Back to the Water to shoot Bunnies...

Cotton Crested Water Bunnies to be exact.

After shooting ducks and pelicans and "Batman" birds and boaters and swimmers I finally managed to capture these ellusive bunnies in a rare mid-day appearance. They almost never show themselves when others are around, much less prance and play in the presence of others....

The first one I managed to snap was a tiny little bunny I named Holly. She likes to stare you down, but I know that's just for show. Behind that intense stare is a sweet, friendly and playful spirit.


She was hanging out with another Bunny I nicknamed Amanda. Amanda is a bit shy, but just as nice as Holly. She had a tendency to try to ignore me at first...



So I remained patient, and didn't get too close as they wandered and played with each other. A long lens really helps in these situations. After a bit she got comfy enough to let me capture her grooming her bunny-buddy Holly...


After that, it seemed she didn't mind my presence at all, and even looked at me long enough to catch her frolicking in the water...


By this time Holly was quite used to my presence and graced me with a playful little moment of her own:


Couldn't help but try to out-stare me again, but JUST after I captured this great image she cracked a smile. I'd worn her down!!!



No CCW Bunnies were harmed or abused or undressed in any fashion during the taking of these images. Any implication of nudity was done with the full knowledge and consent of the Bunnies involved. And I have their paw prints on model releases to prove it!!!

Hope you enjoy...

My latest models

Latest project is not directly related to photography - I'm studying dog behavior, training, psychology. I'm working with my friends Nick and Ann of Balanced Dog in Denver Colorado. I've been doing photography for them, capturing their classes as well as their work with project dogs. Check out what we've captured so far, it's interesting stuff!

First, let me introduce my best friend - meet my darling Skittles. Caught her in a chair she knows not to get up on.... Think she knows she's caught?

Not really - I actually invited her up on the chair for some "out the window" shots, and she'd lay down while I goofed with stuff. This was my favorite shot of them all though. Skittles is a really cool model, patient to a fault, but not very responsive to posing suggestions.

Then there's Journey, a stray that was picked up frozen in fear by a creek in Arvada. He was so scared Animal Control Officer Kara couldn't get him to walk to the truck. However, once in the truck, he quickly came out of his shell and visited. Since then he's shown remarkable progress...


After a week in the care of a local vet for ear and eye infections, she came to stay at Indian Tree Pet Lodge to work with Nick and Ann. He was there just under a week when Kara came by to visit with a local camera crew. The crew is documenting Journey's journey (Nick's phrase, not mine ;) in the hopes it will help get him adopted.


Kara was walking her son on the raised platform, used in agility training, to keep him entertained while the crew shot Journey. Journey walked over as Kara and son came down, and fell in behind as they turned and went back the other way. He just wanted to hang out with them!

And then there's Kessel, who came to Nick all the way from Seattle Washington. Kessel is a Plott Hound (nope, I'd never heard of the breed either), is very friendly and upbeat. His owner reported that Kessel had bitten his 12 year old son, and it had something to do with food aggression.


However, in all the time he's been at Animal Tree Pet Lodge, he's shown no aggression of any type at all. So far, he's showing no real bad habits of any kind.

Looking at him with those legs that go on forever, you'd likely think he's a large dog, but he isn't'. Here he is playing with Skittles, who's only 38 lb. (most people think Skittle's is still a puppy when they meet her).


All 3 models are a blast to shoot, but forget staging or posing, just run around and wait for the shot to present itself.

Want great doggy shots? Get down low, crawl on the ground and/or get a right-angle viewer. Too many people stand and shoot their animals, which never does their physique or character justice. Get low, and up close and personal. Oh, and bring lots of Pep-pads to wipe your lens - they will nail it. A lot... Trust me!!!

Hope you enjoy...

Changing Subjects

Since I started this blog, I've posted nature, animal and architectural pictures. However, a large part of what I'm doing right now is Fashion & Glamour photography. Thought I'd share a few shots from my most recent efforts - meet Adriane and Lindsey...

Say "Hi" to Adriane:


Adriane is a hoot to work with. She's enthusiastic, artistic and expressive with her posing. Patient to a fault - and that fault is picking on me!!!! (grin) We've done 2 shoots so far, and I've come to appreciate that Adriane loves what she does, does it with a totally upbeat attitude, and she also loves to joke and tease. And in honor of that, I offer this from our first shoot....


The site we were shooting at has a statue of an eagle landing on a branch. To be fair, Adriane was not aware of the strategic positioning of her and the camera till we reviewed our progress. As soon as she saw it she understood the great mood I was in. Nonetheless, in the realm of who's teased who more - I'm so far behind I just THINK I'm in front...


And may I present Lindsey;


Lindsey is a young lady I contacted about working together, and based on her portfolio I was expecting someone with a strong, serious edge to her. That couldn't be further from the truth, and I was blown away by the sweet, friendly and upbeat lady that showed up at my door. We did an evening/sunset session and caught so many great images. This terrific lady gave me such a range of emotions and characters that I was in heaven.

We started the shoot over by a local car dealership that had an interesting entry to the complex. Sun was getting lower and the light quality was coming alive when she peaked out and gave me just the right little attitude in the shot above.


