The last several days have featured a little wet weather... and now it's cold. So... not much going on outdoors lately... This first image was taken out on the street in front of the house around 8pm with the sun already well below the horizon after a bit of rain. {D3 + 85mm f/1.4 lens - ISO 2500, f/1.4 @ 1/50th of a second.}

Kylie has worked with Eileen for several years, and recently Eileen took a new position in Washington DC, so Thursday we went to a little going away party for her. Best wishes in your new endeavor, E!

Not too long ago the down spouting was blown off a corner of the house in the back yard. Since I can barely spell Bob Vila, let alone remotely pretend to have any of his skills, the spouting is still not back on the house yet. The upside? We get our own man-made waterfall in the backyard when it rains. The downside? The dog's about to need swimming lessons... the water is making a mess of the yard in that corner. Maybe I should just pick up some coi fish and feature our little watering hole.

For the record, no animals were harmed in this next image... at least not physically. Have you ever seen anything so pitiful? Kylie's pretty pumped about buying a few outfits for the dog, including this little water-resistant number. Me? I'm okay with the au-natural look. It might be a little different if she was a bigger dog, but it's hard to look serious when I show up for flag football games with a 4 lb pooch blinged out in snazzy sweaters and rain coats.

Remarkably similar to civilian law, actually. It's simple. Do the crime, do the time.

PLANO, TX - Unidentified sources reported Friday that Mia, a 10 week-old Maltese-Yorkie mix, was fired from her position as digital retouch artist at Matt Nicolosi Photographic Art after just one day on the job. When asked for the reason for her termination, owner Matt Nicolosi didn't hesitate. "First and foremost, I think the pictures speak for themselves. I mean, I've got a lot of empathy for my employees, and I want them to succeed. I want them to work in a comfortable environment where they can relax and work in their own style. But Mia... well, she just took advantage of that freedom and abused the situation, and, frankly, now everyone else around here is going to suffer. At the end of the day, this is still a business, and I can't run a successful business with people sleeping on the job. It's too bad... I really liked her and thought she had a lot of potential." When questioned whether he was worried about a wrongful termination suit being filed against him, Matt quickly dismissed any legitimacy to this. "Umm... are you serious? Did you not see the photos? She was sleeping, man. On the job! Any judge with the least bit of common sense and a biscuit's worth of respect for the law would throw that case out before it ever got to trial."

Sources say Mia seems unaffected by her firing, and when asked to defend the incriminating photos, she refused to comment and began tugging at this reporter's shoe strings.

I finally found my photo editing solution. And she's cheap. Only problem is she doesn't work on people photos. This image was completely un set up... almost. I was doing a little work, and Mia was laying on my lap and at one point crawled up on the desk and just cuddled up on the number rty98ryb 666666666666666666666666666666665.... sorry for the interuption. That was Mia stepping on the keyboard doing her own typing. No joke. Where was I? Oh, right... so she laid in a ball on part of the keypad and I couldn't pass up that shot. Problem. I just sent in the D3 today for a little repair work, so I didn't have a camera sitting out on my desk like I usually do. By the time I not-so-stealthily got up and opened the closet door to get my old D200 out, she had woken up from her slumber. I did cheat a little and pull up the blog with a couple photos of her in the background for effect, but she's apparently easily embarrassed, and on her own she promptly stepped on the keyboard right on the page down button, so I ended up with an image of Jerry and Tina's precious boxer, Ally, in the background instead. Too funny.

Say hello to our newest team member around here. Again, she's a Morkie, which is a combination Maltese + Yorkie. She's been on the job less than a day now, and her responsibilities are still being finalized, but so far they include lighting model, carpet durability tester, floor duster, client greeter, sock hider, and just plain ol' fun-maker. With a little training and puppy dog eye practice, I'm hoping to add sales booster to her repertoire, too. Little Mia (mee-yuh) was finally old enough to come home yesterday, and in one night she's already ruling the roost with our life at home now revolving around her for a bit. This girl's like a little fury, four-legged magnet, too; she won't let us get more than a couple feet away before she's attaching herself to our heels, but how can you blame her? We're awesome people to hang around. [grin] I'd forgotten how much fun puppies are. They just make you feel so young and vibrant. Shoot, even her puppy breath is adorable right now... we'll see how long that lasts. Anyway, here's a few quick images of her... about the only lens I have available right now (the rest are going in the shop) is an 85mm and a 60mm macro, both of which are sloooooow to focus compared to my other lenses... this is a problem with a spasmatic moving target that never seems to sit still except when she's sleeping.

This is where she was at 80% of the time on her first night home. It's hard to photograph her with an 85mm lens when you can't get any separation from her.

Momma & Mia. Oh, com on... you knew it was coming sooner or later. It's better to just get those things outta the way.

She finally wore herself out... for a little while.