Random Photo Friday: Punk in Prague

While I love photography - and it's becoming a much greater creative pastime for me lately (basically I do my day job so I can afford to travel and take photos in the time I'm not working) - the one area I have never been very comfortable with is taking people shots - portraits, candid or otherwise. I might see something that 'would make a great shot' but a lot of times I worry that I'm exploiting someone's situation by taking the photo or that they'll catch me doing it and feel self-conscious or irritated. Heck, even if someone specifically wants me to take a few portrait/family/group shots - such as Lorne's sister, Kris, asked a couple of years ago when they visited us in Vancouver - I feel so horribly put on the spot and pressured to deliver great pictures, that I actually become incredibly flustered in that situation. Give me animals, insects, scenery, buildings, patterns or even curious signs and I'm perfectly fine. Put me around people and it's an entirely different story - I get nervous, self-conscious and so ridiculously awkward it's actually quite debilitating from a photography standpoint. I even purposefully signed up for a couple of portraiture photography courses a few years ago to push myself into confronting - and hopefully overcoming - this bizarre timidity and apparently, from those who've witnessed it, I thankfully don't come across as 'awkward' as I might feel on the inside, but suffice to say, I will never be a wedding photographer. In fact the whole idea reminds me of learning to scuba dive many years ago. I was working in the incredibly gorgeous and aquatic paradise of the Maldive Islands for several months and, right from the get-go, the opportunity was there for me to do the PADI Open Water scuba courses for free. Yet I held off and held off - leaving it right up until the final few weeks of my contract, before actually taking the dive school up on their offer. Again it was that sense of pushing myself to confront something that I ultimately find quite nerve-wrecking. I was afraid I'd freak out under water and suddenly shoot to the surface, giving myself the bends in the process. But I did the course and then proceeded straight after to the Advanced Open Water Diver course which even involved a night dive - the thought of which genuinely scared me, but I did it and what's more, I loved it. (It's a whole other world underwater after dark.) That said, diving certificates or not, it's still a major push for me to sign myself up for a dive. It's a great feeling to do it and it's spectacular to enjoy the whole underwater life, but scuba diving does not come easy to me and, as much as I hate to admit it given the absolutely breathtaking experience it can be, it's unlikely that diving will ever be anything more than something I might try once in a blue moon on vacation (simply because I can).

And so it is with portrait photography for me. In fact, as much as I'd love to shoot animal portraits, I wonder if I'd feel the same pressure if I was shooting by request rather than randomly capturing the images/moments as and when I see them.

Thankfully though, for once I did not shy away from clicking the shutter when this little scene caught my eye during our last day of wandering around the magnificent city of Prague last summer. In fact I even took a couple of shots, of which this is the best - and he was kind enough to remain so concentrated on his book that he never even noticed me capture his portrait. You'd think I had purposefully asked him to pose there for me. Again, just one of those moments where planets align and I happened to have my camera at the ready.

So casual and cool, this guy was simply
enjoying his book while unwittingly
presenting me with this fantastic photo opp.

So, to this handsome fella, whoever you are, thank you so much for making my photograph one that I feel proud of - and proving that perhaps I can push myself to take portraits after all (even if the thought does still make me a little anxious).

Random Photo Friday - Fick Fog

It's not often that we get fog in Vancouver, even less frequent is thick fog - a real 'pea-souper' as we'd say in England, but we've enjoyed that exception to the rule a few times in the past couple of weeks and it makes for some difficult yet potentially amazing photography. Not least because of the way it obscures the fantastic views for which this city is so famous, but also, thanks to the 'inversion' effect, you can take the highway up towards the higher levels e.g. Cypress Bowl etc. and find yourself in bright sunshine above the clouds, where you can catch the most amazing views back down across the city and right out as far as the airport and beyond to Vancouver Island. If you're lucky, you might spot an airplane suddenly rising out from the fog as it climbs higher into the sky above.

Unfortunately most of the fog seems to be hanging around during the week and largely gone on the weekend so I've not been able to get to Cypress and take in the views back down to the fogged-in city but, one day last week, I decided finally to bring my camera to work with me and popped out during my lunch-break to capture photos from around the area where I work i.e. downtown near the water, not far from Canada Place.

I was thankful the fog was still hanging around and smothering many of the buildings. The scenery was quite eerie, enhanced moreso by brief glimpses of sunlight that endeavoured to break through just enough to reflect magnificently off the windows of nearby glass office towers and hotels, bouncing right back into the fog and lighting it up with incredible drama. I wasn't sure if I'd capture that same atmosphere on my images but, when I looked at them at home, I confess I am quite happy with many of them, of which this is my personal favourite:

Captured at the bottom of Howe Street,
near the Pan Pacific Hotel.

 I posted a group of them on my Flickr site and have had lovely feedback - some of the other favourites being this view of the Harbour Centre's revolving restaurant, looming ominously like a UFO over a neighbouring office tower - reminiscent of something from The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951):

Harbour Centre or UFO?

A lone seagull tries navigating its way through the thick fog.

Vancouver is a city of many disguises - it's amazing how radically different it can look - and feel - simply under a change of weather. Note to self also: It's always worth bringing my camera.

Random Photo Friday: Happy New Year, 2015!

Spotted during a New Year's Day walk along Vancouver's Seawall.

