Taking Doug home

It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

How do you tell someone something so life changing?

I sat him down, made sure he was comfortable and came out with it;

"Doug, im not your real dad. And Laura, she's not your real mum"

"your parents were too young and had 6 other children to look after"
"they sold you to us"

"no" "no" "its not like that'

"Doug"

"your a dog"

"it happens all the time"

He barked a bit, chased his tail, wee'd in the garden and then he was happy agin.

Not so bad after all, i thought it was going to scar him for life.

We took Doug to meet his real parents; Willow and Bubba. Both of Jug breed.

I wonder if a dog knows after 6 months of being part that the dog thats just walked through the door is their son or the 2 dog's in front are their parents?

It was a great half hour spent, watching the 3 dog's run around the garden, chasing each other. it made for some great comical images.

and the chase was on

He'd only been there a few minutes and already they were giving him a grilling

Willow loves to cool off in the water

Lol, what does this look like?

Extreme close up

Face off

Another grilling from his dad

I grew up with dogs around me; German Shepherds, i'd previously never been a small dog person but having a small dog is great, you can take them anywhere and everywhere because they take up no room.

However don't go thinking that a small dog has no personality, Doug is a legend! He's randy, stubborn, intelligent, loyal, smelly; he's always passing wind, energetic, he's a real ladies man.
This actually sounds like someone i know!?

To the greatest dog ever..........Big Doug!

Now I've got to go hoover the car because he's malting and there's hair everywhere.

Bump shoot with Kelly and Scott (and Ella)

I was contacted via Facebook regarding a bump shoot under recommendation from another client that Im shooting for next weekend. This is good for someone who doesn't advertise!

The shoot went well.

The conservatory at the rear of the house was bathed in diffused light with plenty of space.

The expecting couple; Kelly and Scott were really nice and were well up for the shots.

The greatest part of the shoot though was their daughter Ella who was very funny and very cute. As soon as I walked in the door she was chatting away and singing her ABC's. All changed when the camera came out though, for this Im a little sorry for as Kelly was hoping for some real family shots. I did manage to capture a few candid shots of Ella playing, she was especially happy when I asked her if she wanted a picture of her eating so she can look at it.

Thanks again to Kelly and Scott who were prepared to show some skin and stand in some awkward positions.

Im now debating advertising. Onwards and upwards!

Thanks Kelly, Scott and Ella.

A world shot on black and white film.

Ive been shooting when I can using my Praktica MTL 50; a good strong metal based SLR mentioned in a previous post. Its a real beauty to use and look at.

Like any of my film cameras I load them up, take a few shots and put them back in drawer until next time, so the pictures on this post are from the past 4-5 months.

These shots were taken using BW400CN film that expired in 2006. I bought 8 rolls for about £15 last year and they are sitting in the freezer waiting to be used.

I don't know what it is but I love black and white, its a love that's really taken hold since late 2012 and now I find myself editing numerous digital images and converting them to black and white. I love the simplicity of a black and white shot with no colours to distract the eye, its also the timeless look of a monochrome shot that could of been taken anytime in the past.

Although I really like the camera sometimes im slightly disappointed with the shots its a combination of the grain of the film and processing and the softness of the lens that I use mostly; Im sure I can hold the camera steady, ive had plenty of practice these days and I take time to focus, yet shots im sure will be sharp often turn out soft.

The first day I loaded this film Laura and I were going shopping in Norwich.

A classic phone box.

Selfie taken in Bank in the Chapelfields Shopping Mall. Its got a great mirrored ceiling.

Someone moaned at me for taking a picture in the Castle Mall.....yawn!

 



Next the camera travelled to my Brothers at Bishops Stortford for his birthday weekend in November.

We had fun in the park

 

 

 

 

King of the castle.

 

What is it about benches that keeps me taking photo's of them?

 Family group shot outside the pub.

 

 Yeah....big dog!

 

 

Poser!

 

 Is that a funny walk Spen?

 

 

These self portraits turned out a lot darker than what i expected especially considering I used a light meter

 

 

The last 3 frames of the film were taken at the General Cemetery in Wisbech on a Saturday morning when I had taken Laura to work and I thought id take a look at this over grown old burial site.

 

2 more benches for the album!

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Ive already got a couple of future blog posts planned.

 

So please tune in next time.

 

Thanks

 

Ben