Christmas Pictures!

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hi Friends!

So couple things about me: I LOVE holidays and get childishly excited about them. Also I am a "camera sergeant" as my brother calls me. I have to take pictures of everything and that includes my dogs which means they are subjected to pictures that I'm sure they would rather not do, but we now have a great routine and they know this means many treats followed but bully sticks (the only time they get them). 

Having black/dark colored dogs is such a drag for someone who is always whipping out their phone to take a picture only to realize that the lighting/ background/ flash/ window/ and who knows what else are not in your favor for the day. But I love my boys and do what I can. I do not have kids but my furkids are my babies so in conjunction with the DK card exchange I thought it would be fun to send one out to family and friends and decided to get the boys all dressed up! Let me tell you how perfect they were! I'm sure you guys know but it takes soon much to set up for good pictures, your flashes, your lighting, your dogs-lol! 

Moose had eyes on the treats the whole time and after deciding that the pilot light on the fire place wasn't going to eat him he had a good time! He even forgot he had things on his head and was just so excited to have people looking at him and really just looked happy! He even got to wear some antlers to go with his name! Loki on the other hand was only in this for the food. Now the big difference between my boys is that Moose is a good liar and Loki is not. If I come home and look at something chewed up I know right away if it was Loki because he looks so guilty however if he looks happy as a clam it's Moose for sure. Moose always looks like he's the life of the party and constantly has this puppy smile on his face. Loki on the other hand wears his expressions plain as day. If he is ticked off or annoyed he lets you know with his expressive doodle eyes. My favorite picture I have ever taken of them is below. Moose looks happy as ever and his forgotten that he even has antlers on his head however about 30 seconds before I took this picture I had to tell Loki to "leave it" because he kept trying to eat the antlers... Here's the expression he kept on his face for the next half hour (and hid behind Moose)...

They say if looks could kill... I think part of what makes Loki a great therapy dog is that he is so expressive. He will be sitting with a patient and look like he is truly engaged in their conversation and you almost wonder if he does know what is being said. 

Dogs are amazing like that. I really think that dogs are so much smarter than we will ever realize or give them credit for. Here's another one with Loki not so happy about not being able to munch on the decorations.... Anyone out there have super expressive doodles? I find them so funny and cute! With Moose he always looks is happy and it's great but sometimes I find myself wondering what he's thinking. Loki on the other hand I never have to wonder because it's

almost like he put a billboard up just to make sure I got the memo. 

Moose was such a champ! He even wore this goofy little hoody thing from petco complete with little bells. 

Question I have for my photography wizards out there. How do you guys get rid of the weird "doggie eye gleam"? This picture to the left is an example of an issue I kept running into. I used a good about of indirect lighting and set of a slave flash as well and most of the pictures turned out great but every now and then I would get this gleam in Loki's eyes. Anything else I can do to completely eliminate it? I had to play around a lot with the lighting just to get them to show up because of their dark fur. I used the red eye corrector to tone down the weird eye gleam but wasn't sure if there was anything else out there that I might try. 

Overall this post is just an excuse to post pictures of my boys because I was just so happy that I got not one but a handful of good pictures of them! I do realize that I am giving away most of their christmas card for those who are doing the card exchange but seriously I needed to show these pictures to someone out there! People who are not dog people don't have the same love for pictures of happy dogs.  Hope everyone is having a great holiday season and I can not wait to see everyone's christmas cards!

Happy Howl-idays!

Jess, Loki, and Moose!

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Jess, these pictures are awesome!  So many good shots of both of them - you've inspired me to try again with my girls who don't like the camera, lol.  My two are just like yours with expressions - Ellie is my super expressive doodle.  I always say I'd love to hear what she'd say if only she could speak, but there's really no need because I know exactly what she's thinking with just one look at her face.  Beaz usually looks happy, and her face says "Woohoo, I'm here!  Let's play!!" basically 100% of the time.  :)  

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

OMGosh your pictures are fantastic and your Doodles are adorable.  I'm right with you about the Holidays and the camera thing!    

[Jenny and Cooper]

I love ALL of the pictures! You did such a great job! Of course lots and lots of credits goes Moose and Loki! They look great together, what a cute looking pair of doodles! :D

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

These are all great pictures.  My indoor pictures always suck, so my good pictures get taken outdoors in natural light.  I don't know how to edit the eyes.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Lori- thank you so much! It is a constantly struggle and I think I am finally finding a system for it :) I'm excited to see your card too, your girls always look so good and I have no clue how you do it with three of them! I was going crazy with two!

The Zoey Files- Thank you so much! And that so cool! Loki and Moose are a year and a day apart in age so literally the exact same as your girls! It's so much fun seeing the boys grow up together! good luck with your girls, can't wait to see pictures of them!

[The Zoey Files]

These pups and the photos are amazing. I am so impressed with them and you!!! Thank you for sharing and inspiring! Btw Zoey is a year old and this week we are getting her sister (same mom and dad), similar to Zoey and Moose!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

These pictures are all really great! So much fun. There are very few people who can correctly photograph their black dogs and you have done an awesome job! I can't wait to get your Christmas card!

Treats AND a helper work wonders. Sometimes the dogs are more willing than the helper is to help.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Kaitlin- Thanks! Even thought they have the same parents they are soon different and it's so fun to see how they are even different in pictures. 

Nancy- Thank you! Your comments mean a lot to me! I'm glad I can help out!

Linda- I will have to join that group, and thank you very much!

Janet- Thank you so much! I find that if a camera is in one hand and treats are in the other it works! It would have been way easier if I had a friend to take the pictures and then I could just focus on getting their attention. Memo to self for next year!

Sue- Thanks for the tips! I will have to try that, I have found that I need semi cloudy or brightly overcast days and then the lighting is perfect because if it's super sunny they just look like big blobs in the pictures lol!

[Sue]

I think they look adorable. I would try to use as much natural lighting as possible, like by a window for less glare. Or try bouncing the flash off something so it's not so direct.

[Janet & Jaxson]

I LOVE your pictures!  I still don't know how you get both of them to cooperate like that.  It is hard enough with one!  As I found out this Halloween, Jaxson hates wearing clothes.  So I'm still trying to figure out what I can do for Christmas pictures without making him mad!  Happy Holidays!