Holy tempes fugit, Batman - how did we end up here again so soon?!!! Another orbit completed (as my brother said) and back to day 1 (well day 2 to be exact) of a New Year  already. These things seem to roll around faster each year. I feel like someone's secretly hacked an extra 100 days off each year for the past ten. Heck, I struggle to account for what on earth I did with the last 365 days. I know they were - for me personally - mostly pretty good, and for that I am extremely thankful. While I might not have felt at all well in the month running up to Christmas, courtesy of several weeks of intense, unexplained stomach pains and strong waves of nausea, the cause of which  has yet to be determined - I am pleased to report that my Christmas was not ruined by it. Since taking a course of buscopan (to relieve the intensity of the gastro-intestinal muscle spasms) I've actually felt pretty good for the past week and have certainly more-than-made-up-for any reduced appetite endured in the weeks preceding the hols. Suffice to say, I've stuffed my gob full of all the usual Christmassy culprits; Quality Street, mince pies, stollen, croissants, marzipan, nuts, stinky cheese & crackers, crisps and basically anything else I could lay my hands on.

Red Racer Gingerhead - Who knew you
could bottle the taste of Christmas?

Not to mention the 'spirits' side of the seasonal festivities, mostly in the form of scotch from our collection, a bottle of Spicebox Pumpkin Spiced Whiskey from Vicky and Mike, the obligatory mulled wine plus some rather delectable brews, including this one from one of my fave local breweries - Red Racer. Their "Gingerhead" Gingerbread Stout tastes like Christmas in a glass, deliciously spicy - almost plum-pudding like - but without being too overwhelming or in your face. I certainly won't object to finding it in my Christmas stocking next year, that's for sure.

Anyway, for now there's a whole new year ahead.....who knows what remains to be written?

Random Photo Friday: Merry Christmas from Ella

How did that happen? Again! Days, weeks and months - simply evaporating before my eyes. Whoooooooooshhhh and suddenly it's Boxing Day already. While it doesn't seem five minutes since this year started, here we are again, within days of saying farewell to 2014 and hello to another new year. Next year I definitely need to put "something to slow down time" on my Christmas Wish List.

Nevertheless, while I have a few updates I'd still like to add here before the year is out (and knowing that my very good friend, Carol, is now reading my blog as a way to keep in touch....thanks Carol!), I figured with this still being Christmas n'all that I would post a rather lovely pic I took recently of our little Ella. 

Just like this time last year, she is clearly enamoured with Christmas - the lights, the decorations (which she steals repeatedly from the tree and hides by her bed), the hide-and-seek games with the other two critters among the carefully wrapped gifts.....which then mysteriously become bent, squished and slightly torn overnight. Gooooo figure.

So while Ella was looking so ridiculously adorable, staring at the tree, sniffing the coloured lights (and no doubt planning her next clandestine haul), I caught this shot of her:

I'm quietly very pleased with how it turned out. I purposefully used a very shallow depth of field (with my aperture wide open at F 1.8), to intentionally blur everything behind Ella while keeping her pretty little face relatively sharp. The coloured lights and decorations cooperated wonderfully in creating a very Christmassy bokeh effect and even creating catchlights in her eyes. And what a perfect model she was too. She patiently posed for quite a few shots, although this is my favourite. I swear she was transmitting a telepathic "please deliver lots of treats and catnip toys" message to Santa at the time I took this.

So, from Ella and the rest of us here in this crazy little family (me, Lorne, Mel and Louis), a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all. Wishing you much love, happiness and cheer!

Random Photo Friday: Dance of the Sugar-Bum Hairies

It still makes me laugh when I think of my Dad always referring to Tchaikovsky's Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairies as 'Dance of the Sugar-Bum Hairies'. And, while this post isn't about fairies, sugar-bummed, hairy or otherwise - it is about feathers and a couple of noisy crows that have taken to tap-dancing on the balcony skylight outside our bedroom window, and it's driving the cats crazy.

So this was the scene of torment a couple of days ago when the clattering, scraping and squawking of a couple of crows - or perhaps it was just one - started up again on the skylight.


Crows Tormenting Cats. (L-R: Louis, Ella, Mel)

I just managed to grab my IPhone in time to snap a picture of all three with their necks craned desperately trying to get a glimpse of their tormentor(s).

Crows are cunningly evil little buggers. Not only have they taken to clattering and sliding around over the balcony, but both Lorne and I have also caught them tapping on the glass and peering down at the cats from the two large skylights above the landing/stairs. No wonder Louis' been doing a number on himself and nibbling away at his foreleg to the point of scabby baldness - if these crows are what's been stressing him out. And from this photo, you can also see just what a MASSIVE cat he's become though most of it is down to his absolute puff-ball hair!

(Despite our best efforts putting him on a low dose of Zylkene meds and even using a bitter-tasting spray on his baldy area, he still seems to be nibbling away and no doubt the recent heat wave hasn't been helping. In most other ways he's improved a lot in recent weeks and is very happy and sociable once again, but the leg-nibbling continues regardless. (Maybe it's the feline equivalent of me still chomping on my fingernails.)

Anyhow, suffice to say those crows are tormenting, yet creatively entertaining, little buggers!

Random Photo Friday: Float your troubles away

Put your troubles in a bubble and float them all away.

When I first moved to Vancouver (late March '96 - after 5 miserable months in Calgary) my sister, Victoria, and her good friend, Laurie, sometimes hung out with an older and rather eccentric hippy  called Wanda-Mae. I only met Wanda-Mae a handful of times but I have the memory of an elephant when it comes to recognizing faces, even years later (often better than I remember them at the time) and have seen W-M a few times around the neighbourhood though I know she'd never remember me personally.

So why does she still come to mind and what the heck does any of this to do with the above random photo? Well, one of the very few things I remember about Wanda-Mae, is an expression she used to use for letting go of things that are weighing on your mind, "Just put it in a balloon and let it float away". So easy to say, I know, but I actually find that her simple visualization really does work, if you let it. Many times I've thought back to it and heard her voice, "Oooh, just put it in a balloon..." Even if you have to use one balloon per problem - simply put them in there, let go...and watch them float away......

And that's what I thought of when I saw this rather enormous bubble down at Kits beach. Admittedly it's not a balloon but I think the imagery still works. Visualize those niggling doubts, fears and anxieties in there, and send them on their way. It may not completely resolve what's bothering you, but it certainly helps lift the weight from your shoulders...and frees up some mental space - if you let it.

