Good morning, its raining. The big storm they've been forecasting for days has finally arrived. I can't actually see any rain but the ground is wet and I hear a few drips coming off of the roof. But I'll take what we can get, I like weather; different from what the norm is here in sunny California; which is not today, not sunny that is.
All the dogs are snuggled up on the bed; I'm sure they enjoy a rainy day as well. Yesterday was a beautiful day; it too was suppose to be rainy and windy but was not. I was in and out alot, I had gone down to the Huntington Beach pier to shoot enormous waves (photo above) we were to have; only to be very dissapointed when I got there with waves that were not even the regular size ones. So I thought I'll see if there are any dogs around to shoot.
I spotted a Kerry Blue running alongside their guardian as she peddled down the pathway along the beach. You don't see this breed much so I carefully approached crossed the bike path and tried my best approach to a person riding their bike. I don't want to wipe anyone out. I asked and she said "nope."
I then saw a lady running with her American Bulldog down the path; I always try to get a feeling if people will be up for a shoot or not before I approach, I'm rarely wrong. But as I watched I could see that this dog was not having fun, he was not cool in the environment he was in. He had the tell tale big eyes darting here and there and the plastered back ears. And although I would have love to photograph him, he was not a happy guy.
So into my xterra and on the way home. As I drove down the PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy) I spotted a dog on the beach. I pulled over and parked, grabbed my camera and headed down. After watching for a while; the dog was really cute and having fun so I asked. The guardian was very nice, told me a long story of how he came to be with this little guy; it was a happy ending. So I took 5-7 min. shooting and was on my way.
I love photographing dogs and just like with photographing humans there are always alot to trash. Closed eye shots, head turns, blur etc. On occassion there is the "shot" and its a good one. I love when the dogs give me "the look." It makes for a true image of how the dogs feel about me (stranger) staring at them with my camera. The images are priceless.