Random Photo Friday - The Start of Something Great?

Yikes, how did a full month blow by since I posted any random photos here? Although in that last photo post I did actually mention my desire to try my hand at pet photography and, believe it or not, I've made a small start in that direction and include below the first few impromptu shots that I've taken recently.

First of all, after a walk and cheeky beer at Jericho Sailing Club with my friend Jo, we were walking by a few old guys chatting and I actually asked if I could take a few photos of their playful little dog, whose name I (annoyingly) can't remember.  She was like a tightly-wound spring, just waiting for someone to throw her tennis ball so she could leap into action:

Throw the ball.....th-r-o-w-w-w the baaaaaall

Perhaps the nicest (bonus) part about taking this photo was the immediate conversation and laughter struck up with a group of complete strangers - what a wonderful way to meet new people. In fact friends of her owner (an english bloke no less) joked that he only brought her along to get chatting to women :-)

The past couple of weeks I've been meaning to go down to one of the local 'doggy beaches' to snap more photos but procrastination got in the way. Then, last Sunday Lorne and I took a wee jaunt over the US border, where I managed to snap a few more.

Enter Abby. It was a sunny day in La Conner and this adorable little girl, who was quite timid at first, was just hanging out with her owner and a friend on the patio of the Waterfront Café, where we stopped for lunch.

Nothing like the sun in your eyes and
the breeze teasing your fur, hanging out
on a restaurant patio mid-March.

I would have asked permission to take a few photos except that the two women Abby was with seemed deep in conversation and her owner seemed pretty grumpy at first (and I later heard her friend ask her, 'have you managed to calm down a little now') so I figured maybe she wasn't having such a good day.

So, trying not to interrupt, I managed to catch Abby's attention and fired off a few quick pics right from my seat at the next table:

Cheese :-)

Not the exact same shot but very similar and I decided to
try a sepia tone. This is where I noticed Abby's name tag.

I must admit, once I saw the images, I really wished I'd spoken to the lady who owns Abby and offered to send her copies, I think she might have appreciated these smiley portraits of her furry little luv, especially if she'd been having a bad day.

Lorne and I went for a bit of a walk around and took a few photographs, La Conner's such a cute little place and I have to say, the breaded cod and chips we ate at the Waterfront Cafe (per above) were delicious!

On walking back to the car, the snuffles and barks of this little lady caught my attention....so I quickly took a couple more pics - her expression just cracks me up. I purposefully left in the reflection of myself to make this sort of a self-portrait/pet portrait shot (and also because I forgot to rotate my polarizer to eliminate the reflection....ooops).

The suddenly serious 'Blue Steel' look.

And, even though I left it till late in the day, I went out for a walk on Tuesday evening this week and snapped this handsome fella, an Akita I believe.

Anyway, it's a start and I know I have to get comfortable with just doing it, asking people if I might take their pet's picture - not to mention practising more at home with our own dear furry brood.