Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

How exciting! I started considering to getting a second dog a couple of years ago, and decided about a year ago that it was the right thing to do, unfortunately it hasn’t been the right time, but hubby and I have been discussing it and I am hoping that we will be able to adopt a new dog into our family later this year! Personally I’d get one today, but being realistic, we do need to extend our fenced area first to make room for another dog (Tia spends very little outside by herself).

I am blogging about this because I know that if I put it in writing and send it out to the universe, the right dog will come along. Yes I maybe weird but I do believe in this like that;) As it is becoming closer to being a reality, I have started looking for information and reading up on different breeds because dog ownership is a lifetime commitment, and I believe it is critically important to research and find the right breed/dog to suit your lifestyle, environment and time commitments and not make spur of the moment decisions based on a pair of liquid brown eyes imploring you to take them home!

So I thought that if I blog about the process that I am going through to find our new family member, it might a) help someone else thinking of doing the same thing and b) I’d love suggestions of breeds (mixes) that I might not have considered.

I would prefer to adopt an older rescue dog but if I was to get a puppy from a breeder, I would make sure that it was from a reputable registered breeder that carried out any medical checks, eye testing, hip/elbow x-rays for hip dysplasia etc for any medical conditions that are prevalent in the breed. While that might not guarantee a healthy puppy, it at least indicates that the breeder is interested in the breed and in breeding healthy puppies rather than in the $ they will get for selling them.

This is why it is important to research breeds before you buy, so that you know what medical tests should be conducted on the parents BEFORE they are allowed to have puppies.

I would NEVER buy a puppy from a pet shop, no matter how sorry I felt for it, or how much I wanted to save it. That may sound terrible from someone who loves animals, but buying an animal from a pet shop is supporting and encouraging a purely profit driven industry of breeding companion animals under inhumane conditions in puppy farms and mills – and yes these atrocities do happen here in Australia. As far as I am concerned pet shops should only be allowed to sell pet supplies, not animals, and that topic deserves a future post all of its own, but in the mean time, if you would like to know more, please visit Say No To Animals in Petshops

Ok, I’ll hop of my soapbox now.

Back to my original topic, not making a spur of the moment decision has really given me plenty of time to consider the important things that will (or won’t) make an individual dog suitable for our family.

First and foremost, with children aged 6-12 years, one female, couch potato Shar-Pei and two cats (one is very timid, hates our other cat and both love our dog) and all three are inside pets. Therefore, especially if its an older dog, our new family member *must* be kid and animal friendly. Gentle and well mannered. We have a lot of wildlife around and I’d like to get a couple of chooks next year as well, so we will be looking at an older dog without a prey drive, although it is easier to train a puppy when it is young, as long as the drive is re-directed in appropriate ways.

Mixed breed or purebreed, either would be ok. I do have a slight preference for male dogs (from previous experience), but gender is not that important. I like big dogs (think mastiffs, dogue de bordeaux and Irish Wolfhounds), but medium size is definitely more appropriate. Short coat preferred, although feathering or medium length would be ok, I’m not sure I am up for daily grooming for a rough collie or old english sheepdog type coat.

House trained would be a big bonus, especially as an adult would be easier than a puppy. The kids would like a dog that likes water and plays fetch for hours with a ball – our shar-pei Tia dosn’t think she is a dog, I think she would actually prefer to have been a cat and I am hoping that another dog in the house will allow her to discover her ‘doggy-ness’. It would be great to have a dog that likes going in the car to the beach (where I am sure Tia will sit on her towel and just watch!).

Exercise wise, we live in a very quite street on just over half an acre, so plenty of room to run around…although it is not all fenced so a dog that is happy to follow the kids as they play rather than being interested in exploring the neighborhood would be great. Ability for off lead excersize (bushwalking, dog beach) is a bit of a priority as well. Now I know that is a training issue, but in general, it does rule out many breeds such as sight hounds and many terriers. Daily walks are fine (at some stage I would like to start jogging again) but a high energy dog that requires five hours running a day would not be suitable due to time constraints.

I work from home, so the animals arn’t left for long periods of time, 5-6 hours occasionally is the maximum time I am away from home. This also means I have plenty of time for training, and I have experience with obedience training (trained my ACD to competition level although we never actually did competition). I would also attend obedience training if necessary, but feel quite capable of doing it myself.

Personality: Definitely looking for a gentle affectionate dog that is willing and eager to please rather than an independent thinker that needs 24 hour a day mental stimulation.

Border Collies have been a definite consideration, but this rules out many older dogs in rescue with true BC natures that have not been looked after and trained properly, so maybe a BC cross. I love Australian Cattle Dogs, although not all of them would fit the criteria unfortunately, but maybe an individual dog or a cross would. Kelpie or Kelpie cross is also on the list. I can see a pattern developing here. I think its the devotion that I have experienced and seen from working dog breeds I have owned or known.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I would love to hear other peoples experiences (both good and bad) with adopting an older rescue dog into their family. And if you know of any good information websites, please let me know.

Cheers

Michelle

Taking nice photographs of pets and other animals is the easy part when you know how - part of it involves taking hundreds at a time:).  That’s the best thing about digital cameras, taking hundred’s of photos every day isn’t expensive like it was in the days of film.

But learning to take good photographs is only the start , you really need to learn how to use a good graphics program like Photoshop, or at least that’s what I tell myself after I’ve spent *another* three hours playing with a photo;)  Seriously though, there are so many cool effects that you can do with graphics programs that it is so worth the time and effort that it takes to learn how to use them.

