While digging back into my archives and reorganizing files, I ran across an unprocessed folder of photos from last winter. Buried in the folder was this photo of my dog, Ellie. It’s one of my new favorite shots of her.

In other fun news, I’ve touched base with the winner(s) of the urban location scouting contest. Look for some fun urban dog portraits featuring the streets, shores and bridges of Cleveland’s West Side. I’m somewhat familiar with the winning owner’s dogs – and they’re going to be so much fun to work with! Thanks for all of the great ideas.

Using this tutorial, I played around with painting over a photograph. In this case, I like the results. The process takes alot of patience. Something I’m not always very good at. I could have easily spent a few more hours on this to get it really looking good.

This Saturday, as a part of Brecksville’s Home Days celebration, the Recreation Department will be holding the Annual Dog Jog at the Blossom Hill Recreation Complex on Oakes Road.

Registration for the one mile fun run with your dog starts at 8am! The race starts at 9am and will be followed by a variety of contests, prizes and a raffle.

Fur in Focus Photography will be there. We’re offering a gift basket in the raffle where one lucky pet owner will win a gift certificate for a free photo session and 5 x 7 gift print of their dog (a $100 value!). We’ll also be holding a drawing at our table for another free session and gift print. The winner of the drawing will be announced here on Monday, June 29th.

Check back for the winner, event photos and don’t forget to say hi to us at the Dog Jog!

From last year’s 2008 Home Days event: The Annual Dog Jog! A day full of costumes, games and fun.

To purchase prints from the 2009 Brecksville Dog Jog, visit the online gallery (password: brecksville)!

I participate quite a bit on a knitting/networking site. One of the most fun aspects of the site is the ability to browse through projects that people have completed. All of the projects are databased and linked via keywords and user favorites so that one can spend hours exploring and finding new things that match their tastes (I like projects that are super-colorful and detailed).

So, one day I ran across this lady who makes little project bags that are a combination of actual knitting and fabric which has a realistic pattern printed on it that looks like knitting (I think she uses crochet as well). I investigated and it turns out that she scans her actual knitting and then has the scanned image made into her own custom fabric by a company called spoonflower. This is one of the coolest things ever.

On my list of things to do is figure out a way to use this service to create a really cool project. I’m thinking graphic images of my dogs printed on fabric that is used to make custom collars. META-doggie-style! I have a friend who sews amazing coats for her dogs and her husband is a very accomplished graphic artist. I’m pushing him to create some fabric with images of their dogs just to see what kinds of neat applications of the fabric she’ll come up with.

Some useful links I found when researching this:
How to create a repeating pattern from True Up.
An example of one illustrator’s work made into fabric (her artwork is pretty darn amazing).

This was a bunch of fun. Following a textures tutorial from the MCP Actions blog and using some free textures that I found on flickr, I had some fun with these photos of the girls. I kind of like the results. I think Ellie’s portrait (on the left) has a Rembrandt feel to it. Katy’s reminds me a bit of an old print that you might find covered in dust at a hunting lodge.

The tutorial on how to use and apply textures is here.
Check out the free textures available on flickr here, here and here. Nice stuff!

From the archives, a red merle border collie. At a herding trial held just southwest of Akron, Ohio. June 2006.

Little Ellie, chilling out on the bed.

I’m comparing my photos to other shots online and keep wondering where is the color? What is wrong with my photos? But, as I drive down the road, I realize that there just isn’t all that much color to be found outside during this time of the year. The brightest colors to be found are on the gas station signage! I did spy a bright cyan colored barn and two baby blue electrical towers. Otherwise, it’s white, brown, gray and tan almost everywhere else.

ETA: This is what I’m talking about.