Fast Eddie!

Show me a Golden Retriever and I'll show you a ball-loving dog. I'll also show you a handsome, photogenic dog. Eddie was no exception.

As I arrived at the house, Eddie immediately invited me to play ball.

 

Eddie is three but has the energy of a puppy. It was sometimes a challenge to capture him crisply because he moved so quickly (and with an increasingly rainy and darkening sky, satisfactory light was hard to come by), but a little persistence took care of that.

He was encouraged to do a few tricks, including carrying his leash

 

and making himself at home on the neighbor's trampoline.

His most amazing trick, however, was the ease with which he could scale a standard chain-link fence, a feat I tried very hard to capture on camera with hit-and-miss success. He was just sooo fast.

But the enduring image of Eddie was of a happy dog obsessed with his ball.

Golden Retrievers, you have a blanket invitation to enter my camera!

A Pair of Pugs

If I say the word "Pugs" and you know a bit about dogs, you probably have a reaction one way or the other. People don't lack for feelings about them. But I hadn't had much exposure to Pugs (other than knowing they announce their presence with audible snorts) and was looking forward to what the experience might bring.

My biggest challenge was getting a photo of both of them together while maintaining a level of photographic detail in Tortilla, who was all black. We walked the neighborhoods of St. Paul until the appropriate moments presented themselves.

I quickly learned that ChoCho was a chair lover, whether it was the rocking chair on the porch or the chair that provided the perfect view through the living room window.

I was fascinated by Tortilla's face and the way he always seemed to have his surprisingly long tongue out when the shutter snapped.

ChoCho and Tortilla were entertaining and didn't lack for personality. Thanks for the opportunity to capture them, Ciro!