Generally speaking, it is always better to get everything with the lighting, pose and background as perfect as possible before you take the photo.  But sometimes with animals that is just not possible – especially when photographing cats.  If you have a cat, well then you know that cats just do what they want when they want and you really just have to work with them rather than against them.  Ha ha – otherwise you end up with a cat-astrophe!

The first photo below is an original photo of one of our cat’s, Tara and is a good example of the background not being perfect.  Tara is not a particularly affectionate cat and she really does not like having her photo taken so good photos of her are few and far between (actually, that is an understatement, judging by her reaction when she sees it, I am sure she thinks that the camera is some sort of cat-torture-device!).

However, I managed to snap this photo of her as she was running away from my camera/cat-torture-device only because she stopped to give me this look of disgust:)

Unfortunately, in the photo it looks like she has a stick growing out of her ear and under her chin.

Thank goodness for Photshop because I was able to remove the stick that was growing out her ear, as well as the bit under her chin.  I also burned the background edges to focus more on Tara’s face and I lightened her eyes just a tad.  Viola!  Now I finally have a photo of Tara worth having enlarged and framed!

In a similar fashion, using the clone stamp, healing brush and blur tools of various diameter I was also able to remove the collar and tags from this photo of Jess, and then burn in a black background so that the focus is now directly on Jess.  Oh yeah, and I removed the gooby drool hanging from her bottom lip (the Schmacko’s made her do it!)

Taking a photo from this…

To this….

Although I really need to put a white border around it so that the edge of the photo shows up against the black of this page.

I’ve always believed that Photography is in itself an artform, and just like photography, using a graphics program to enhance or improve photos is just like learning to use another art medium (like pastels or oil paint).  At some stage in the future I’d really like to explore abstract nature photography combined with digital manipulations because I think that the possibilities for creating unique art would be endless, and a lot of fun.  Course I will have to work out how to fit another three or four days into the week just to find the time:)

Happy New Year everyone! Wow, where has the last month gone? The rush of Christmas has come and gone and here we are already at the end of the first week of 2007.

While I havn’t managed to update this blog in the last month, I have finally had the time to add some new work to the Dog gallery and also the Photography Gallery. I quite often get asked about my techniques by other artists, and I actually managed to take some progress photos of two of the Christmas portraits that I did (the Rottweiler and the Chihuahua) and will put them togther as a work in progress type thread.

During my short break over Christmas and New year (I certainly needed it after the last minute commissions I had to finish), I had the opportunity to do several dog and cat photography sessions in the Perth area and have added a few to the photography gallery and have included a few of my favourites below.

Close-up images of animal faces, especially the eyes is a re-curring theme in both my artwork and photography.  I truly believe the eyes are the windows to the soul, and by focusing (no pun intended!) on the eyes, I think it allows the spirit and soul of the animal to shine through.

Buffy having a rest

Meesha – grey, cream and white Domestic Shorthair

Jess – Australian cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)

Tia – Up close and personal with my own dog

The one below is obviously not an animal, but I also enjoy nautre and landscape photography.  I took this one late in the evening at Roley Pools, the timing was great in as far as the golden evening light was concerned and I am quite happy with photos from that shoot.

Additional photos from these sessions can be viewed in my Photograph Gallery.

If you have ever tried taking a photo of your beloved pet, you probably already know that it is not always as easy to get the perfect shot. Whether you are taking photos to add to your family album, or a trying to get a great shot to use as reference for a pet portrait, hopefully the following tips will help!

The number one tip for great looking photos is take them from the subjects level – for pet photo’s, that may mean laying on the floor! By taking the photo from the pet’s level, you will avoid the camera distortion that makes some photos look like caricatures.

Use natural light if possible, no flash or artificial lighting. The best outside photographs are taken on overcast days with light cloud so that there is plenty of light. If it is sunny, position your pet in the shade and take the photos with the sun behind you. Don’t take the photo in direct sunlight as this will make your pet squint (not to mention get impatient).

If you do need to take the photo inside, take it near a window that allows plenty of natural lighting, and try to avoid using the flash. Take the photo with your back to the window with the subject facing the window.

Take photo’s from a distance of 6ft or less. You want your pet to be the main object in the photo, not the surroundings, so zoom in and fill the viewfinder with your pet’s image. This is really important if you are taking a head shot, as you really want to see the eyes and facial expression clearly.

Make sure you allow some space around your pet in the viewfinder so you don’t accidentally chop off an ear or a nose!

Take as many photos as you can, a digital camera is excellent as you can keep taking multiple shots in the same pose to give you a good range to choose from.

When taking photos of pets, enlist the help of another person to stand beside you and get the animals attention with a toy or treat. A shot of the head looking forward and slightly to the one side usually makes a more interesting phot enlargement or pet portrait than a full side-on profile pose – try to take the photo from an angle that shows both eyes (for dogs and cats).

Photos that capture the subjects personality and character are important. Be patient and be prepared to spend a fair bit of time, possibly over more than one photo session. Dog’s in particular will sense if you are getting frustrated or grumpy, and this will reflect in their demeanor. Try to make it fun – toys and treats usually work!

Always keep a camera handy and know how to use it in a hurry – candid shots can often truly capture the personality of your pet, but you usually don’t have a lot of time to get your camera organised before the pet moves!

These two photos of Jess are examples of good close-up and detailed reference photos. I took these photos following all the advice I have have listed above – so you can see these tips will help:)

Of course, some pets are easier to photograph than others – I have taken several hundred photos of my own dog Tia, a black Shar Pei (you know the dog’s with all the wrinkles) and only one is suitable for use as a reference for her portrait, so I shall keep trying for some better ones.

Happy snapping!

Michelle

http://www.pencilportraits.com.au