Bits and Bytes

Peek-a-Boo

Dog Blog Post #2353

Just A Little Bit of Zachary is in focus here.

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 30, 2017 - "Just A Little Bit"

Daily Dog Challenge 1918. "Backward"

I typically focus on the front end.

Other Interpretations

Bit of a Byte

Software pun... eight bits in a byte, and all.

Turkey Legs

How Zachary can find that comfortable is a mystery to all.

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Zachary and the Dragon

Zachary the Dragon Whisper

Dog Blog Post #2352

Imported, Foreign or Exotic

A Dragon is exotic, isn't it?

This little guy was rare impulse buy from over 20 years ago.

Technically a bookend, although I've never used him that way, he perched atop my monitor for years until displays became too narrow to hold him safely.

He now sits on an index card box next to my keyboard.

Admittedly, he probably thinks it's a demotion, but I no longer have to worry about him crashing down on my fingers.

Yes, he did that once, and left a rather sizable dent in my keyboard in the progress.

I've long since forgotten how much I paid for him (although he must not have been cheap as I only bought one instead of a typical pair) but hardly a day goes by when I don't look at him and smile.

Oh, and he's made in China - where the best Dragons come from, of course.

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 29, 2017 - "Imported, Foreign or Exotic"

Daily Dog Challenge 1917. "Unusual"

Well, how often do YOU see a Dog in chainmail confronting a Dragon?

Zachary the Unimpressed

Zachary In Color

Dramatic Dragon

Fun with Lighting

Fun with a Macro Lens

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Mr. Steady

Henry: (drum roll)

Henry - gulp!

Dog Blog Post #2351

Cookies, balancing on the Step, Edge, Ledge of Henry's very Straight muzzle.

This trick uses Henry's natural patience and steadiness to greatest advantage.

In fact, his limitations in balancing come down to the flatness of the Cookies used and my ability to make a stable stack.

While his skill in this is undisputed, I give him extra Brownie Points today as these are quite possibly his favorite Cookies*.

They are usually reserved as the boys' final reward when shoots are all over, since the Cookies are crumbly and bit greasy - not something I want on my hands when I'm fiddling with the camera.

However, they are square, generally flat, and I thought they would create a nice Straight or Narrow column.

Henry's posture isn't half-bad, either. :)

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 29, 2017 - "Step, Edge, Ledge"

Daily Dog Challenge 1916. "Straight"

117 Pictures in 2017 - #74. Straight or Narrow

The Less Said The Better...

Zachary has many, many talents.

Zachary: "How hard can that be?"

Mr. Unsteady

Balancing Cookies on his nose isn't one of them.

(Look at the angle of his muzzle. Those Cookies didn't have a chance.)

* Blue Buffalo Trail Treats

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Chinese New Year

Year of the (baby) Rooster

Henry: "But I thought every year is the year of the Dog."

It is sweetie.

At our house, it most certainly is.

Dog Blog Post #2350

2017 is the Chinese year of the Rooster.

Since we ring in the New Year with baby New Year, Zachary decided to welcome the Chinese New Year with a baby rooster.

Work with me here!

The collar is new - created today from start to finish as prop #3 for 2017 (superseding the not-yet-finished microphone)

It's a real collar, in the sense that it is firmly stitched together and designed to be used over and over again.

It's a wire-edged ribbon (purchased after Christmas) stitched along the top edge to a backing of slightly narrower white felt. The gold ribbon was then stitched around the edge.

I imagined it being like a robe, hence the overlap in front.

It took me just over four hours, and I'm going to label it a success at this point, although in the future I would try to avoid wired ribbons as they "dent" too easily.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1915. "Chinese New Year"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 28, 2017 - "Begins with A"

Asian?
Atop? (chicken atop the petals)
Arbitrary? (the pink petals. The Party City decorations had them, but I haven't a clue their significance, if any)
Awful? (the lighting)

Behind the Scenes

Felt Backing

I ended up cutting the back seam and adding another inch (visible below).