So next time your head's spinning with this, that and the other, try to filter out the small stuff. Put your troubles in a bubble...(or a balloon)...and float them all away.

Random Photo Friday: "Just Good Friends?" and "Cleared for Takeoff!"

Well, since the freedom of my mid-week afternoons spent hanging out at the local beaches taking photos has drawn (somewhat) to a close, I thought I'd share a couple of my favourite shots from the past couple of weeks.

MacKenzie (left) and Misty. Just good friends?

Voilà MacKenzie and Misty, two very good friends from different families but the owner of MacKenzie often takes his neighbour's dog, Misty, along on their walks. Two incredibly beautiful and lively dogs, huskies I believe.

What I love about this photo is that they seem like the perfect couple. Made for each other. I imagine they'll still be like this in their senior years.

In a way it also makes me think of Lorne and I. Such good friends as well as being married - he's very much the ying to my yang and I can't imagine a better life partner. I suspect we'll be just like these two even in our 80's, walking (or hobbling slightly with the help of a cane/zimmer frame) along the beach together. I have no doubt that two dogs can complement one another in exactly the same way as two humans. Misty and MacKenzie have certainly found that balance and I suspect that synergy between them will never change. 

(I uploaded this picture to the Georgia Straight's Flickr page on Wednesday and, within an hour, they flagged it as "Photo of the Day" - wohooo!)

On Tuesday I went out for a long walk along Kits beach and headed over to the dog beach there....again. We had a lovely few days this week, where the weather was more like summer than spring, and I'm grateful I was still off work and able to take advantage.

At Kits Beach, I stopped to take a couple of photos of seagulls in the tide (which turned out to be so-so at best) and began to wander off towards the dog beach. But 10 mins later, something caught my eye, and as I turned to look back I noticed a crane in the spot where I'd just taken the seagull shots. I decided it was worth walking back to see if I could capture a decent picture....but the crane wouldn't stand still. He/she kept striding through the tide just as I was about to click the shutter. 

Finally I sat still, set up my focus and exposure ready to hopefully get him/her standing still......but, just as I was set to shoot the standard 'crane in tide waiting for a fish' pose, the bloody thing upped and left......leaving me with me this picture instead:

My what BIG wings you have!

I took just two photos and wasn't actually expecting either to be any good. So I was delighted when I saw this one, especially capturing his/her head poking out just beyond those enormous wings in the split-second of takeoff. I'm as pleased with this image as I am of the bald eagle from a few weeks ago.

Evidently more practise recently has made an impact on capturing the right shot at the right moment. Even though I now have a job, I need to make sure I keep getting out and about taking photos outside of work hours. I hope there are many more wonderful images where this one came from. I just need to be there to take them!

Random Photo Friday: Hoppy Easter

Awww the Easter Bunny. Well, one of the many resident
bunnies from Jericho Beach Sailing Club anyway. 

When I think back to the easters of my childhood, I don't think we were as big on the whole Easter Bunny aspect to it as seems to be the case in North America. We generally got an easter egg on the Sunday, but there was never a big 'egg hunt' or huge inflatable bunnies and ducklings out on the front lawn, like I've seen here. In fact, as a child, the thought of a sasquatch-sized pink/white rabbit stomping around the place and hiding eggs would probably have frightened the living daylights out of me.

Also, easter eggs have long since been a big thing in England - for every type of chocolate bar you can think of, there's a massive egg-shaped equivalent, full of mini versions. Shelves at the local corner store, newsagent or supermarket would be lined choc-full (excuse the pun) with all the variations you could possibly think of. Woolworths, especially, was The place to go. 

Another easter treat we enjoyed back in the UK, that I struggled for many years to find anywhere in Vancouver, is hot cross buns (accompanied by that repetitive chime/nursery rhyme, "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns. One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.") At least not until the Australian bakery company, Cobs, first opened up here. And their hot cross buns really are deeelicious!

Anyhoooo, to get back the the little fluffy bunny photographed above, my sentiments are a mix of 'awww what a cute little rabbit' and 'how can people just abandon their pets?' since the majority of rabbits that roam a good portion of Jericho Beach, in and around the sailing club, are the direct result of lazy, heartless and despicable owners who, tired of their rabbit or whose kids couldn't care less about it anymore, simply take their once-loved pet(s) to the beach and dump them off, leaving them to fend for themselves - against coyotes, eagles (as we've seen by my pics), hawks and other predators, some of whom I suspect are humans. In fact, just as I took photographs of this little guy, I noticed huge chunks of bunny fluff scattered about nearby. Clearly something had ripped apart and eaten one of its relatives a day or two before. And the sad thing is, it's not just pet rabbits that get so heartlessly abandoned there, but hamsters, gerbils, dogs and such as well. I remember a few years ago, over-hearing two kids talk about a big fluffy Chow dog that passed us at the beach. The girl nonchalantly said to her friend, "We used to have a dog like that." "Really?" asked the other. "Yeah, but my parents left him at the beach one day because he barked too much." Just like that. As if it was no big deal! What the f***!

So while it's a sweet photo of a cute and fluffy bunny, I suspect the back story as to how it even got there is not nearly as endearing. And unfortunately, it's likely to find a few extra friends around in the days and weeks following easter.

Random Photo Friday - Part #2: Honouring Jake

I've already posted my Random Friday Photo but it didn't seem right to wait a whole week before posting the truly random picture I took yesterday afternoon (Friday), that literally moved me to tears.

