Bear - a handsome Mutt!

After we met Roxie and had some ice cream in Downtown Northport on Sunday we walked over to the park. My aunt wanted some quality time with the kids on the tire swing.

This was fine since it led to my meeting Bear. Bear is a very handsome and yet quiet mutt, although it is easy to see how they came up with his name. He is a bigggggg dog. According to his dad - he is part Chow and part Pyrnese mountain dog. Personally I think he might have a little German Shepherd in him too - he has the look in the face.

He is about 10 years old (if my memory serves me correctly) and has a relatively new human brother - about a year and a half old whom he loves.

Bear posed with a quiet dignity for me and let me get 2 good portraits of him.

D300, 18-200mm VR, 42mm, f/4.5, 1/320s, ISO 400
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Roxie – Bernese Mountain Dog

The whole family went to Northport NY on Sunday to see my Aunt and Uncle. In the afternoon we went for ice cream downtown. Northport has quite a few places to buy the food of the gods and as we were walking through downtown we passed the Northport Tasting Room & Wine Cellar and that's where we ran into Roxie.

Roxie is an absolutely gorgeous dog who was lazing by the window. I always thought Bernese mountain dogs were almost as large as St Bernards so I figured Roxie was a puppy. Of course I was wrong. She is a beautiful 3 year old although a little on the small side. Doogie came in with me to meet Roxie and they both behaved very well.

Roxie has her bed right by the window of the Tasting Room and she seems happy to meet all the customers. She was extremely friendly and I even got a kiss from her. Roxie, although very photogenic, had no desire to sit still - to busy being friendly but I did manage to get a few good photos of her.

If you happen to be in Northport and need a bottle of wine or just want to pop into to say hi to Roxie or Matthew the owner of the Northport Tasting Room & Wine Cellar I am sure they would be happy to meet you.

D300, 18-200mm, 34mm, 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 200, Flash
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Best way to hunt a deer, for photos that is!

Friday morning I was up early and off to work before the sun rose. I watched it come up and almost stopped on the highway 3 different times to take some photos of it cresting the horizon but I had to be at work bright and early so I kept going. I still managed to get to my exit early and decided to take a quick detour to Sunset Lake in Bridgewater.

For those of you that don't know, I drive a hybrid - to be more specific a Toyota Prius. The Prius is really cool because at speeds less than 30 miles an hour it has a tendency to turn the engine off and use the electric motor. I found a spot to park and glided up and imagine my surprise when I saw a deer maybe 25 feet away. Her ears didn't even twitch. The silent mode of the car took her completely unawares. Of course, I then made my first mistake, I turned the car off. The smarter thing would have been to just open the window and shoot pictures of her from there. (The windows are electric - they Don't work with the engine off)

I decided to be a little braver and got out of the car without closing the door. She pricked her ears at the sound of me getting out and gave me the first shot.

D300, 70 - 300mm VR, 260mm, f/5.6, 1/30s, ISO 800
Click image for a larger view

She didn't like the camera noise but slowly started moving through the woods and since I wasn't moving at all she kept going. She grabbed something to eat but kept her eye on me. When she stopped and looked through the opening in the trees I grabbed my second opportunity.

D300, 70 - 300mm VR, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO 800
Click image for a larger view

I love the way the trees frame this shot. I definitely recommend a hybrid for sneaking up on animals. It makes it much easier.

Dinner in my back yard

Sunday afternoon, after the thunder storms passed through Wanaque, guess who decided to come for dinner. There was a tasty tree with some low hanging branches that she just couldn't resist. The photo was shot through a closed window.

D300, 18-200mm VR, 150mm, f/5.6, ISO 720, 1/10s

My new best friend

We hit Santa's Village today and had a lot of fun as a family although we were pretty tired after yesterday. Katie had to hit the roller coaster 9 times today and I managed every single one with her. Let's just say my back aches a little bit.

Who knew when I went that I was going to meet my new best friend. The good news is that Doogie hasn't found out yet - the bad news is when he does. On the other hand I am not sure that my new friend has anything to worry about - and he has the same spot on the top of his head as Doogie where he likes to be pet.