Almost done!

Completed "Robe" Collar

I learned a lot making this.

I learned that ribbon/felt collars are much lighter than the plastic mesh ones I'm used to and thus need to be a bit longer as they aren't heavy enough to mash down the boy's ruff.

I learned to curve the ribbon in the direction the final collar will lay when stitching the backing felt on, else the felt will wrinkle and you have to resew it (sigh).

Or cut a 1/4" out of the felt where it puckers worst and stitch it back together again.

(I actually did a bit of both to fix the problem.)

I learned it was insanely easy to create and I look forward to creating many more!


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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Sit-N-Stare

Henry: "More Cookies, please."

Dog Blog Post #2349

Henry hasn't changed a bit from the day we brought him home at ~8 weeks old.

Here's his first "training" video of that day:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC84NJIVUgw&t=41s

... where I was mostly teaching "sit-n-stare". We joke that he learned it so well, that he decided he didn't need to learn anything else.

Truthfully, he might be on to something.

To this day, it is his default behavior - the first thing he tries when he doesn't know what else to do.

Look at that face. How can I resist?

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1914. "The Look of Love"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 27, 2017 - "Friday I'm In Love"

Historical Document

Little Henry ~9 weeks old

... from the blog post: The Past Few Days

Big Sit-N-Stare

Big Henry

See... I told you he hasn't changed.

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Water Play

Henry the Ready

(A shoot right up Henry's alley)

(plop)

(Quite the height on that splash)

(splash)

(That one wasn't bad either)

(bubble bubble bubble)

(Look carefully at this cropped shot, above, and admire the bow wave about to crest the bowl and inundate the floor.

Henry obviously has no problem plunging his muzzle deep into the bowl to get the Cookie.

I'm a split-second from reaching into the bowl and pulling his muzzle out, to somewhat limit the damage.)

(drip drip drip)

To keep my Henry from downing the bowl (or drinking all the water to rescue the Cookie -- yes, he's tried that approach before) I retrieved it for him.

Dog Blog Post #2348

Oh, the things we do for our art.

This is a Cookie taking a plunge into a bowl of water.

I'm quite amazed at how the water droplets went, and how much water managed to get all over the floor.

You would have thought I was working with a ten gallon bucket.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1913. "Water"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 26, 2017 - "Favorite Drink"

Well, their ONLY drink. Although after I finished this shoot, and the subsequent mopping u up of the floor, I was ready for an Irish Coffee.



p.s. Uh, no. Zachary didn't get water play. I'm sure he would have been marvelous at it, but I wasn't about to clean up the floor.

Again.


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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Quality Control

Zachary: "Hmm..."

Zachary: "This one's good."

Henry: "I concur."

Well, that's a relief.

Dog Blog Post #2347

The boys take their Lacrosse Balls VERY seriously.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1912. "Experiment"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 25, 2017 - "Science"

100x - 9 : Quality Control

Henry was unimpressed with the shower cap

Yesterday...

Was all snuggled under the blanket with a dog or two on the sofa. And while I can upload pictures to Flickr from there, trying to write a blog posting is... not really worth the effort. :)

Henry and Mousie

Playing with a new (thank you, Hubby!) detachable lens for my iPhone.

Alas, I didn't quite get it on exactly straight, creating a bit of shadowing on one side, so you get a vertical crop.

Daily Dog Challenge 1911. "Pastel"

After yesterday's hand wringing about not being able to find anything of a "surprising color", what's the first thing I found in Henry's box of Puppy Toys?

Yup. A blue mouse.

117 Pictures in 2017: #11. "Childish Delights"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 24, 2017 - "Lighter"

Certainly lighter than my typical black background shots!

7 Days of Photography: Imitations - Texture

The above, with an artsy "oil painting" filter applied in PicArt on my iPad

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

When The Prop Bin Fails

Zachary and the Little Witch

Henry (thinking) : "This is so lame."

