Friday's Photolife--a little petting

Health update: Girls=thumbs up, Boys=thumbs down. My husband is still not over what we had last week and earlier this week, and my son, who is over that, broke out in hives for the first time last night. Talk about freaking a mother out! We went to the doctor this morning. He's on benadryl and once that wears off zyrtec. Hopefully we can figure out what caused it.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled program.

Look at that sweet face. She's the best dog ever. Some might even say an angel dog except she's very stealthy (My daughter calls her a ninja dog. She'll just appear next to you without warning.) and I tend to trip over her.

My daughter actually took this picture. Very nice, eh? She has a good eye, but then again she's an artist. The white in the bottom left corner is her sketch book. She was trying to draw a picture of aforementioned angel dog who wanted to see what she was up to and wouldn't stay posed. Photographs are a much easier way to capture our four-legged friends. Here are a few tips. (Shown above: Get close.)

Take shots of them enjoying a warm spot in the sunshine. It's best if the light is coming from the left or the right with the animal facing the sun. I love this shot because of how the sun makes angel dog's white fur glow and how the puddle of leaves next to her matches her darker fur not to mention her expression of contentment.

Profiles rule. I love them. Try them sometime. They're great for people too.

Get down on the animal's level or even below them. Wild dog was standing atop a retaining wall, and I was on the ground below. He looks very angelic, doesn't he? Let's just say it's a good thing he's cute.

Catch them showing off. (Okay, so not technically a pet, but when I was little I played with them like they were. There were a lot around our house. This was taken at my parents.)

Be patient. I waited a long time for that crazy crab to come out of the hole. Animals are not going to cooperate a lot of the time even an angel dog. (This was my daughter's "pet" at the beach.)

Get them in action and don't be afraid to take a lot of pictures to get one that works. That's how action photography is.

Get shots of people with the pets. (I wanted to include this one of my mother when she was 8 with her dog. When I was younger, it helped me identify with her. That dog was special. He could climb trees.)

People as pets works too.

Application to writing? Don't forget that animals can highlight personality characteristics. How does X treat his pet or some random animal on the street. What is his reaction to a dangerous animal attacking? Is he scared of shellfish or creaped out by cats? It's just a thought. Plus, depending on your genre, animals could be the characters.