3 "dog days of summer" vacation ideas

As the dog days of summer drag on and the heat increases, we started looking for some cool getaways. There are many dog friendly locations and accommodations available, here are some ideas.

1. Peace and Natural Beauty - Sea Ranch

Summer is the perfect time to visit the north coast of California. Most of the year this beautiful landscape and rugged coastline can be a bit chilly. Summer days, however drift between the high 60s and low 70s, perfect! Sea Ranch is 30 miles north of Jenner on the Sonoma Coast.

They offer dog beds, homemade dog treats, filtered water and miles of dog friendly beaches and trails. I must admit that the lawn and Adirondack chairs look about perfect for Mike, Gus, Myself and a glass of wine.




2. Luxury Resort - Loews Resort Coronado

Located on beautiful Coronado Island just across the bay from San Diego is the wonderful resort that brings us the Loews Coronado Bay Surf Dog Competition each June. The resort is lovely. It is surrounded by water with sweeping views. They offer loads of pet extras, including pet room service.

My favorite feature is the onsite Coronado Surf Academy that offers Doggie Surfing Lessons. How cool is that?!

3. Casual Adventure - The Russian River

The russian river has long been a summer get away destination. Towns like Monte Rio, Guerneville and Rio Nido offer vacation cabins, many of which are dog friendly.

Canoeing on the river in late summer is a mellow, wonderful way to spend a day. The river is reasonably shallow and slow moving in most spots. Perfect for Fido. Much of the year you will find wild blackberries growing along the shore. A great exuse to make stop on the river edge and have a picnic.

Wine Tasting. Online lists of dog friendly wineries in the Sonoma, Napa, Russian River and Alexander Valleys abound. I recommend calling ahead to see exactly what "pet friendly" means at each winery. Some wineries offer cool, green lawn areas for enjoying cheese platters and sipping wines in the shade. Yes please! [golly, we sound like winos]

Hiking. A leisurely nature walk is more my speed than a real "hike" [Gus agrees with me]. Either way bring a backpack so you can pack some local wine and lunch then head down to the river or up into the redwoods. You can't go wrong. Don't miss the Armstrong Redwoods State Park.

Be sure to let us know if you take any of these trips or have good doggie trippin' ideas of your own.

We love to hear reader reviews!

Happy Campers

Remember those great summer days at camp? Playing in the water, running around with friends and ropes and obstacle courses. Now your dog can enjoy all this at Camp Run a Mutt.

Camp Run a Mutt is a doggie daycamp Located near downtown in San Diego.

We had the opportunity to to take Gus [our Bostontaius Terrier] to the camp to attend a Doggie Birthday Party and he had SO MUCH FUN! He ran and played and played and played. The folks at the Camp were wonderful, really knowledgeable and it was clear they truly love dogs.

Gus isn't much of a water dog, but he did enjoy sitting next to the the lovely waterfall by the dog pond. I'm not joking here. This place is NICE! Very clean with loads of shade, toys, obstacle courses. You don't have to take my word for it, though. Check out their 4 Camp Cams.

And they offer grooming. What camper comes home smelling better than when they left?!

Gus joins us at the office each day but I see us signing him up for a camp day soon.

10 Tips for Better Pet Portraits

Welcome to all the folks visiting from Camp Candid Carrie. Being a bus stop on a virtual field trip is an honor I never anticipated!

My husband and I operate a portrait studio in San Diego. While we do a variety of portraiture, we specialize in pet portraits. I know how much fun it is to take pictures of pets. It's what I do for a living and I LOVE what I do.

I get asked frequently how to take better pet pictures. I am happy to share what I have learned over the years. While I do know some tricks most of these tips are tried and true portrait techniques learned from years as a photographer. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Patience
Take a deep breath and lower your expectations. Chances are your pet won't sit and stay the way you want, so don't be disappointed or get stressed. Your pet picks up on the stress and no good can come from that. Be patient and have fun! You'll get much better pictures.

2. Get Some Help
I always have an assistant. My assistant [or the pet's owner] should be the only one talking to the pet. I am free to operate the camera setting and focus on composure. This prevents the pet from being overwhelmed with too many commands. My assistant holds treats/toys and directs the pet. Make sure your assistant isn't blocking your light or casting a shadow into your picture.

3. Treats & Toys
Great portraits are not on most pets priority list, so I resort to bribery. Use treats and toys that your dog likes....NOT loves. You want intrigue not insanity. My dog likes kibble and will be interested in getting some. However if I bring out the Pupperoni [we call it puppy crack], he turns into a deranged treat addict and the shoot is over. Use one treat/toy at a time, bringing out a new one as needed to capture your pets attention.

4. Time & Timing
Set aside time for your portraits. Grabbing the camera when your pet does something cute is great, but it rarely yields a masterpiece. Give yourself an hour to play and photograph. Take breaks, take lots of shots and take your time. Timing is also key. A good long walk or run will help your pet be calm for pictures.

5. Your Camera
Every camera has features and limitations. You can get wonderful photographs with ANY camera. The trick is to know what your camera will and won't do. I know you read your camera manual from cover to cover......what...you didn't? Well, no problem. I am going to give you a few features to go and look up. [tip: most camera manuals can be downloaded from the manufacturer, in case yours is as lost as mine is]

Features to look for:

• Exposure Compensation
• White Balance
• Macro
• Fill Flash
• Portrait, Landscape, Action & Night Shot Modes

Don't get overwhelmed, just see if your camera has these features. If it does, spend some time playing with them one at a time. Each feature has a real life application that will greatly improve your pictures.