It was already fairly late in the day, around 3pm, but I decided to take my camera and head out for a walk back down to the Kits doggy beach, hoping to practise my hand at a few more candid pet photos. Also, when I'd been there on Monday, I noticed a very pregnant woman sitting on a log, snuggling with her gorgeous husky and he was looking at her with total adoration. I've kicked myself all week for being too self-conscious to ask if I could take their photograph. In part my return visit yesterday was in hope of seeing them again.

I'd been down there about an hour - enamoured by the fervent enthusiasm dogs have for running back and forth, in and out of the water, sniffing, playing and rough-housing with every other dog they meet. And that's when I noticed a gentle and mellow old boy, sniffing the air and taking it all in.

This time I actually plucked up the nerve to ask his owner if I might photograph him/them. She willingly obliged and told me his name was Jake, he was 12 years old and had spent half his life as a police dog, before retiring six years ago. I began taking a few pictures and offered to send her the photographs, if she had an email address. Without hesitation, she gave me her business card.

Jake was adorable. A friendly old german shepherd, quite grey with patchy skin and baldy bits on his belly, legs and nose. He was frail, arthritic and, even if his eyesight hadn't entirely failed him yet, he was apparently quite deaf. Regardless, he seemed happy and very content to be at the beach.

"He's always been such a great dog," his owner said and, after a couple more photographs, whispered, "today is his last day".

I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me. "Oh no, I'm so sorry," I said, and we both started to cry. My heart went out to her. To both of them, not least because I'm so horribly familiar with the heart-wrenching pain of bracing yourself to say goodbye to an old and beloved furry family member.

She told me how Jake used to tear up and down the beach at high speed, outrunning most other dogs, playing, chasing tennis balls and charging into the tide, then pulled out her Iphone to show me her favourite photo of him and pictures from his younger days. This was to be Jake's last visit to the beach.

Suddenly it was even more poignant that I capture some great shots, not only of Jake but of both of them. I wanted to do him justice, especially on his last day. Nevertheless, I tried not to be too intrusive in their final - and very special - moments together and stepped carefully over my words.

I hardly dared breathe as I took each picture and, of the dozen or so images, I think this one is my favourite.

Jake - a brave and very handsome boy.

A short time later they turned to make their way off the beach. I gave Jake one last ruffle. "I'm so sorry for what you're going through. He's a lovely, handsome dog - I hope my pictures do him justice. Take care." I said, and we both choked up again. 

They meandered back to the pathway and very slowly disappeared out of sight. It took me more than ten minutes (and a couple of kleenex) to compose myself. It's an odd thing to feel such overwhelming and heart-felt compassion for two complete strangers but what a blessing and undeniably curious timing that on this day, when I finally push myself to ask permission, I should have the honour and privilege of sharing such a special, emotional moment - and pictures - of two dear friends preparing to say goodbye :-( Serendipity? Kismet? Divine intervention? 

When I shared the above photo and a brief explanation on Facebook, my friend, Glen, summed it up perfectly; "Life can seem so random and then there's the odd moment where it seems like it was arranged."

I'm deeply touched to have shared such a special encounter with this brave and magnificent old boy and his human guardian. I'm so sorry that his days with his family have drawn to a close. 

Happy trails to Rainbow Bridge, Jake. xxx

(Out of respect for Jake's owner - M - I chose not to include pictures of them both here.)

Random Photo Friday: Timing is everything!

Finding yourself in the right place, at the right time, WITH your camera AND a zoom lens, is a rare and wonderful thing indeed!

Basically never have the photographic stars aligned in my world, such that I'm casually wandering along, armed not only with my DSLR camera, but also kitted with its 300mm VR zoom lens and ready to go at a moment's notice.....when the absolute perfect moment just happens! But - holy cow - did it ever, just a couple of days ago. And here is the result:

It's not so much that he'd just caught a fish, but rather his massive talons
were so deeply embedded into a dead, half-mangled fish, that it made
take-off and landing a right bugger.

Let's just say, it was a gorgeous, sunny and mild (13C) Spring day and I decided to walk down to the local 'doggy beach' past Spanish Banks, to try my hand at a few more candid doggy shots, having got a few good pics down at the Kits Beach/Marine Museum doggy area the day before.

Lorne and I have made the 90-minute drive up to Brackendale (near Squamish) to see the eagles (Dec-Jan) a few times but we have yet to experience anything nearly this amazing. In fact, the past couple of visits to Brackendale, we counted only a handful of far-off eagles, nothing that you could confidently pinpoint on a photograph, other than a white-headed blob. At Spanish Banks I crept down to the edge of the tide and literally got within 30-40ft of this incredible adult eagle.

It's safe to say, I NEVER would have expected to get these pics, least of all during a casual afternoon walk at the beach, just a kilometre or so from home!

So incredibly majestic and powerful.
I still cannot believe I got this shot. 

What's more, when you go to Brackendale there are lines of avid photographers with their big guns - some seriously enormous zoom lenses and expensive high-tech gear - I always feel so amateur. In this instance, I was surrounded by people armed only with Iphones, so for once I looked like the pro! (Thanks in part to Lorne, for the upgraded zoom lens he gave me for Christmas 2012.)

The main challenge was zooming in just enough to get the shot but not so much that you risk the long lens creating blur from being handheld, even with built-in VR. Not to mention that whole depth of field thing. Of course I still see a little softness to them, but on the whole I'm very happy with what I got.

Naturally I posted these pics of Facebook too and got some wonderful (ego-boosting) feedback and I've decided to submit a couple of them to the local media, mainly just to get the coverage.

But seriously, what a unique and A-M-A-Z-I-N-G experience! And I could have probably taken lots more photos too, were it not for these two rambunctious goofs who came tearing down the beach and into the water, thinking they had a chance at catching Mr. Eagle.

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.

Random Photo Friday: A New Lease on Life

Firstly, I should admit that today's photos aren't my own - but they're certainly something I am hoping to recreate and, equally, to provide a potential lifeline for animals in need.