And Henry would be correct.

Dog Blog Post #2346

You can learn a lot about yourself taking pictures.

Today I learned that I apparently don't like things that have "surprising color".

There were no purple stuffed dogs on my shelves. No pink kitty cats on the pillows.

Nope, I scoured the house from top to bottom, including braving Son's room, and this little green witch was the ONLY thing I found.

So, I throw myself on the mercy of the photograph group to find some compassion for a soul who surrounds themselves with naturalistic blandness.

Unless you think a purple fedora counts as surprising!

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1910. "Vivid"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 23, 2017 - "Surprising Color"

Completely Unrelated

For the 7 Days of Shooting - "Imitation - Macro" topic...

Knit Woven Stitch

Looks like a basket weave - but isn't

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

ACME Portable Hole

Henry: "Hmmm"

Zachary: "Hmmmm"

Henry: (silence)

Dog Blog Post #2345

I wonder what their plans are for it?

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1909. "Spot"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 22, 2017 - "This Unique Place"

Isn't a Portable Hole a rather unique place?

117 Pictures in 2017 - "Artificial"

7 Days of Shooting - Imitations: Geometry Sunday

Obviously, there isn't a real hole in my kitchen floor.

At least, I hope there isn't.

Boys!

Zachary: "Oh, Hi Mom."

Editor's Note: Yes, the hole is genuine, in the sense that it is a physical item sitting on my kitchen floor. It's just not very holey.

It is, in fact, the second prop I've made this year (the first being The Frost King's crown).

I'm hoping to create a prop a week this year. We'll see how that goes.

As we are starting week four and I just made prop number two, tonight, it seems I'm off to a shaky start.

However, as this took me 10 minutes, with a pencil, a bit of string, a large sheet of construction paper, and some scissors, perhaps there's hope, yet.

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

TV Spokesdogs?

I have no idea what the boys were thinking today.

The entire shoot looked just like this...

"Thank you for your support."

... except the first shot (below).

Dog Blog Post #2344

Does anyone else think "Bartles and Jaymes" when they look at this?

Does anyone else REMEMBER Bartles and Jaymes 1980's commercials?

"Thank you for your support."

Oh dear, I'm dating myself.

Or maybe the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood. You know, the one with farm couple in front of the house and the man is holding a pitch fork?

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1908. "Unwanted"

117 Pictures in 2017 - #97. "Unwanted"

An empty bag.

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 20, 2017 - "Out with the old... In with the New"

The First Shot

Here's the first shot, snapped as a lighting check as I had my back to them and was walking over to check the flash.

"Empty!"

I swear Zachary looks horrified the bag is empty and Henry appears to have fainted.

FWIW: Good thing I checked the lighting. It came out a bit dark for my tastes (the near-white bag throwing off the sensor) so I upped the lighting a bit for the rest of the shoot

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Online Shopping

Henry... in serious trouble

Dog Blog Post #2343

He is so busted.

Daily Dog Challenge 1907. "What's Your Angle?"

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 20, 2017 - "TGIF"

117 Pictures in 2017: #48. "Break The Rules"

7 Days of Shooting: The Weekly Grocery Shop - Focus Friday

Also Rans

Doubling down?

Not you, too, Zachary!

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Camouflage

Mr. Zachary

Here's looking at you, Kid

Zachary will turn nine in March.

Although he may look distinguished on the outside, he's still just a Goofy Golden on the inside.

The Kid...

... doing what he does best.

Henry doesn't even pretend to be a grown up.

Dog Blog Post #2342

Yes, my dogs match my blankets.

They also blend quite well with the hardwood floors, the carpets, and the cabinets.

Makes it harder to see the dog hair that way.

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge 1906. "Camouflage"

Our Daily Challenge - Jan 19, 2017 - "From Ground Level"

Do you see a tail?

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© 2017 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved