2014 Pet Calendar Model Call!

It is that time again! I am looking for pets of all shapes and sizes to be in my 2014 calendar.

Project 52: Antique or Vintage

These are the instructions for this week:
I am a collector of antique dog memorabilia and I especially love old dog themed cabinet cards and photos, so I thought it would be fun this week to do images with an antique or vintage feel...either try an overlay or texture, old props or backdrop, anything to create an old fashioned image! Have fun with it!

This is Bear, a 3 month old ferret. He is a darling wiggly little beast, and his colouring works very well with the antique tones.

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Karen Ramos (Spotty Nose Pet Photography, Los Angeles, California), by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52: Low Angle

" For this week's challenge the images you capture need to be taken from a low angle - ideally lower than eye level on the dog. Let's capture those scrunchy chins and droopy faces by getting as low as we can! Don't be afraid to get dirty!"

This fit in perfectly with a shot I've been thinking about for a while now. I've seen a number of whimsical fantasy photos that have inspired a number of ideas along these lines.

This was definitely a collaboration with my child. I needed her help in getting the right photo of the dog (Rivet was very enthusiastic, too enthusiastic, and I wasn't able to get her looking the way I wanted without her pretty much crawling into my lap) and she had her own ideas for how she should look in the photo. I had imagined her crouching, but she wanted to be standing, so we shot both and in the end we both liked this one best. We had fun!

And then, a day or so later, I decided that I needed to use another of the poses that she gave me. For this one I used an older photo of Caiman, and in some ways I think I like it better. Her body language is much more along the lines of my original idea, and the simpleness of the setting allows for an older feel to the processing.

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Blue Amrich Studio in Boston, MA, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52: Over Post Processing

This week the theme is Over Post Processing:
"Many of us strive to make our photos look natural, but for this week, I'd like to you to do the opposite, and go crazy with the post processing. A photo that is pretty obviously edited. Think creative, stylistic or artistic."

This is a processing method I like to do sometimes, and when I do I often add elements into the background. In this case I liked the negative space so I have not done that. Obviously I did a fair amount of work on this but his eyes really are that colour. Striking, aren't they?!

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Stacey Gammon Pet Photography, New Jersey, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Negative Space

This week the theme for P52 is Negative Space. I use a lot of negative space in my photography, so this was a relatively easy week for me. Caiman and I went out into our back yard yesterday and just hung around for a while.



In this next photo Caiman proves that you are never too old to play with a stuffed hedgehog, especially if it has pink toes and squeaks loudly when stepped on. I was experimenting with the processing in this one and the colours ended up differently than my norm, but I think I like them like this.



And, finally, a shot taken yesterday that was not specifically for this post. It fits the theme though! These three were part of a much larger flock of geese, and I like the rhythm to the way they are turning their heads.


Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Melbourne Pet Photographer, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

P52 - Blur

This week the theme for P52 is Blur.
"As pet photographers, two of the most important things we strive for is sharp focus of our subjects and overall clarity of the image. Therefore we sometimes forget that blur can be beautiful. Blur adds expression and artistry to our images. So let's experiment with blur this week! Whether in the foreground, in the background or all throughout image, let's unfocus ourselves from sharpness."

It seemed to me to be a good time to experiment with the Brenizer Method, which uses multiple images stitched together in Photoshop to simulate a wider aperture than the camera lens actually has. In other words, it allows for more blur in the image than would usually occur. There was a learning curve for me - this was not my first attempt - but I ironed out the worst of the problems. This isn't something I expect to use often but I am glad that I tried it out.


Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Barking Lab Studio, NJ dog photography, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Something New

This was my week to pick the theme for Project 52. I picked Something New.

I had grand plans, but life got in the way, and so far this is what I have. Background is a neutral beige, coloured with a gelled flash. The pink gel is a new toy that I got several weeks ago and hadn't taken out of the package before this.

I had imagined this shot as a classic head-and-shoulders portrait, but Caiman won't sit for me anymore. I think it hurts his back, so when he made it clear that he was going to lie down instead I went with the flow.



Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Raleigh pet photographer, Tara Lynn, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Street Art ~ BC Pet Photography

This week the theme for Project 52 was Street Art.

This guy is painted on the wall of a building near the beach and this first photo was taken last spring. We call him Faceless Graffiti Guy, even though we have since learned that he does have a face - he is looking up into the sky and that mass is a beard.


Recently I discovered that he is also painted on an outhouse in a nearby park. You have to walk in on a path, not on a street, and he is almost hidden in away in the trees. Street art, without the street...



I have been planning to use this particular painting all week, but for some reason I didn't end up taking the photo until the very last minute.

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Lina Tay, Petlense Photography, Wichita Kansas, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

A Violin (Not Pets)

I haven't been sharing the non-pet related P52 I am participating in, because few of my photos have pets in them, but that is going to change. I've been getting some photos that I am really pleased with, and so I will be putting them up here from time to time. If you feel strongly one way or another about that feel free to tell me so in the comments.

This assignment was to create a (fictional) CD cover for a string quartet performing a piece of music titled String Quartet. I have access to a violin, and violins (conveniently) have four strings. At first I wanted to play on those words, and then I remembered a photo technique I've used before that I call "whirled". This is what I came up with:



And this was a second choice, in case the (fictional) clients felt the other was too abstract:

Project 52 - April Showers Bring May Flowers

April Showers Bring May Flowers. That's the theme for Project 52 this week. We were free to interpret it any way we wanted, but I have to tell you that it didn't take me long before I was imagining another photo in my Dogs With Flowers On Their Heads series. I was worried that this was too ambitious, but in the end it turned out better than I hoped.



Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Petlense Photography , Wichita, Kansas, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Hungry ~ BC pet portrait photography

This week the theme for P52 was "Hungry". I figured this was going to be an easy week - Caiman is a world class drooler, and I have many good drooling photos in my files. I was confident that I could get new photos like that this week.

Wrong...

Caiman didn't drool for me at all! Well, not in any way that I could catch in photographs. So I had to flip to Plan B and take photos of breakfast. I got some cute wrinkles in his nose though, so it is all good.



This is a photo from last year that shows what I was expecting to get. I call it "Bubbles".



(The number on his tag is no longer valid, so please don't call it. You won't reach me!)

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Windsor Ontario Pet Photographer, NCS Pet Photography, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Spotlight ~ BC Pet Photography

This week the theme for Project 52 was Spotlight.

I took my old boy, Caiman, out to the garage studio and set up my lights. We played around with several different light set ups and combinations, and I got quite a few photos that I am really pleased with. I'm only going to share the ones that fit the Spotlight theme today, but I expect you will see the others another time. In the end he got tired of sitting for me (he has a bad back, and is getting very wobbly, so even for liver he is only cooperative for so long) and we called it a day. I had some more lighting ideas that we will just have to try again later.






Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Nashville Dog Photography by Sweet Silver Photography, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Triptych ~ Squamish Pet Portrait Photographer

This week the theme for the Beautiful Beasties Project 52 group is Triptych. We were free to interpret that any way we wished.

This is Polar. I originally expected to use three shots of his face in my triptych but it turns out that long and slinky ferrets practically beg to be used in long and skinny formats.



Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Denver pet photographer, StinkDog Photos, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Evolution of an image

I am currently participating in two separate Project 52s. This is going to get confusing, especially since they are both due on Fridays, so I am going to call one Project 52 (for the blog ring shared with other pet photographers on the Beautiful Beasties network) and the other P52 (for the Flickr based project run out of project52.org).

This is the first P52 assignment I am sharing here. We were to go through magazines in our genre to get a selection of images that we like, and then shoot one of our own to go with the set. It was quite the learning experience!

First of all, most of the good photos I took were in portrait orientation when the final product had to be in landscape orientation. I think I was on autopilot for those, as I have been fighting a tendency to prefer landscape.



And then I realized that the negative space was on the wrong side of the image, so I had to flip the image. I also converting it to a tinted black & white.



There is too much headspace over Rivet's head, so I cropped it.



And, finally, I added some text to imitate the layouts of my magazine clippings. I was in a frivilous mood, and it wasn't until later that I realized someone might interpret this in a whiny negative way, but I really was just being silly. Rivet does live with my ex, which is not a bad thing, and I do treasure the opportunities to photograph her when she visits. She visits often, so I am not terribly deprived...



