This is a compilation of the photos I took throughout April (Weeks Fourteen through Seventeen). I’ve decided in the beginning of last week that, since I started falling behind, that it may be easier to compile the last four weeks into one master post.
Since these the entire month of April was dedicated to taking pictures of the dog, it makes sense, and makes it a little easier on myself as I find my rhythm again.
*~- WEEK FOURTEEN -~*
April 2nd – 8th
Meet Jazmyn! I’ve gone this far without revealing her name, but since this whole month is about her, why not introduce her properly? So here’s my chihuahua mix; we’re told she’s a chihuahua-pekingese mix – who clearly got way more of the chihuahua side than the pekingese side. But we’ve heard from dog trainers and other people that she looks like she may have some rat terrier in her. We tried a Dog DNA test on her when she was still a puppy… it wasn’t very helpful.
We got her seven years ago from a member of our church. Story goes, that the mother of this family had gone to a party – where they had a liter of puppies. The mother couldn’t resist this “little guy” and ended up bring her home. Her daughter of all people was the one who declared that they couldn’t have anymore pets in their home (they had a bit of animal house going on – dogs, reptiles, a cat – who had just had a liter of kittens – etc.)
The daughter advertises on Facebook about free kittens and a puppy. My mom comes across this post, sees an image of the puppy, and falls in love at first sight. Of course, I’m on board! I’ve always wanted a dog. We picked her up the same day Mom saw the post. We had been under the impression that it was boy dog, so we were looking up names on the drive there. We settled on Jake, and for two days, we called her Jake… until Mom began to question her gender. Turns out, she had a hernia on her stomach that had been mistaken for boy parts. Once that was cleared up, her name changed to Jazmyn – which is something Mom always wanted to use if we ever got a dog – and the rest was history!
Going into this first dog dedicated week, all I knew was that I didn’t want this to become too repetitive. I also wanted to begin to show you a bit of my dog’s personality and little quirks that I’ve grown to love so much. Sure, a lot of them were taken in my room, but that just so happens to be where I spend most my time, and since Jazmyn hangs out where I am… it’d just be easier to get her where she’s most comfortable. Right?
*~- WEEK FIFTEEN -~*
April 9th – 15th
This week, I wanted to do all black and white images. So that’s exactly what I did.
*~- WEEK SIXTEEN -~*
April 16th – 22nd
It was during this week that I realized a pattern: on nights where I come home from work (usually between 6:30p and 9p during this particular week), I grab my camera and just point it at the dog and hope for the best.
I had to start using a higher ISO and a flash in hopes get my camera to cooperate, but even still, there are times where my camera still insists there’s not enough light and the pictures don’t come out as well as I’d like. I settle for the best one of the group just so I have something to post for the day. But I begin to wonder if this mindset becomes visible through the photos. I won’t point them out, I’ll let you guys decide.
*~- WEEK SEVENTEEN -~*
April 23rd – 29th
This last week I wanted the pictures to be a bit more silly, to follow in suit with what I captured on Monday. I had only half threw the ball to try to keep her attention, and was just snapping her reaction, and she made that smiley/surprised look! It made me laugh, and it’s now my brother’s new favorite picture of Jazmyn. (He has it on his lock screen of his phone to laugh at whenever he picks up his phone.)
My other brother was telling me to get a picture of her yawning, so I managed to get that on Tuesday. The rest were just other cute things I managed to grab… until Friday. Once again, I worked that natural lighting look I had going was set aside to pull out the flash and the high ISO. It was a little more difficult to keep her interested later in the evening as well. The last image of the week (Sunday) was her stretching her neck as she slept the air as dinner was getting served.
And with that, we wrap up with April! It’s been an interesting month for sure. Taking pictures of the dog is pretty easy for the most part, especially when I bribe her with treats. I’m hoping I succeeded just a little in bringing out her personality a bit; of course, I didn’t post any of her barking, that’s something she does a lot too. I took some, but they never made it cut. If you want to see those, feel free to check out my Flickr page! All extras have been posted here.
I apologize for not keeping up with the weekly promise I made, and I hope monster post this suffices. I’ll try my hardest to get back on the ball for next week, since we’re going back to our regular weekly (maybe themes) system, now that May is here. So, check back to see how what I have in store.
Until next time!
❤️ – T.
Obscura Tea 