It's week 25 of my personal photography project and the theme this week is selfies; ACK! I prefer to be behind the camera rather than in front of it, but if I'm going to do this, then I'm going to do it right. No long-arming it for me. I set up a mini-studio on my front porch step complete with a twelve foot shutter release cable to capture the action (see terrible cellphone picture below).
Ginger
I love all of my dogs equally, but I'd have to say Ginger is my heart dog. She's the reason I became a dog trainer (that's a whole other story...) and she's my ever-willing model when I want to try out something, or somewhere new (as long as there are snacks involved). She's never far away from me and when I'm up in the middle of night with insomnia, so is she.
Edith Wharton said it best: "My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet."
Dingo
He's afraid of his own shadow but he's my baby boy and I love him to pieces. I regularly say "If Mommy hadn't married Daddy, she would have married Dingo". He's 11 years old now and if you look closely, you'll see some gray creeping into his black fur, but I'm trying not to think about that.
"Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really." - Agnes Slight Turnbull
Gracie
Sweet Gracie was on the urgent list at Dallas Animal Services with 24hours to live when I saw her picture on the Facebook page of a fabulous photographer named Sylvia Elzafon (visit her website to see her soulful work). Sylvia did a shelter dog photography project that changed the way we see these homeless dogs and challenged our preconceived notions of them. Syliva's image of Gracie set me on the path of volunteering my time and camera to multiple shelter and rescue organizations in the Dallas - Fort Worth area.
“A lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me.” – Barack Obama (president of the United States)
Selfie Proof (keeping it real!)