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!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Jessica ~ I love all of these photos and the expressions are terrific!  If you have not joined the photography group on this site - come join in!

[Nancy & Echo]

I have very little dog experience, so when I talked to a friend who brought her standard poodle, I really didn't understand what people meant about a dog's expressions.  But with Loki its as clear as day.  I love all your photos, and its even let me learn a bit more about dog emotions.  I don't have any photo experience, but I want you to know you have helped me understand dog psychology.  Your photos just make me smile.

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

I love all these photos and I love how you talk about Loki's different expressions vs. Moose's happy-go-lucky face all the time.  So funny and you can totally see it in the pictures!  My last dog would do absolutely anything if he knew he'd get treats. He'd do it begrudgingly, but he'd do it!! Both your boys are so so cute!