I've long-since pondered about working with my greatest love of all - animals. And how I could work with animals, or an animal charity, in a way that wouldn't be too heartbreaking (since I already lie awake at night thinking about the insidious cruelties people inflict on animals) but rather a positive, giving-back experience. And I've also wondered more recently (well, at least the past couple of years) how to combine my love of photography with my love of four-legged friends. And then, a couple of months ago, I caught a glimpse of this wonderful and incredibly inspiring news story about photographer, Shannon Johnstone - who, as you will see from her "Landfill Dogs" website, takes out a shelter dog once a week (as part of an 18-month project) to a a nearby landfill area that has been turned into a lovely park, lets them off-leash and captures their sheer joy, energy and boundless enthusiasm for life in a creative and heart-warming collection of photographs. And the images she captures are so lovely they're used to promote the dogs' adoption - rather than the average sad and scared shelter pup images. And what's more important - it's working! The shelter has seen a noticeable increase in adoptions of even the longer term residents, thanks to this remarkable project and one woman's beautiful images. But why read my babble - I wholeheartedly recommend checking out the Landfill Dogs website and Facebook pages for yourself....I challenge you not to laugh or smile (or even tear up) at the charming and lovable characters she shares, and for whom she has helped offer a new lease on life!

My personal favourite so far has to be the dancing with joy stance of this little guy, so aptly named Looney Tunes:

Looney Tunes #5, impoundment #81578

So thoughtful, just breathing in life.
Ice Frosting, impoundment #82263

The "Can we please stay here forever?" look.
Karsten #3, impoundment #87239

And I just love the joy and freedom captured in this 

beautiful dancing  silhouette shot. Akimbo Dances with 

Shavonte, impoundment #91008.

And the funny thing is, I was at the gym at the time this story aired, so unfortunately I didn't hear/see the details and, for the bit I caught, the closed captioning was rife with errors - as usual! The next day I told a close friend just how much it had inspired me, even though I didn't get the full story, and then, thankfully, another friend recently posted the Landfill Dogs link to my Facebook page and the friend, with whom I'd talked about this whole idea originally sent me this story from Huffington Post.

Enter another amazing program: One Picture Saves a Life, where the photographer, Seth Casteel (photographer and author of the unique and hilarious "Underwater Dogs" series of images) is described as, 'passionate about helping animals. He volunteers with animal shelters and rescues around the world, professionally photographing homeless pets to increase adoption rates.' The Save a Life initiative provides shelters with resources to properly groom and photograph shelter pets - and the before/after photographs speak for themselves! And, like the wonderful work of Shannon Johnstone, Seth's project has also proven to be a valuable aid in improving pet adoptions.

If ever I've had a calling, then I know this is it. I know I have to make it happen. Somehow.

It might not pay the bills - this type of work, unless for some private clients, would almost certainly be voluntary - but I can't think of a better way I'd rather spend my day and I know I have to do something like this myself before too long. I owe it to myself and, more importantly, to the abundance of animals needing a little extra help to find a new home!

Pet photography: something
I know I have to do.

Shortly after Christmas I actually ordered a book on pet photography "Beautiful Beasties: A Creative Guide to Modern Pet Photography" by Jamie Pflughoeft. I have to start studying it hard in the coming weeks and get started.

I should start by practising more with our own cats and other people's dogs, just to get used to it, hopefully find my technique - and a friend has kindly given me the contact information for two people at the local SPCA shelter she said would love my help, if I were to recreate the same portfolio of shelter dogs (and other animals) here.

Basically my daytime work contract really is finally coming to a close (heck, I'm even grateful it lasted this long - my 2-month contract has been going more than 15-months), so I'll have plenty of time on my hands to get to work on this next project. And I can't wait!

Random Photo Friday: Hearts 'n' that

I know it's St. Valentine's Day n'all, but I'm not going to spout anything super lovey-dovey or drool a puddle of get-me-a-bucket cliche mushiness over my keyboard, however I will post this picture, taken at Granville Island (around Christmas-time no less). Why? Because I kind of like it, and I'm all out of wonderfully poetic eloquence or enthusiasm to introduce it. Maybe it says plenty....or perhaps nothing at all. Either way, it's heartfelt. Haha. Get it?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Random Photo Friday: No more WIRE hangers. EVERRRRR!!!!!

While I do have a remarkably random photo for today's post, I first have to introduce my equally wire-hanger-hating alter-ego with this outstanding and classic scene from Mommie Dearest:

Why does this come to mind? Because last night I was getting so bloody irritated that my closet is literally crammed full and it doesn't help that it's hardly a massive closet in the first place - none of that 300 ft. walk-in you see on all those HGTV house hunter shows where you can buy a mansion in the States for less than half of what a 4 sq.ft. manky broom-closet would cost in Vancouver. 

But what I hate most - the one thing that really annoys the hell out of me every single time - not just at home but anywhere, even when I'm looking at clothes in a store......is hangers! I hate, loathe and detest clothes hangers, especially wire hangers. I have a boundless hate-on for goddamn maddeningly irritating wire hangers, which is what's so eerily reminiscent (and oddly amusing) about the freakishly traumatic scene above, courtesy of Faye Dunaway (or Dun Fadeaway as my dad always called her) playing Joan Crawford. I hate hangers at the best of times, but give me those infuriating wire things and I want to start jabbing and poking eyes out, they are so immensely enervating! They get tangled, mangled, jammed and snarled on everything, usually while they're shredding a nice line through a silk blouse or ripping a whole in your favourite dress and hooking several other favourite garments into the mix.

So last night, as I endeavoured to trim down my closet and part with clothes I just don't seem to wear lately, wouldn't you know it - hangers of all shapes, sizes, materials and colours got stuck on one another, tangled, dangling and pulling, tugging and snagging on each other and everything else as I tried unhooking them from the closet rail. The slightest movement just seemed to drag several other items along! Aaarrgghhh!!!!

