Springtime Beauty and Goat Mommas

 

If I could figure out how to price my photography of nature - this would be a selling piece. There is absolutely zero computer altering. It's all just using the right settings, the right lighting, and focusing on the right place.

The Crab Apple Tree bloomed this weekend. It's funny to think that this little tree with such huge blossoms produce these little, cherry-sized, sour apples.

While I was capturing the details of the Tulips and Daffodils, there was a loud bang sound.

Well, it came from our neighbor's new sheep. They were acting quite springy.

Springy enough to make loud noises and spook their big buddy, Beau.

Pink Sunset

Chloe wondering if I have a treat for her. She's so cute, but she can be quite the pill with a teenager set of mind when it comes to food and trying to pet her. I wonder if she's ready to be the nanny when the babies come.

Bonnie was supposed be due with her babies this week, but then early last month, she went into heat and we're like "WHAT!!??"

So we bred her again and she's now due in September...which is still a good time before winter sets in to have baby goats. But REALLY!!?? Could we just have everyone due in the same week? But, NO! No, we gotta have one in May, one in June, and the last in September!

Lizzy is due the last week of May and is about ready to burst. This is her fourth pregnancy, so really they can come any day now. I can't wait to see what "colors" this Golden thrower would throw this year (she throws predominantly Max. White Golden babies - Paisley and Moo are the only "other" colors she has produced....and we still don't really know what color Moo is, since his spots are all in the wrong places for Agouti Pattern identification).

Double wide = 4 babies!

Paisley is due in June....since she is nearly impossible to tell if she's in heat or not! It's going to be interesting seeing how her crazy attachment to her momma when not just her little siblings are born, but also her own little babies.

Paisley finally came over to the fence. We are wondering if she is going to have twins. We'll see when she gets closer to her due date.

Of course, naturally, she climbs up to see if I have anything to eat. She's just as bad of a foodie as Chloe! This picture is so awesome! Her eye is completely in focus!

Stay tuned for the baby goats update when Lizzy's babies are born!

I Don't Just Photograph Model Horses

Or clouds...or mountains....

Though, the landscape looked really pretty the Friday morning of the 4H Dog Show (the same weekend as the Field of Dolls Online Show Results Announcement).

I am notorious for taking pictures through car windows - they still come out OK.

My dad and I picked up Kneaders French Toast for the judges, my family,....and any leftovers can be used for gaining the dogs' attention during the show. Yes, the kids take anything from dog treats, hot dogs, cheese, French toast, or any other appealing smell/taste to a dog and rub it all over their hands since food/treats is not allowed in the show ring. It has become a Dog 4H tradition to get Kneaders French Toast on show days.

Just saying, if you're ever coming through Logan/Cache County, UT, make sure you go by Kneaders - they have really good food! Kind of like Paradise Café.

More clouds...

OK, now the dogs.

Photographing in indoor arenas are an absolute pain. The lighting is terrible if you are wanting anything to come out clear. This was the best I can do at the moment. Someday, I'll figure it out. But for now, it's just use'n' the tripod at the openest aperture, 1/60 shutter speed, 1600 ISO, and custom White Balance (focused on my brother's red and white Playmate lunch box!)

The first show of the day was Showmanship. Showmanship is basically judged on how well you work with your dog. My little sister, Victoria, showed both our brother, Kaleb's dog MerkTavitch (Merk for short); and her dog, Jasper (above).

This was Merk's very first show. It was very exciting, and new....until...

His owner was judging the other dogs in Obedience!

(Obedience is judged on how well the dog obeys their handler).

Typically, for this exercise, the two cones are actually two people standing as posts, and the dog has to make a figure 8 around them without paying any kind of attention to them. Though, the cones are still pretty distracting to the dogs. MUST SMELL EVERYTHING!!!

As far as Kaleb's attire - it's a 4H themed Hawaiian shirt. He has it as his official judge shirt.

I didn't get any pictures of the kids doing Rally, which is an obstacle course with signs that tell you what to do before advancing to the next sign. I was getting tired and was really needing food at the moment.

Saturday was Agility and Fast. The pictures I have here are of Agility. Agility is basically an obstacle course where the dog runs through either on leash (in the beginning stages) or off leash (more advanced). Placings are judged on how fast the dog went through the course without any faults (knocked jump bar or skipping an obstacle because the dog isn't comfortable with it yet).

I didn't get any of Fast either, due to needing to eat and take a nap (which I did - part in a camp chair and the other in my dad's truck). As far as what Fast is, you're on a set time and you gotta have your dog go through/over as many obstacles as possible to gain the highest points collected (jumps are 1, the tunnel is 5, I don't remember what the A-Frame is, though).

Of course, anything fast with the lighting circumstances does not go hand-in-hand...more like against each other. When photographing high speed stuff (or shake free, as I cannot stay completely still while photographing still stuff), I like to have the shutter speed at 1/125. 1/60 is just not fast enough in this terrible lighting to get a clear picture.

Victoria and Jasper doing the Weave Poles. This is a very tricky obstacle for the dogs and it sometimes takes them awhile to master. It's amazing watching videos of super speedy dogs going through the Weaves.

 And we end with beautiful clouds. Between the colors of the sky and the trees - it could totally be turned into a painting.

Of course, the end is actually with all of us getting sick with a cold. And when a sickness goes through my family, it goes through ONE PERSON AT A TIME! It doesn't help that there are 6 of us! We're on the tail end of it now. But that means congestion for eternity (or so it seams)!

Behind the Scenes: The Proper Way to Decorate Cookies

 

I absolutely LOVE this entry!

It was loads of fun to make!

The sweatshirts are all hand-sewn and the pockets are real.

The bloops of "frosting" is actually dried paint left in plastic paint palettes, then removed by soaking it in water, and left out to dry.

The cookies are clay, then painted.

The icing bag is clay, Saran Wrap, and aluminum foil.

OH! Yeah! And all that "Powder Sugar" is...

wait for it....

Baking Soda!

Yep, because you can make a mess with it and nothing gets sticky!

This is how the dolls look behind the costume. Partly Cloudy's was the hardest because of how low her head is bent and somehow the holes for her ears got a little too far back - making the cinched hood want to come over her eyes.

I decided not to put the Kinetic Sand footing down, because I wasn't sure if Partly Cloudy was going to stand very well. Her mold tends to be bowlegged and I actually had to heat up her foreleg to adjust it, because all of her contact hooves were almost in an exact line - making it impossible for her to stand.

I originally wanted to have Partly Cloudy's pose to have the dolls more upright, but either the arms were too short or her head wasn't down far enough. The thumbs up pose still work - hard to photograph, but still awesome!

You can see it better on Cupid, but they both have "powder sugar" on their noses to show their messiness. Cupid is so expressional! Especially since her human just knocked over the orange frosting!

One thing I did run into - is that it was a very sunny day when I did the photoshoot. Lots of hard light and shadows. Not to mention that this is supposed to be in an indoor arena.

Then I remembered we had a photographer's reflector. I literally photographed with that thing propped on the arena panel and the top of my head!

Now I just need to remember it for next time I need to get arena photos on super sunny days...

Need to watch the video again?

You can find it on my personal FB page.

(It should be easy to find - I rarely post anything there!)