the time but, our tourists have happily been feeding them Wonder Bread, X-tra large eggs (as if the ducks and geese don't donate enough!) and I've even seen one raccoon unwrap a Mars bar.

A ha, there are signs everywhere,

DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS...THEY ARE WILD ... THEY MAY HAVE RABIES ....THEY BITE!

Back to photography. I just passed a woman who handed one dozen eggs to a family of coons. It's making the whole 'wild animal photography' experience a bit of a lie. These creatures have become the house cats of the Lagoon..but still, deep down, I know they are wild and exciting and I must get photos of them.

Taking the time to observe is the icing on the photographer's cake. OBSERVE and you shall be rewarded. Raccoons are very intelligent creatures. Yes, I know pigs and dolphins are too, but raccoons would be in my top '5'.

The art of fishing, climbing, fighting one another and begging are award worthy experiences. They are the peasants of the Beatrice Potter world, but, we actually made them that way. Inner city animals know how to manipulate people and it's an honor to watch!

Take your camera, sit on a rock at the Lagoon and just watch. When they're not pestered by the human beings they actually amaze me in their natural habitats. Makes me sigh with sadness and think of the days of 'Rascal' before mankind turned Lost Lagoon into a Superstore for Coons and friends.

Snap Happy

I have to admit I became 'snap happy' after one day with this new camera. If it was in front of me, I took a picture. I found myself standing on algae-ridden logs, balancing on wet rocks and standing in the middle of high grasses hoping the local dogs hadn't left gifts behind.

I learned how to look up. Yes, looking up is a good thing when you have a camera on board. Why? Well, the birds perch, the raccoons sleep and the squirrels look right back at you. With favourable weather, I left ground level and got snap happy one nature floor up.

I must warn you, the Blue Herons can spray you mid-click but, life is about risks. I know they say it's good luck to have a bird crap on you but have you seen how large these creatures are?

I used to think squirrels were just pretty rodents with bushy tails like everyone else. Watching them up in James Cameron's AVATAR-LIKE trees, they took on a different look. They are the masters of great leaps and scaling trunks. I learned quickly , 'you don't get a lot of time to take a photo of a squirrel in flight.'

Just like those fashion photographers you just start to go all snap happy and somewhere in the mass of photos 'one', just 'ONE PICTURE' calls out to you. It must be shared, it must be processed, enlarged, maybe even framed and hung!

By the time you waddle around the willow trees 'clicking' like a crack addict, the day is almost over. That is the beauty of the art. You're in constant motion, not unlike the bushy-tailed rodent and you have fulfilled your passion for yet another day. The Lagoon walk-about had become my first plot of land to play with my new toy. Now, I just had to stop naming the squirrels and waving to past swans I had photographed. The tourists would begin to find me more 'interesting' than nature itself.

So, I have added squirrels to my list of amazing subjects. What next... tomorrow is another day to be snap happy.

Parts of the Bird: Zoom It!

So, there I am, looking at the usual suspects: ducks, swans, song birds, raccoons, squirrels..creatures I have walked past dozens of times with little interest. ZOOM. Yup, that's all it took to change my world. Who knew 'one button' on this new digital camera would suddenly evoke interest in that blob above the swan's beak. I never cared before. Suddenly, the blob was beautiful. Yes, I admit it, I was into that black blob protruding from the swan's face. ZOOM. CLICK. MAGIC. Who cares if I missed the end of the beak or the top of it's head...it was magical to me. It's like finding Waldo in those Where's Waldo books. So, I decided to go for bird body parts next! My world was once again expanding thanks to a simple purchase at that Drug Store. I would make gift cards, create black and whites, put a swan face on a coffee mug...but the point really became 'my new passion'. Yes, I was now a passionate photographer. I felt rather smug and trendy and it all happened in one day..ONE DAY. I had so much to explore just 2 blocks from my home. Perhaps the neck of a heron or the webbed foot of Canadian Goose? Yes, it was all beautiful now. These creatures I had taken for granted were now my canvas on a somewhat polluted Lagoon. But, it was my canvas and my passion. Ah, the mighty Blue Heron...time to get close and ZOOM!

Ducks Unlimited

I mean, who knew I had this new skill. Not me. Never. I used to own a Kodak flash-bulb kind of camera when I was 6 years old and took it to Disneyland to hunt down Mickey Mouse (yes, I did find him but my parents did not find me).

Then, after years of looking at family birthday cake blow-outs and Christmas trees...I felt ill. I needed my own shots, my own subjects, pictures on any day except a 'special day'.

So, I went to the local Drug Store which has fliers which announced the sale of digital cameras. No, I did not know what digital meant but, I knew everyone was doing it. Sadly, many didn't do it well.

I saw things differently. I saw the beak of a lonely duck and thought, 'this is art'. So, I pulled out my Visa and purchased the camera. It was not a fancy model and only had an 18 X's zoom. What did I care. I just tossed the directions on how to use your new camera, and all the other paper work into a file and decided to head to the Lagoon just blocks from my house.

I was like a kid in a candy store. I looked through the wee box and saw so many possibilities..and then, I SAW THE DUCKS! Oh yes, there were hundreds of sitting ducks just waiting for me to capture their essential beauty and ear-mark my new hobby (later- ? career) as a freelance photographer.

Duck Day Afternoon with my Nikon. I rushed to the drugstore and had the fat little woman behind the counter show me the 21 steps to download pictures and order prints. I had a bead of sweat falling from my small side-burn as I waited the 3 hours for development.

Then, I returned to the store and picked up my first prints. I saw small yellow corners clipped to some of my DUCK PHOTOS which said, 'GREAT SHOT, YOU SHOULD BLOW THIS UP!' ..that's when I knew I had the 'IT FACTOR FOR PHOTOGRAPHY' and, to this day, it only gets better!