As useful as they may be, me and hangers share no love whatsoever. And when it comes to those hideously infuriating wire things, well let's just say, we should never, ever be left in a room together. I get all wound up just looking at them. Lorne ends up with a pile of them each month from getting his shirts laundered and it drove me nuts at the last house where we shared a closet and I swear those wire-monstrosities seemed to multiply! Thankfully we now have separate (equally tiny) closets, so I rarely have to see them anyway, but it's safe to say, as useful as hangers are, I really loathe and detest them - and when it comes to those downright AGGRAVATING wire beasts, let's just say, me and ol' Joan Crawford/Dun Fadeaway bear a striking resemblance. Even to the extent of pulling everything from the rails and throwing it like a wild woman into the air behind me. And believe me, PMS and battling unruly hangers is an especially potent mix! As a rule, I avoid tidying/rearranging anything in my closet until I'm home alone - because it seriously ain't pretty and no-one needs to witness that, not even the cats. Heck, even I don't want to be there. And last night was no exception and, in hindsight, perhaps the wrong time of the month to take on the closet. 

The Horrorrrrrr of Hangers.

But here's the funny - and oddly random coincidence. I was telling my friend, Denise, this morning about the whole hanger incident from the night previous, explaining my seething and vengeful wrath for hangers of any kind, especially wire ones, and even shared the above video clip with her to emphasize my point. Then I tried googling stock images of 'pile of coat hangers' that I could maybe use for this post, to emphasize my point.....

So imagine my surprise when Denise left to walk her dog at lunchtime and texts me this photo (above), saying 'thought of you'. Goooo figure! How bloody-well random is that? I mean seriously, what are the odds that I'd be getting myself all in a knot (again) sharing my vehement animosity and utter loathing for wire hangers and relating my general contempt for basically any given variety....and then she goes out for a short walk and comes across..... a pile of hangers! What the.....? And then sends me the photo, not knowing I'd actually been trying to dig up stock relevant images just a few hours earlier! Crazy, eh?

And so there you have it - today's wonderfully random photograph: The Horrroooorrrr of  Hangers!  comes courtesy of my good friend, Denise.

Of course this post wouldn't be complete without an image of the very bane of my existence and fodder for the above wonderfully dramatic scene in a rather psychotic display of 'motherhood'.  These things are currently terrorizing a corner of our bedroom, waiting for Lorne to donate them back to the cleaner when he next picks up his shirts.....which had better be soon!

Oh, and did I mention that I really, really, really HATE wire hangers? 

EVERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Random Photo Friday: Random act of . . . . .aggression?

Today's random photo is just that; a random photo of what sounds like a bizarre random incident.

I came across this intriguing note when I got off the bus last night - meticulously bound with oodles of packing tape onto three of the four lamp-posts at the crossing of Granville Street and West 7th Ave in Vancouver. Visible and weather-protected.

Quite the scene must have played out at that spot just the day previous. A huge over-reaction on both sides by the sounds of it.

At first glance I was struck by the aggressive undertone of the note but then I have to admit, I quietly admire this person's humility at trying to (publicly) make amends. Well, if you discount the middle few lines where the apology begins to waver somewhat - in fact those lines were blacked out by pen on one of the posters.

Clearly he (I'm assuming it was a he) really was in a dark place, auditions or not, and maybe the other person went a little over the top also, though I imagine I would too at the mention of throats being slit etc. But we all have sh*t going on, one way or another, and I'm sure we all act it out sometimes on those who had no intention of upsetting us, certainly not to the point we lash out like this person did anyway. We might unleash our own messed-up head without knowing or even considering the sh*t the other person might be going through at that time too. We all have a back-story, one way or another.

I have to wonder if the other person in this scenario was a tourist, perhaps European, given the mention of camera and man-purse. Well, I guess he got first-hand confirmation of the (fairly reliable) rumour that Vancouverites are pretty unfriendly. Your average person on the street here really does come across as if they couldn't give a shit about anyone but themselves, their cellphone and where to grab a Starbucks half-caf-triple-salchow-demi-macchiato-non-fat-low-carb-gluten-free-soy-latte on their way to yoga! But it doesn't mean we're all like that.

At the end of the day, the writer of this note admits they were in a bad headspace and something small triggered a huge and uncalled for level of retaliation for which I believe he/she genuinely feels bad. Even if they weren't entirely 100% to blame for the ugly scene that apparently unfolded on that street corner, they're at least admitting their part in an unfortunate event and are reaching out to say, 'Hey, sorry man - that was totally uncool and uncalled for.' I hope the other person sees (or hears about) this note and can move on too. No-one is ever too big or too old to apologize - or to accept an apology.

Peace!

Random Photo Friday: Bursting at the seams



'Twould appear the universe is not only trying to tell me something but has now reached the point of being downright sarcastic!

While waiting for a bus recently I noticed the above tag lying right at my feet. Oh hardy bloody ha haaaa. Charmed, I'm sure, though it certainly sums up how I'm feeling lately, especially post-Christmas n'all. Actually it's more like an overweight old bag, but let's just address one thing at a time.

Two weeks in and several heavy-duty workouts later and I'm still pushing outwards against the seams of my clothes - and this in spite of eating less, drinking less and 2 x 1,000mg of (65% HCA) Garcinia Cambogia per day! What the f...? When did it become so difficult to shift a few pounds? Normally a week back at the gym and I'm good. Two weeks and it's like Christmas never happened. Well, that's how it used to be anyway - but it certainly isn't the case this year, which is what concerned me even before the holidays, when my weight seemed to be mysteriously creeping upwards.

