Whiskers

He's waiting to be adopted at Friendswood Animal Control!  281-996-9931

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

Part of successful rescue work is marketing the animals well and Friendswood Animal Advocates came up with a way to catch potential adopters' attention with often overlooked animals in the shelter --- those mostly black and black and white ones.  They asked me to photograph them in some fancy duds ---  tutus, ties, boas, jewelry, etc.   For the rest of July and possibly extended into August, the adoption fee is waived on all black, black and white, and even black and brown animals currently in the Friendswood Animal Control Facility.  One of the black and white kittens below, Francesca, has already been adopted, the Boxer Clara Belle was pulled by Lone Star Boxer Rescue, and Sassy the Pomeranian was found by her owner (I know, she is not black and white, but looked so cute in her tutu!), which is another whole story about how she ended up in Friendswood from Pasadena.  For information call 281-996-9931.

 

Charlotte

Clara Belle

Cricket

Felicia

Francesca

Mica

Phoebe

Reese

Rocky

Sassy

Seymour

 

Thursday Shelter Update

This young cat was found by a family who wanted to keep him but had too many allergies, so  he ended up at Friendswood Animal Control.   When I photographed QT today he was so calm and sweet, he did not fear my camera and flash as so many do.  A little later while another cat was out in the cat room playing, he started playing with the volunteer through the bars of his cage so he is already adjusting.  Sweet, calm, friendly, playful and soooo gorgeous --- what more could you ask for?  

Nutter Butter is another very cute one available now.  He is a young Chihuahua mix who was so petrified when he was brought to the shelter last week that they could not get him out of the carrier he was in for quite a while.  Volunteers have patiently worked with him for several days and I was able to get him to come willingly with me for his photos.  He is still nervous and hates being in his kennel but is not aggressive or snappy at all, he just wants to be held and petted.  Call 281-996-9931 to adopt either of these extremely darling animals.

The Barker Household has a Visitor

of the feline variety.  I am fostering a cat who is recovering from surgery while waiting to be adopted.  I have never had a cat and am enjoying spending time with her.

Charlotte

So far she is very frightened by my dogs, even when Maggie is just snuffling under the door while I play with her...She may need a forever home without dogs but I will give her more time to heal and settle in before trying an introduction.  

I had to use ISO 1600 and a large aperture...black animals are so hard to focus on, even with her gorgeous yellow eyes.  Also this bedroom gets morning sun so the light was not very bright late in the afternoon and I did not want to frighten her with flash. 

A Few More of Baby S

This little doll is such a happy baby and so easy to photograph.  The limitations were mostly the very small area I had to work in and how to find a decent background.  In hindsight I could have put a couch behind her with some fabric draped over it.  Her mother spent many summer days in her childhood at our lakehouse  and it has not changed a bit in 20 years...so I guess the photos also capture the next generation there.

 

 I loved the baby's expressions in this series -- - you can tell she loves her books already.

 

 

 

 

She's 6 Months Old Already

Time flies --- it has been six month since I photographed this little doll last December.  Recently my college girlfriends met at my lake house in Burnet for a few days and her mom, the daughter of one of my friends, brought the baby out for an impromptu photo session. She is not quite able to sit up on her own longer than a couple of seconds...which resulted in a few tumbles before we decided to try something different!  

 

 

 

 

The quilt was handmade by my great grandmother and I was just really lucky that the two outfits the baby had with her coordinated so well with the fabrics in the quilt.  I used natural light from some west facing windows and a large aperture to blur the uninteresting background.

 

 

Thursday Shelter Update and a WELCOME to Lisa

Calvin

Calvin is just one of several very cute kittens and cats available this week at Friendswood Animal Control (281-996-3391).

Celeste

Suki

 Suki and Celeste are two siblings who have been at the shelter for a few weeks now --- they are very playful and so entertaining!

Oswald

 Oswald has the most sleek and shiny fur and really beautiful Bengal markings.

Tobie

Tobie is an 8 year old spayed female who was brought in by her owner --- they got a dog and it did not get along with her, so they brought her to a kill shelter!  HOW can they think that is OK???  She was very afraid of my camera even with the flash off, and is trying to adjust to her situation by staying in her litterbox in a cage that is way too small for such a large cat.  I hope someone can see what a great cat she is and will give her a safe forever home.

Rocky

Cowboy

Freckles

Jefferson

 

Morgan

Morgan with Lisa Bragg

We are so happy to welcome Lisa, pictured above, as the very first Shelter Manager at Friendswood Animal Control.  She comes from Washington DC with her husband who is in the Air Force and was transferred to Ellington (and he flies his own plane for animal rescues!) and she has worked in shelters there and other places.  We have come so far in the last year and a half, with many improvements to our city's animal control policies, a new shelter has broken ground, and now we have a dedicated person to help manage the adoptable animals!  Huge steps forward, to say the least.

Patriotic Pibble

Miss Rosie was the reason for the Patriotic photo session ---- her mama wanted to enter her photo in a contest...but she was not exactly feeling patriotic that day....

I am going to have to come up with some better treats for this diva, but she is worth it.

For those who don't know, "pibble" is an affectionate slang for Pit Bull, and Rosie is one of the sweetest, most affectionate, calm, and best-natured Pit Bulls I have ever met.  And she is also very good at looking pitiful when she wants to.