Otto is the wire-haired dachshund – my husband wants his nickname to be professor. Ruby is a sweet, old German Short-haired Pointer. It was a privilege to photograph these two!

Two beautiful schnauzers! Lulu is a miniature and just about the softest, sweetest little girl you’ll ever meet. Quincy Maximus is a standard and so handsome. I traveled down to Columbus to meet with two yesterday and had so much fun playing in their beautiful yard. Stay tuned for more photos of this pair in the next few weeks.

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)!

Reading this reminded me that I actually have taken some photos of strangers and have quite a few un-processed images from the trip we took to India in January. For the first seven days of our trip, we stayed in Michael Nagar, a neighborhood that is just north of downtown Kolkata and near the airport. It’s a darling little enclave of colorful stucco homes, tropical trees and friendly neighbors. Each day, we’d walk around town and through the markets. If you’ve ever met a Bong (someone from West Bengal), then you probably know that they have a deep and dedicated passion for eating fish (they also like to talk about meals of fish from their past and also discuss potential meals of fish in the future). So, the fish market is a daily stop for neighborhood families. All of the fish is super fresh and incredibly delicious (lightly fry in turmeric and salt, then add water and finish cooking in the broth – yum!)

The market was so full of colors and characters that I overcame my shyness and with the help of my husband’s translation skills was able to get some of the market vendors to pose for a few photos. This guy was my favorite of the day. (I apologize in advance to any vegetarians that might find this photo a bit too…fishy.)

Seriously – try a Bengali fish curry! Here are some recipes in a wonderfully named forum thread called, The Giant Bengali Fish Thread. And simple is good – salt, turmeric and some ground mustard seeds is just about all you really need. Along with a nice fresh, meaty white fish or two.

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