I know it's not about 'weight' per se, since it's normal to have fluctuations of up to 7lbs within any given day. And, having been much healthier and fitter for the past 20 years or so, I've tended to go mostly by how I feel and how my clothes are fitting rather than by what the scales might tell me - which has rarely made me feel good anyway. But that's what bothers me, my clothes continue to feel a little too tight for comfort despite the fact I'm doing all the things that would usually work to the contrary. (Usually being for years - up until about last November.) And I'm still hovering around the 138 - 140lbs mark - i.e. a good 7-10lbs over the weight I've maintained for at least the past 15 years.

I'm beginning to struggle with what to pull from my closet in the mornings and have even taken to wearing the looser-fitting clothes I bought when I first started taking Tamoxifen, in preparation for the weight gain I was told would be quite likely. (Funny how the opposite seemed to be true for those first several months, ho-hum.) Problem is, even those clothes aren't nearly so 'loose' anymore :-(

So yeah, today's picture sums up perfectly how I'm feeling. (sigh)



Random Photo: Christmas present, Christmas past

Once again the cats have been fascinated by the tree this year, to the point it's virtually destroyed....again. This Christmas was Ella's first in our home and she seemed every bit as enamoured and excited about everything as our other 2 muppets, Mel and Louis. Bless! Hence I had to post this Iphone pic I snapped of Ella, waiting patiently under the tree for the jolly ol' fat guy in the red suit.

Little Miss Ella - waiting for Santa.....and catnip.

It's also at this time of year that my heart remembers - and still deeply misses - our little Lucy. Four years ago today and I will never forget the feeling of my heart literally breaking. She was an absolute treasure and I loved her with every bone in my body. Dear sweet, adorably quirky Lucy.

Lovely Lucy, never far from my thoughts.

There's not a day goes by that I don't think about her, though I'm pleased to say, having Ella has really helped soothe any lingering emptiness - not least because she definitely looks so much like her (and is missing only Lucy's endearing spaziness and 'special needs' tics), but also because, like Lucy, Ella is incredibly loving, snuggly and a real sweetheart. Similarly, if you sit still for a mere 10 seconds you're guaranteed to have her in your lap, looking for love.

I'm blessed to have both angels in my life, as well as all our other much-loved feline family - present and passed.

Random Photo Friday: Merry Christmas Kitties

Well the Christmas theme obviously isn't all that 'random' for today's photo, given we're just days away from all the feasting and merriment (though I seem to have started early on that score and am currently working through the hangover of Lorne's office party last night and bracing myself for mulled wine and tasty appies here at work) but this photo is just too adorable not to use:

About 5 mins before this picture was taken, I'd said to Lorne that I wanted to make a Christmas card of the cats to send to VOKRA with a donation (since we adopted all 3 of our guys through them) and was thinking I'd have to get all creative and print up a few pics etc. Next thing, Lorne goes upstairs and calls me to come take a look. There they were, all three neatly lined in a row, happy as clams and looking right at us instead of out the window for once. "There's your Christmas photo" he said and went to grab his camera (mine was in the closet so they were guaranteed to scatter before I could get it). And voilà - this was the fabulous result. Christmas Cats 1, 2, 3 (Ella, Mel, Louis). Thanks also to the handy-dandy Christmas photo-card thingy from the local dollar store. Purrfect!

Random Photo Friday: Remembering Otto

Today's random photo is dedicated to our beloved and much-missed Otto (aka Mister O), to whom we said goodnight 3 years ago today. So much bratiness and cattitude rolled into such a unique, lovable and extremely handsome brute of a cat. We miss him dearly and talk of him always with fondness and laughter.

Otto perfected the 'pissy-face', despite being so full of love.

He was certainly never backwards about coming forwards and very vocal when he wanted something. He could be downright mischievous, always getting into something he shouldn't, and so impossibly bratty, particularly in the way he tormented Molly - pictured (right) in the stand-off below.

And if Lorne went away overnight, it was pretty-much guaranteed Otto would pee on me just a little to remind me who was boss. In fact, this would have been one of those weekends. Lorne has to go to Whistler Film Festival and that would usually be the weekend I'd put up the Christmas tree and decorations, play christmas tunes or movies, hang with the cats, and have Otto follow my every move, chirping for attention at every opportunity.

When my Mum came out to stay with us for our wedding in 2004, Otto was instantly enamoured, he thought she was the best thing ever and proceeded to follow her around the apartment looking for attention and drooling once he got it (as he often did). He was visibly upset when she left back to England.

Wherever Otto was, you could guarantee he would be up to no good - there was always some mischief and bratishness he'd be getting into - but he was a truly loving, affectionate and incredibly endearing cat all the same and just writing this in his memory has me blubbing over my keyboard as I type.

But you couldn't get mad at him because he was just such a character, he'd make you laugh at the same time you were trying to tell him off. Any time we talk of him we end up laughing at his antics - including the time, days after Lorne and I moved in together, when Otto - still trying to settle into the new situation - jumped from his hiding place on top of the fridge-freezer, right onto my head! I literally had a cat on my head, claws gently sinking into my temples as I wore him like a hat, with what I can only imagine was a priceless look of shock and utter disbelief on my face. Oh my.

Yup, we still miss you Otto, you handsome and wonderfully loveable brute! Forever in our hearts!

Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh

And talk of me as if I were beside you. 

I loved You so—‘twas heaven here with you.

(Isla Paschal Richardson)

Otto (1991 - Dec. 6-2010) and a big part of my life since 2001.

Random Photo Friday: Open Your Eyes - Fur is Dead!

These poor traumatized dogs are now the 'decorative' trim
on someone's coat, gloves, boots and purse. Maybe yours?

"We call them dumb animals, and so they are,
for they cannot tell us how they feel, 
but they do not suffer less because they have no words." 

