Dog Blog

I should just start a new blog and dedicate it to inane random photos of all the pets of the family...then again, I can't keep up on this blog by itself.

Garrette Park in West Jefferson

Stumbled across this park in West Jeff yesterday after being sent to shoot a house. This park was hidden off the main road, but it looked pretty awesome. I had to stop and snap a few photos.

New Lens Time

So I bought a new lens for my camera today! It's not some super-fancy lens, but one that I hope will give me a few better pictures in certain situations. The main thing being it allows me to let significantly more light into the camera while not reducing my shutter speed to minuscule levels.

Here is a "Before and After" comparison. The old lens, (above), allowed this shot at an aperture of 5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/6 of a second. To try and put it simply, (given I fully understand all of this), the greater the aperture means the more it is closed. An aperture that can open wider allows more light into the camera thus allowing quicker shutter speeds. The faster your shutter is able to move, the better the chance of catching that action-shot without it looking like a giant blur of crap.

Here is the same, (roughly), shot with the new lens. I'm not expert so I'm sure I could have gotton a better comparison, however I was trying to achive roughly identical shots with both lenses. My old lens could go to a minimum aperture of 3.4. This new lens can achieve an aperture of 1.8. A nice heafty jump that allows my camera to recieve more light. This picture was taken at the full 1.8 aperture and a shutter speed of, (wait for it...), 1/60! At such a wide aperture you also get a shallower depth-of-field as well.
To make these comparisons alittle truer, I should have taken these shots at both lens limits, in this case being their widest apertures at the same shutter speeds...I think. Either way you get the idea and the fun test will be at ADB's next show!

Ugh.

Came outside today to find this. Our neighbor informed us to the possible culprit, a semi truck on our street from: http://www.e-zmovers.com/.

The cable company was called and I told them it was their fault because they did not hang the wire high enough. My theory is the minor bit of ice buildup from last night caused the wire to droop more than normal, making it susceptable to the above.

Another option, this moving company came down our street with a "semi" according to our neighbor. Semi trucks are not allowed on our street, (so I've been told), so I am contacting them to see what they say. The presence of a tall semi where it shouldn't be could be the main reason for this...maybe.

We'll see how this goes. I have learned one thing, there can be a price to having certain wires tucked under your siding. Sure it looks much much nicer...until a fat truck rips it out of your house. At least he didn't rip the cable jack out of the wall of my house...

holy crap! two posts in one day! (sorry for the lack of updates...I am so letting my public down.)

Doggy Zen

Ying Yang Dogs, Dog Yang, Ying Dogs, whatever you'd like. This is what you get when your dogs lose themselves in oversized chews.
It's a good thing Titus ate this whole bone in under 24 hours. He didn't have the runs at all...and it was super fun fantastic!

Levi, on the other hand, paces himself in such a way that he'll eat a chunk right away. Then, he will strategically place the remaining piece wherever you plan to take your next step...EVERY next step. He'll then never finish eating the remaining piece...ever.

And Megan snapped this photo of Titus sneaking a nap on the couch. Soooo dogs aren't allowed on the couch without explicit permission...jerk.

The Great Escape... (or maybe just the Mediocre escape)

The escape artist.
The diversion.The escape route.

The promised land.

The victim. (my unfinished bowl of cereal).

Today not long after I woke up, Titus decided he was going to take an unsanctioned trip of the neighborhood. Here is how it went down...

I let the boys out, (one at a time to keep down on dreaded "Dirt Paws"), and it was Titus' turn. While he was doing his thing I went back to my computer for a couple minutes to finish my bowl of cereal. After a couple minutes I decided to check on him, let him in, whatev. I went to the back kitchen window and saw him apparently doing some romping around, playing, whathaveyou, and figured I'd let him stay out and play some more. Well, while watching him out the back kitchen window, Levi comes up to me and pushes his face into my side. It diverted my attention from Titus who was currently investigating the area around the damaged gate on the east side of the yard. In the 2 seconds I looked down to when I looked back up, Titus had vanished... The game was afoot.

I concluded he jumped through the hole in the fence left when a large branch damaged it in the past wind storm. It hadn't been fixed yet because it didn't seem to be a problem...yea. After running around the neighborhood for about 10 minutes, then driving around a for a few minutes I found dorkface in a neighbor's backyard across our street. Not the best way to start your morning, but at least he's back home...dorkface.

I almost feel I was plotted against as Levi diverted my attention at just the perfect time for me to NOT see Titus jump through the hole in the fence...but then I realized dogs don't plot...because they're dogs.