Foster Photoshoot: Super Taz!

January 25, 2015 by Christina Marney in Foster Dogs

My boyfriend and I are currently fostering our third rescue dog with Waggytail Rescue, an adorable Italiain Greyhound - Chihuahua mix called Chinso. I've been happily photographing his adorable face for almost three months now, and I thought that maybe I should extended my skills to other foster carers to see if we can get more pups shown in their best light. This is a new venture for me, and while I'm used to photographing fast moving humans, photographing other people's dogs is a new and exciting challenge!

Today I went to Williamsburg to meet Super Taz, a three year old Pug-Pomeranian mix (or maybe bulldog or spaniel or really, who knows?!) who is currently waiting to find his forever home. Taz is a super sweet bundle of energy who loves to give kisses and get belly rubs. I had a hard time getting portrait style shots because he was so enthralled by everything around him that he wasn't so interested in sitting still for the lady with the camera :) But I hope his enthusiastic, playful personality comes through in these portraits and that they catch the eye of someone who can give this happy, smiling little guy the active, loving lifestyle he needs.

A day at the races

January 18, 2015 by Christina Marney

On New Year's Day we headed out to the Aqueduct in Queens to take photographs of the horses!

OK, OK, everyone else went to have a flutter but I don't gamble since the logic of it escapes me, so I was the only one taking pictures. I took my previously described and somewhat lacking zoom lens and shot a few horses. That sounds.... gory.

It was cold, it was strangely depressing, but the pageantry and power of the races themselves were a lot of fun!

Out Back

January 09, 2015 by Christina Marney

Last winter, on a particularly snowy cold day, I noticed a little flash of red in the back garden - a downy woodpecker! I was EXCITED. What else was out there? So I bought a bird feeder, some suet, and dusted off my admittedly terrible zoom lens. Over the past year I've seen plenty of sparrows, watched robins and starlings nest and bring in their fledglings, and cardinals decapitate my sunflowers. There have been more woodpeckers, one rare sighting of a humming bird over the lilac, a catbird, a crowned sparrow, blue jays and some very tenacious squirrels.

My zoom lens was given to me as a gift, doesn't have internal stabilization, and the majority of the time I'm shooting through glass. I don't claim these are the best examples of nature photography, but it makes me happy to document what I see.

Penny

November 07, 2014 by Christina Marney in Foster Dogs

I've always thought of myself a big dog person having grown up with a Shetland Sheepdog then a collie-German Shepherd mix, and my parents currently having a GIANT German Shepherd. So believe me I was surprised when I so easily fell for our latest little foster, Penny.

During a Skype conversation with my Dad he asked me if she was a cat. The big dog thing, it runs in families. Penny was so very little (about 8lbs I'd guess) that often I'd wake up in the morning and not be able to find her in the living room because she'd curled up into a tiny little ball on the couch or in her crate.

There were a few things Penny loved more above all others. Cuddling next to or on you on the couch was just about her favorite thing.

Then came going on walks so she could bark at EVERYONE within a 100ft radius (oy vey!), and when at all possible dive face first into unmentionable stink piles in the grass. This lead to a lot of baths, and another favorite activity, post-bath towel drying induced insanity.

She would sprint laps around the room, up on the couch and back down then take that toy and kill it, KILL IT DEAD. Flinging it around the room, freezing to figure out where it went then galloping off to pounce on it again. She was a very silly, funny and loveable little monster.

Penny was adopted two weeks ago after spending a month with us. The actual adoption process and final day were a lot easier this time around, probably because I knew what it was going to be like and how after it was done, I'd be OK. Yes it's hard to let them go, but I know she's going to be loved and her new owner is going to help her overcome her barking issues.

I'm sure Penny and R. are going to have a lot of fun!

Muse-i-am

October 29, 2014 by Christina Marney

The Muse Brooklyn is a circus-based aerial performance and training facility that unfortunately is having to give up it's space due to increasing rent (sound familiar?). This month's variety show, The Muse-I-Am, saw the launch of their Kickstarter campaign to help finance a move and build-out at a larger space in Brooklyn, and some pretty awesome acts of fire eating, lyra, silks and even skateboarding! This is the kind of place that really deserves your support, I'm not just saying that because it's where I take trapeze classes :)

All images on this site are ©Christina Marney. Please do not copy, re-post or reproduce these images without my prior permission.

Tara Mc Manus, The Girl on Fire.