We ended the session out in a field of weeds and dead trees as the sun set behind the mountains. Of all the fantastic shots we got there, my favorites have to be when she was sitting in this natural throne created by the root ball of a fallen tree. Here I get the greatest little smirk and tease as she played on that tree:


GEEZ I love my job!!!!


I hope you enjoy...

Water Critters

Back to Windsor Lake for our morning walk, we can always count on a variety of critters that hang out on the water. Beautiful day, animated behaviors, and a little of my sense of humor just made my morning...

It's "Caption Day"!!!!!

Hey, lookit me - I'm a Crane, I'm A CRANE!!

Hey, I'm Speedy - Check out that wake, baby!!!

Gear up, flaps down, More power, MORE POWER!!!


PSSST!! Hey, how's my neck?? Feels stiff...

IOk, I got nuthin...
it's a, well, it's a guy in a boat... ...
Yep, nuttin


Hey - you with the camera!!
NanananaNananana, NanananaNananana - BATMAN!!!!
Huh?! Yeah, Right?! Right?!?!

Ahh... The Nature of it all...

A couple days ago, I took Skittles for a walk in a park in Ft. Collins, scouting locations for model shoots. As we left, there was a bit of fog over Windsor, but the sky looked pretty clear. Now, Ft. Collins is about 20 minutes WNW (compass reference - I'm showing off again) of Windsor, and when we got there we had bright clear skies. Played with some backlighting shots with Skittles as my model, and since I keep talking about her, figured I'd show her off a bit...

Besides showing off my beautiful girl (and before you ask - no, that's not a muzzle, it's called a "Gentle Leader", and works much like a horse's halter) I wanted to give you a sense of how bright it was in Ft. Collins at the time.

We get done at the park, and head home into this:


Now, I've been wanting to shoot that tree for quite some time, but this is the first time there was something more than just the tree to make things interesting. Unfortunately, I was late for the best sky. As we started home I saw great variation in the clouds, dark grays, washed out whites, but before I could get to an interesting vantage point the sky got very uniform. Great shot nonetheless, with the sun burning through right above the tree..

And in closing, one shot from this afternoon. Took Skittles out for her mid-day potty run, and on the way back she got interested in a little tiny butterfly (her first one!). It hung around, so I got my camera, came back and was shooting away when a second one came along and started... well, I think the word is mate. They never hooked up, or whatever you call it, and the 2nd guy (gal?) soon took off.

Great shot nonetheless...


Hope you enjoy...

And Urban Scout

Had a chance to visit with a friend/mentor and review my model photography work. Went down and had lunch with him at Earl's on the 16th St. Mall (if you go there, try the steak sandwich - good stuff!). Break out the laptop and review a couple of my latest shoots, and got a ton of good advice and help! Thanks Ricardo!!!

Afterwards, he offered to drive me around and show me some of the really cool spots to shoot models in. Drops me off at my car, and as I started to climb in, I noticed an interesting reflection in the building across the street.


Ricardo gets out of his car and wanders over to see what I'm looking at. Next thing you know, we have our cameras out wandering over to an old court building just down the block. What a wonderful place to shoot in general, and can you imagine shooting (INSERT MODEL'S NAME HERE) in these settings?!




And of course, we can't close this without a shot of the Dark Tower, the Tower of Babel, the (INSERT CUTE TOWER QUIP HERE) that towers above us. Of course, pretty much everything in downtown Denver towers above you, but nonetheless, it's kinda fun finding ways to inject "tower" in this run-on sentence, donchuthink?!


Hope you enjoy...

On the Lookout

Headed out to scout locations for model shoots. My target was the Ft. Collins area, including Horsetooth reservoir. Left around lunch time, which typically is really bad light. I had not intended to get any post-worthy shots, just checking areas and location images as markers.

Clouds moved in, as usual, but a bit early today. Made for a great sky, including this shot I've been trying to get for a long time. Every time I drove up CR-19 I'd see this out-building just off the road and promise myself that someday I'd shoot it...

Not something I'll shoot a model against (darn it - private property), but still, a great image that I finally managed to get.

On to town, through town, and up in the hills for my scouting efforts. But first - a detour!!! Shot a lot of images of the lake and the plethora of boats (ever since "The 3 Amigo's" I've wanted a chance to use that word! Of course I say it with an accent!!!). This shot shows why it's called Horsetooth....

If you haven't noticed it yet - check out the mountain top and think what it would look like peering into a horse's mouth. If that's not enough, think peering in upside down. If you still ain't got it - your a lost cause and I give up.

Check out the Mom-n-Son jet ski action...

Kinda cool, huh? I broke the rules here, put them in the middle, but something about it appeals to me. Chances are, if I'd had a formal education in graphics, art and composition, I'd never have done that. Oh well!

After the boats I started seriously checking out the area for model work, and came across this mini-cave part way down a "Cliff face". I call it a cliff cause technically it's almost purely vertical, but it's only about 20' to the bottom. But then again, I've never seen a real definition for cliff face, so guess it works here.

The entrance to the mini-cave is here, just to the right of the commentary on the rock. I post this here with the warning - I didn't write it, don't agree with that kind of graffiti, but do find it an interesting comment in the context of choice of placement...

If it weren't for that particular graffiti, it would be a great place to work with a model... I'd think about hiding it through strategic placement, but I don't know any models large enough to, well, you know.

There's more location shots, but these are the ones that stand on their own. Hope you enjoy.