Working from home

Here is a little glimpse into my life. I have a job this weekend for an event at the Clackamas Town Center Macy's for Mother's Day Portraits. While I am really excited about this, I am FREAKING OUT about getting all my ducks lined up. I think I have everything ready to go, but there is always that little thing that refreshes the challenge.
I didn't feel like working in my office today, so I am editing photos and typing correspondence from my couch (recliner) and listening to music.
I was doing some research on the net, and looked over to see my dog, Neo, in his favorite position - spread eagled on the couch with his head on a pillow. I figured that I needed a picture of that. I have lots of pictures of the mutt doing his thing, but I just watched a show about some photographers, and was reminded of the Marilyn Monroe photos when I saw Neo. Obviously, Norma Jean was more beautiful and more elegant, but what can you do?
One of my favorite things about working from home (I don't drive to my Portland studio unless I need to) is that I get to hang with my pets and give Neo more attention. He's finally coming out of his slump after losing his sister, Daisy. I like to think that I am also doing my part for the environment by not driving the 20 some odd miles to the studio in my truck.
This isn't the most elegant lighting. I didn't want him to move while I set up my stands and strobes to light him with some pizazz. He's one of those dogs that if I'm up and moving around, he has to follow to see what I'm doing. Maybe I'm getting food or going outside for something. I had to sneak to my camera bag to get my camera and strobe, and was lucky that he only woke up and didn't move.

Day in the snow

So, my oldest dog, Daisy, was given 1-3 months to live after cancer was found throughout her body. What do you do when life gives your dog cancer? You go play in the snow!!!!! We didn't want to sit around all weekend moping, so we took the two mutts up to the mountain to play. Daisy has always been a huge fan of snow and water. She and the other dog found a creek next to the meadow that we were playing in, and went for a swim. I was freezing bundled up on land and they were playing polar bear before we even knew there was liquid water in the area.
For those of you who are wondering, Yes- I am one of those guys who treats their dog like a child. Daisy is 11 and we've had her since my son was 5. Most of his memories involve her eating shoes or barfing on his rug and lots of playing in water.
So, here are a couple of pictures from the day. One is of Daisy chilling in the snow. I ended up blowing out the snow so there would be detail in her black fur. I know a lot of people like to see texture in snow, but when I set my exposure, I got what I wanted.
The other picture is Daisy sitting and watching her idiot brother catching snowballs in the air.