And that's it! This was a very interesting assignment.

Project 52 - Shoes ~ Vancouver area pet photography

For the second week in a row the new theme was posted for the pet photography Project and an older photo jumped to my mind. Several years ago I did this:



Now, we are supposed to shoot new photos according to the theme, so I couldn't just use that old one, but before I got a chance to do a new-and-improved version I went out to the barn with a friend of mine. And, once there, I couldn't resist a cliche "shoe" shot...



I really thought that might be it, but then at the eleventh hour I grabbed this new-and-improved version of Rivet in boots. She was not amused...



Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Silver & Pixel Photography in Puerto Rico, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Love ~ Vancouver area pet photographer

Every week a group of pet photographers takes photos on a theme for Project 52. We are supposed to take new photos, and I did, but first I need to show you this older shot, titled "The Kiss". Doesn't it say "love" to you?



I have been meaning to try to get a more recent version of that photo for a while now, and this week's theme almost forced me to do it NOW. So tonight child, dog, and I (and a jar of peanut butter) sat down to work on it.

This is what we got:



Pretty sweet, huh?!

Please visit all the other talented pet photographers in the group (starting with Boston Dog Photography by Blue Amrich) by following the links at the bottom of our posts. After browsing through all the other entries you will end up back here.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Project 52 - Opposites Attract ~ Squamish pet photographer

The theme for this week is Opposites Attract. We were free to interpret that in any way that we choose.

I give you Pebbles and Bam Bam:

Big/small, blonde/black, mature/puppy, retriever/pug, cute/cute... Oh, wait, that last one doesn't work, does it?



Pebbles and Bam Bam belong to a friend of mine, and we are planning to photograph Bam Bam every month for a year. We were due for one of those photo sessions, so it was an easy decision to use her girls for this week's Project 52 post as well.


This Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers (starting with the talented Connecticut Pet Photographer, Kathryn Schauer) by following the links at the bottom of our posts. After browsing through all the other entries you will end up back here.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Once-A-Month Bam Bam ~ Adorable pug puppy

Since Bam Bam the pug puppy is growing up just a couple of doors away, I am trying to make sure that I get a photo of her every month for her first year. She is getting really big - but don't take my word for it. Her photo is up on my Facebook page. Check it out!

Project 52 - Movement ~ Vancouver area pet photographer

The Project 52 theme this week is Movement.

I had an idea right away for what I wanted to try this week. A couple of years ago I took some photos of Rivet catching treats. This is a little bit technical but I was using first curtain sync, which caused the blurred areas (or ghosting) show the movement that happened after the flash fired. This almost makes her look like her head is going backwards rather than forwards. At the time I was unable to figure out a way to get my camera/flash combination to switch to rear curtain (or 2nd curtain) sync.



I have a different camera now, as well as a different flash, so I thought that I would be able to do it differently this time. That didn't quite work out... I can't use rear curtain if I have my flash off of my camera, so I suspect my trigger system is the problem, but I could use it if I had my flash on the camera. Ah well, life isn't perfect...

The other problem I ran into is that my dog, Caiman, is too old to catch tossed treats anymore. His reaction time just isn't fast enough anymore. So I did what every good photographer would do. I improvised. Peanut butter faces are always funny, whether the flash works right or not.

So, here are three photos using the motion blur I was hoping for. The last photo is a close up of the one beside it, so that you can see how the photo shows a blur where his tongue was before the flash fired.


Finally, I got rid of the blur altogether and froze his tongue movement. These are more my style but the whole process has been fun!


This Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers (starting with Sharon Stokes Photography, Central Coast Pet Photographer) by following the links at the bottom of our posts. After browsing through all the other entries you will end up back here.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

My dog and I ~ Pet Photographer in the Sea-to-Sky region

Recently one of my kids and I took the dog for a walk. I had my camera along and she asked if she could take a photo. It scares me to let a child hold my good camera but I also try to encourage interests, and I didn't have another camera with me, so I put the strap around her neck, crossed my fingers, and let her.



I think she did a pretty good job.

We're going to try again soon. I don't have any good photos of Caiman and me together and it would be nice to have one.