6. Prepare
Dead batteries and empty media cards love to ruin a cute pose. Have spares on hand.

7. Composition
Composing a portrait means looking at the big picture. As the photographer you must be aware of what is in and out of the frame.
Be sure to look for distracting details in the background. Watch for things that appear to grow out of your pets head, like house plants and floor lamps. At the park, avoid parking lots and trash cans in the background. Simply moving a few feet left or right can often be all that is needed.
Don't be afraid to get up close. Close up shots are often the most meaningful and compelling. Show off your pets lovely eyes, fur or paws with a close-up. Spend some time looking at professional portraits. Notice how the image is composed, the angle of the camera, the lighting. Look for ways to use what you like in your own pet portraits.

8. Experiment
Break the rules. Shoot into the sun, play with camera setting, stand on a ladder, lay on the floor. If it doesn't work out, you can always delete it.

9. Light
The single most important consideration in any photograph is light. In photography school, I was taught that by learning to look at and manage the light on your subject you will get better pictures [my, that sounded serious!]. This just means that it helps to give a bit of attention to the light falling on your pet and not just the cute pose. If the light doesn't look right, here are some things you can do to change it.

Turn off your flash. Natural light is the way to go. At the studio we do use flash, big, fancy studio lights with umbrellas and softboxes. We still prefer natural light and use it any chance we have. The best light is defused sunlight, the kind you get from north facing windows, a slightly overcast day, or a shady area at a sunny park.

Use a reflector [a piece of white poster board or a white pop up car shade work great] to reflect light back to your subject. This will help put a spark in the eyes and fill in shadows.

A tripod will keep your camera steady for longer exposures in lower light situations and works great for cats and sleeping dogs.

Turn on your flash [I know I just said turn it off, here's the exception] Play with your flash outside. Sometimes using your flash in a sunny situation can give you those great popping colors and bright eyes you see in professional portraits. This technique takes some patience and experimentation but the results are well worth it.


10. Wonderful and Unexpected
Now that you are prepared, know your camera, have the time and the patience, it's time to have some fun. Don't get to hung up on a certain poses or tricks. Some of my favorite shots come when a cat yawns or cleans it's face, when dogs hear a car horn and gives me a perfect profile shot as they look for the sound, or when a puppy lays down out of complete boredom with the shoot. By giving your pet a little wiggle room you will get wonderful portraits showing off all of your pets character.

I hope this has given you some tools to improve your portraits and a good excuse to get on the floor and play with your pet. Please feel free to send me specific questions about pet photography and/or request our monthly newsletter to get more tips and techniques.

Happy Camping,
Tee Taylor
OH MY DOG! Photography

info@ohmydogphoto.com
760.479.0553

Coolest Dog in the Central Valley

Tales from the road.

So, When we took our road trip up the CA 99 this month we had some ups and downs [and I'm not just talking about the grapevine].

I wanted to stop at 3 roadside attractions.

1. Fresno's underground gardens: Only open on Fridays after Memorial Day, so that was a no go.

2. Pollardsville the ultimate combination of Old West and Chicken Memorabilia.: Closed and for Sale. The ghost town is a ghost town.

3. The Mammoth Orange in Chowchilla.: Closed for a year AND moved a mere 5 DAYS before my trip. It was put in storage and is waiting to be incorporated into a new mall if they can find a place for it. I hope they do.


So what to now?

Look a little harder. Here is what we found.

Tulare, which turned out to be an adorable little town, has a hot dog stand inside a vintage airplane. And it was really nice! These places usually turnout to be a bit....shabby, but NO. This place was gorgeous, clean and the best part the BBQ Tri Tip sandwich was so yummy! In fact, I think we will make this a regular stop. It is really worth the 5 minutes from the freeway.

AERO Dogs
240 N. L Street
Tulare, CA 93274
Phone: (559)685-1230




Next Stop, Allensworth.


I read online that it is a "Black Ghost Town". Black Ghosts? hmmm.
It is actually a town founded by an African American Man as a Black town. You can see the whole story here.

Now I will tell you that at first, I was a bit let down that the homes were all totally restored. Not the type of rustic charm I expect from my ghost towns. But then I really started to love the place. The homes felt so fresh and bright, like you could move right in. I think it was a perfect reflection of the optimism of the people who chose to leave their lives elsewhere and settle in Allensworth.

It took about 20 minutes from HWY 99 [including a stop to get directions]. So worth it.
They seem to have campgrounds there. What a great halfway stop, giving you lots of time to explore the home and meet the many local jack rabbits and chipmunks.

Home Again, Home Again.

What a week-end! We did everything. Cheered the kids, visited roadside attractions, photographed two amazing dogs and some fabulous design. Great week-end!

Photos tomorrow.

Okay, here is a sneak peek.


Who doesn't love a kitschy water tower? Flexy straw brilliant!
Often overlooked in favor of the Kingsberg Coffee pot water tower, this tower is just down the road in Tulare, California. You will have to travel a half mile off Highway 99 to see it. Welll worth the trip if you ask me.

On the road again!

We will be hittin' the road tomorrow once again. We are heading to Nor Cal. We will be photographing 3 homes designed by the amazing Tim and Linda Arbogast. One of the homes will be featured in a swanky coffee table book "the Best of Design" We feel like Rock Stars! Then we will be photographing 2 of the sweetest dogs, Roxy the floppy Pomeranian and Slider the spunky Aussie mix. They could not be more different. That makes it fun.

Somewhere in there we will be watching the Kids compete in the Southwest Region Crew championships. So exciting. GO SDRC!


And the best part....It's a road trip! The kids took the team bus so Mike and I will be cruising at a leisurely pace. We even have a few roadside attractions planned. A must see, the underground gardens in Fresno.

We'll have loads of pictures of course.

Back on Monday!