Anna Seawell (Author of Black Beauty)

Sadly today's heartbreaking photo* isn't random at all. This pathetic image is merely a glimpse into a barbaric and truly revolting story that is happening right now, across the world, and especially in China - where there are no regulations on animal welfare and cruelty within the fur industry is rampant. At this time of year, the evidence is all around me - so many people willingly wearing fur on their coats, hats, gloves, boots, purses, sweaters, scarves - you name it, chances are, some poor animal died for it!

Few things in life make me feel simultaneously repulsed, infuriated, upset, exasperated and depressed as when I witness somebody wearing fur, oblivious - or wanton ignorance - of the unimaginable suffering that went into creating the 'fashion' items with which they choose to adorn themselves. When I see it, I can't help but visualize the horror-story that has already played out behind the scenes. There might as well be blood all over it, because that's what I see. Even my own mother always proclaimed, "All I've ever wanted is a fur coat", as if by rights she should have one and if a man truly loved her, he'd buy her one. I have never understood that. The very idea horrified me as a child and still turns my stomach to this day.

I find it increasingly difficult not to actually ask, "Do you have any idea of the atrocious suffering involved in creating that (obnoxious) fur trim on your coat?" or, "If you knew what those poor animals have gone through simply to decorate your boots, would you still feel the same about what you're wearing?" A few days ago I stood behind a woman at the local pet store who was doting over her very beautiful german shepherd, Stella.....meanwhile the hood of her coat was trimmed with the fluffed-up shreds of a fellow dog or cat. How do these people fail to draw the line? How is Stella any different to the animals so hideously tortured for that damn fur trim? I just want to scream in anger - and I want to cry for feeling powerless to stop this. So many times I've thought of buying a fur coat at a thrift store, dousing it in thick, red paint and wandering through downtown Vancouver, or Richmond. I want to make people see the absurd and disgusting reality and stand up AGAINST it! It's absolutely unacceptable to treat other living beings this way. Who the hell do we think we are??? I'm ashamed to be part of the same f*cked-up race that inflicts such heinous acts of cruelty.

Puppies have the softer fur that people love :-(

So many different animals die simply for the luxury of their fur (because it looks better on us than it does on them?) But, what if it was your pet dog or cat? Even the Humane Society confirms, "the primary use of dog and cat fur is not for full-length fur coats, but for fur-trim parkas, gloves, hats, toys, and other accessories. Fur-covered animal figurines also frequently use dog and cat fur.....In Canada, there are no labeling requirements for fur garments. Thus, it is entirely possible for cat and dog fur to be sold in this country, without anyone finding out." In other words, it's all perfectly legal in Canada! Shame on you Canada!!! But let's face it, what do you expect from a country that still includes clubbing to death more than a quarter million defenceless seal pups on its national calendar of events? Why would they find any fault with other aspects of this despicable industry? Canada was largely founded on the fur trade and I'm astonished and dismayed that attitudes here haven't changed - which makes me proud to be from the UK, where fur farms and the like were banned long ago!

In China, such is the excessive popularity of fur products that, to keep up with the increasing demand, millions of domestic pets are actually stolen each year and shipped in horrendously overcrowded crates to fur farms where they're kept in absolute squalor before being ruthlessly slaughtered and frequently skinned alive. Read the report by PETA on the Chinese fur industry - although other countries are far from innocent - and this brutality is being inflicted on many more animals besides cats and dogs.

Many of these cats are stolen and still wearing

collars. Ruthlessly crammed into these small

cages, they await a despicably cruel fate which

will see their pelts torn off and used for 'fashion'.

These aren't random photos at all and that in itself breaks my heart. Sadly there are many such places where these tragic images are a daily occurrence - just another day at the office. But, believe it or not, I don't want this post to be full of graphic images, because I don't want anyone who might happen upon this, to simply turn away without hearing what I'm desperately trying to say on behalf of those poor animals who simply cannot speak for themselves. Maybe you have pets at home - would you wear them too?

If you've read this far, then you know you have at least one ounce of compassion in your heart, so I'm not going to repeat all the disturbing details of the sadistic and heartless atrocities. Instead, I'd like to offer some food for thought from a few people/agencies who are doing everything they can to ask you to please look, think and see the truth of just what goes on and take a firm stand against it! And, since the more graphic images are what turn most people away, one advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather, has recently released an award-winning campaign for PETA that takes a different approach to educating people. It's especially targeted towards Asian buyers who, as a whole, are the world's largest consumers and exporters of fur products. Take a look for yourself at this extraordinary and unique approach:

I'd also like to share this incredible award-winning documentary, called "Witness" by Tribeofheart.org which details - with humour and heartfelt compassion - the story of Eddie Lama, who confesses he never really cared much for animals and frequently tormented them himself when he was younger - until a few days spent looking after a friend's cat changed his whole perspective. Eddie soon begins a one-man personal crusade to educate others and brings an endearing message of hope that we can all do our part to stop this sickening cruelty:

I couldn't embed the video here so please use this link:
http://www.tribeofheart.org/sr/sr_witscreeningroom_english.htm

Please take a moment to open your heart and mind and show your compassion. If, by posting this on my pathetic blog, I can change just one person's mind, then I am eternally grateful for that small mercy.

I am literally begging anyone who'll listen, please find it in your heart to open your eyes, educate yourself and teach those around you about the truth. Take a stand against this abhorrent cruelty and refuse to wear, buy or otherwise support any fur products. Together we have the power to bring an end this unnecessary and obscene suffering. There are millions of animals literally dying for our help!

Other informative links:

• www.peta.org
• http://www.hsi.org/world/canada/work/fur/facts/dog_cat_fur.html
• www.furisdead.com
• http://www.furbearerdefenders.com/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_b8Wr2LnrQ
• http://www.respectforanimals.co.uk/home/

*The photo in today's post is not my own - but it is real and it IS happening right now! Are you supporting this violent and pitiful slaughter?