In motion

Dogs in the snow

From the epic St. Louis snowstorm of February 2011 that didn't happen, here are photos of my dogs (Oliver, Bose, Sara and Ralph) enjoying the relatively small amount of snow we did get! Photos taken with the Hipstamatic camera on the iPhone and the fun new monochrome film, CLaunch 72.

Safe at Christmas

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I accidentally left my driveway gate open. Two of my dogs, Ralph and Bose, ran off. I received a call from a kind person, a half-mile away, who found Bose. Only then did I even realize my gate was open. Ralph was still loose, unaccounted for. I took off on foot, and long story made short, found him within a short while thanks to a number of helpful folks who saw him running in certain directions.

I am so thankful for the kind people in my neighborhood. Having my dogs home safe and sound is a gift this Christmas.

I'm walking them both home in this photo.

He doesn't lie still for long

My dog Bose.

The individual photos were taken with my iPhone 4 and processed using the CrossProcess app (using the green filter), and then merged together using the PhotoDesk app.

Ghost dogs

Taken with the Hipstamatic but then processed one step further with the Plastic Bullet app

Bose in his throne

This photo marks my first experiment with simulated cross processing (defined at wikipedia as "the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film").

Hipstamatic

I'm having fun with the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone. The digital images that you take with this app are automatically altered based on the lens, type of flash and brand of film that you select. As the makers of the app say on their web site: Digital Photography Never Looked So Analog.

Here are the first couple of Hipstamatic "prints" I've generated:




And I'm sure I'll be sharing more Hipstamatic prints in the near future. Feel free to keep an eye on this Flickr set for my latest and greatest Hipstamatic prints.

The best camera

In the spirit of The Best Camera Is The One That's With You, I was watching TV in my living room on Saturday afternoon when all three of my dogs approached me, wanting to play. They looked so cute. I had my iPhone with me, and thus came this photo!

I've been having a lot of fun creating photos like this one using the "Best Camera" iPhone app. The app provides "a unique set of effects that can be applied at the touch of a button. Stack those effects. Mix them. Remix them. Virtually infinite creative possibility with your photos." (More details here.)

The resulting images are low-fidelity and have a retro feel to them -- and I love them!

Here are other Best Camera photos I've created. And here is a live feed of Best Camera images being uploaded from around the globe!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful to my family and friends for the love, comfort and fun they bring to my life. And I'm also thankful for the canine company in my life. I took them for a walk this morning to the Delmar Loop. Here they are, taking a break on the walk back home.

Introducing Sara

Yesterday I adopted a new dog! Her name is Sara and she's from the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. She's 9-10 years old and had lived at the end of a chain on a small rural farm in North Carolina for most of her life. Her story is documented on the St. Louis Senior Dog Project blog here, here and here.

So far, Sara is doing great! She seems very happy and I love having her. Read more here.

Lucky dog

Regarding Dawson, my beagle with cancer, this past week started off pretty rough but has gotten much better.

I thought that Monday was going to be his last day. His walking had deteriorated over the weekend to the point where he was barely able to get up. And he was barely eating anything. So I asked his vet (my friend and neighbor Julie) to come over to look at him, assuming it was time to let him go. She diagnosed his difficulty walking as a problem with his spine, not something related to his cancer. She increased his pain medicine and on Tuesday evening, put him on a steroid, prednisone.

On Wednesday morning, he ate. And since then, he hasn't missed a meal. And he's getting around much better. And, very importantly, he seems very happy.

So, while he still has cancer, the cancer is not yet getting the better of him.

And something else happened this week that has been wonderful. While I'm at work during the daytime, Dawson stays at my friend Cherry's house. I drop him off on my way to work and pick him up on my way home. Cherry is the person who had Dawson for his first ten or so years. I adopted him when Cherry got very sick 3-4 years ago. I am extremely grateful to Cherry for her help and for being so good to Dawson. Yesterday, for example, he seemed quite full when I picked him up. Cherry had fed him a huge bowl of food -- and a hot dog!

Here's a photo of Dawson taken this morning on this first sunny day all week. Dawson is flanked by Bose (left) and Oliver.

Neighborhood watch, part 2

Bose joins Dawson this time for watch duty. More photo details here.

I really need to clean my patio door...

From left, Bose, Dawson and Oliver

Three tomatoes and three dogs!

In my backyard is an upside-down tomato planter growing some beautifully-tasting "sun gold" tomatoes. My neighbor Joan had picked out the tomato plant after reading of how deliciously-sweet the tomatoes are. And she was right! Well, today I noticed a beautiful cluster of three not-yet-ripe tomatoes, and I knew I wanted to get a photograph of them. Well, I did better than that -- I got three photographs of them, each starring one my dogs. Click on the photos below and read more about them on my Flickr photo site.

Dog walks

Trying to do more dog walks. The dogs love them and the exercise (for them and me) is great! Here are some photos from a couple of dog walks over the weekend:

Merry Christmas from Bose

My friend Linda submitted a photo of my dog Bose to a national organization, Corgi Aid, for their Christmas Card. And he won! This card went out to Corgi Aid people all over the country -- and there are thousands!

Some background: Linda runs Pet's Second Chance, a not-for-profit organization in St. Louis focused on Corgis who have been abandoned by their owners due to divorce, moving, birth of children, and the many other reasons that families may no longer be able to keep their Corgi. I fostered Bose for Linda starting in October 2007 and eventually adopted him several months ago. Bose is both deaf and epileptic and has been helped by Corgi Aid.

I really need to clean my patio door...

From left, Scooter, Oliver, Bose and Dawson.

Buddies

My nephew Willie on Sunday afternoon with my foster dog Bose:

Remember to tip your pinsetter

Went bowling Friday night at a place where the pins are reset by hand... there are only three pins per lane... the bowling balls are only 4-5 inches in diameter... you get up to three throws per frame! The place was The Corner Bar, a 140-year-old joint in old-town St. Charles. It was a fundraiser for Pet's Second Chance - Corgi Rescue, the group through which I am fostering Bose. The game is called "cocked hat pin bowling." The folks who work at The Corner Bar said that it's the only place in the whole world that still offers this kind of bowling! It was a lot of fun. For more information, click on the photo below and read its caption and "mouse-over" notes.

Santa and the dogs

From PetSmart, earlier today. Upper photo (left-to-right): Dawson, who I adopted from St. Louis Senior Dog Project in April 2006; Bose, a deaf Corgi I'm fostering for Pet's Second Chance Welsh Corgi Rescue; Oliver, who I rescued in January from the streets of North City during the Mattie search; and Scooter, who I've had since 1998. Lower photo (left-to-right): Rusty, who my friend Carolyn & I rescued from St. Louis Animal Control during the summer (again as part of the Mattie search) and who my friend Mark is fostering; and Andy and Chilly, Mark's permanent dogs who he's had for one year and five years, respectively. Related gallery of photos here.