How To: Reflections on the Beach

One of my favorite pictures of my dogs is standing on the beach, with their reflection clear, bright, and colorful below them. This particular photo is easier to get than you might think.




The key to getting a good reflection picture is all about the angles. But first, you must find somewhere with a soaking wet beach. Going down as the tide is going out is the best idea, both for a nice wet patch of sand and for safety. You should always be facing toward the water. If possible, make sure you go with an extra person to keep an eye on the waves. At least in my area, "sneaker waves" that are much larger, faster, and stronger than the normal waves are common. If they catch you off guard, they are dangerous. This is important because a lot of people, when taking pictures, will often tune out the world around them and only pay attention to what is in the view finder.


Now that you have an idea in your head of where you want to go, you need to get up early in the morning and get to the beach by sunrise. As I said above, the reflection in the picture is all about angles; specifically, two angles are important. The angle between the sun and the beach, and the angle between you and the dog. The second angle you can alter some yourself by moving closer or farther away, or by crouching down. The first one, you need to just get to the beach early enough to use the natural angle of the sun to your advantage.


I actually waited what I consider too long before trying for a reflection picture on this particular trip. These pictures were taken close to an hour and a half after sun rise on the beach, which meant that to get the proper angles, I had to stand farther away, use my zoom lens to get close up, then crouch down to again increase the angle between me and the dog's reflection on the beach. You will have better luck shooting these when the first full sunlight hits the beach in the early morning.



Once you are down at the beach at sunrise and have a nice wet patch of ground, start looking for that reflection. You will notice places where it is clearer than others. Move around, and let your dogs just wander or play, and pay attention to the ground beneath them to see if they are playing with reflections coming right along with them.

If you see the reflections, bring up the camera and start shooting! You don't have to pose your dog for a good reflection picture. Make sure you keep both the dog and the reflection fully in the frame. This can be hard at first because unless you are consciously thinking about it, it is easy to default back to framing just the dog, and you will miss the reflections you were aiming for in the first place.





























Trouble shooting: The reflection isn't very clear. Try one of two things. Back up, or get lower to the ground. Sometimes, you may need to do both, such as shooting slightly later in the morning when the sun's angle is higher. Both of these methods will increase your angle in relation to the water on the ground, creating a clearer reflection.

If you are still having trouble, take a break from taking pictures. Make sure to have fun on the beach with your dog. Walk around. Notice where the beach is wet and where your dog has a nice reflection. Try taking a few pictures there, remembering to keep both the dog and the reflection in the frame. Keep trying in different places until you and your dog are tired and ready to head home (or head for some breakfast!). If your dog will pose for you, place them in a stand-stay in a place clear of rocks or shells on the ground that gives good, clear reflections.

I almost always shoot towards the ocean for these shots. Since I am on the West coast, that means I am shooting away from the sun. Someone on the East coast will need to let me know if it works shooting toward the sun or not.

Paw painting

Just a quick little project that may be fun for the upcoming warm, dry days of spring and summer.

Supplies: One package of non-toxic, washable finger paints; white paper or poster board; Dog

I just used my hands to rub some paint onto each of Pallo's feet, then used his favorite toy to lure him to walk over the paper. I reapplied the colors a few times to get more paint on the large poster board.



I also did this project with Koira, but had so much paint on my own hands that I was afraid to touch my camera for any pictures!

To wash the dogs off afterwards, I dunked their feet in a container of water, swished them around a little, then played fetch in the wet grass until the paint was gone. Pallo had some minor staining on his toe fur that has lasted for a few days, but Koira washed completely clean.

(Note: Make sure not to let the paint dry on your dog's feet and to watch closely to prevent your dog from ingesting any of the paint. Clean your dog off quickly afterwards.)

Pool Alterations

So, after using the pool a total of three different times for two different dogs (Pallo only did the pool once, Koira went three times), I have decided some adaptations are needed for this project to work long-term.

First off, I need a way to drain the pool safely without overflowing the water. So, I need to install a drain valve in the plastic in a place that lines up with the bath tub drain.

Second, I will be picking up a thicker plastic to line this with. The pool developed a hole when Koira snagged a nail (which are trimmed and dremmelled) and needed to be drained to stop the leak (it was a slow, small leak, so not too much water ended up outside the tub). As a reminder, I had picked up 3.5 mil plastic to try out with this project. I will be aiming for something more like 8-10 mil plastic next time.

Third, I will be making lightweight booties for the dogs to wear while in the pool. They shouldn't effect the dogs' ability to swim, but will help protect the pool lining from nail tears. Simple solution to a potentially troublesome problem. (And a solution I didn't think of by myself. Check out Kennedy over at Danes Can Q, who suggested the booties to me.)

Bathtub to Dog Therapy Pool

I decided to just go for it and spent the afternoon converting my bathtub into an indoor therapy pool for my dog to swim in.

When I arrived at the hardware store with Koira along, we spent some time doing obedience training in the new, distracting environment.

I also took a look at the materials I thought I needed, to price them out.



In the process of pricing out materials, I realized my original plan involving lots of pieces of 2x4 and 1x12 was overly complicated. Instead, I had them cut up two lengths of 2x12 into two pieces 48" long and two pieces at 36" long (which ended up being a few inches wider than necessary). I also picked up a box of ring shank nails (which basically go in the wood but are impossible to get back out) and a large 3.5 mil plastic drop cloth to use as a plastic liner.



I went home, had some lunch, and then got started. I basically just nailed the 36" pieces to the ends of the 48" pieces in a large rectangle. It looks a lot like a raised garden bed- literally a large rectangle, 12" high. I placed the rectangle on top of the bath tub. Then I pulled the plastic out, doubled it in half (which took some arguing with it), and laid it down lining the entire bath tub and tucked up around the wooden surround.



Then I filled it with water (holding my breath hoping it didn't leak) and tossed the dog in.



And it works! Pallo firmly believes it is a new torture device meant to make his life as miserable as possible (but then, he is a terrible swimmer and tends to dislike going in water anyway).



Koira doesn't exactly seem to enjoy it, and is pretty frantic to get back out once she grabs her ball, but she doesn't seem to hate the pool, and was wildly jealous of Pallo being in it during his turn.




ETA: I didn't post the total project price originally. Total cost for materials was $29. I spent about 30 minutes putting it together (not counting the time it took to fill up with water). When you consider that I drive 40 minutes each way and pay $25 for Koira's swim therapy once a week, this project is well worth the price and time investment, and will hopefully be a great way to help improve her muscle tone safely.

DIY Photo Canvas

I've been seeing tutorials all over the internet lately about how to make a DIY photo canvas. Since I currently have two canvases (professionally made), and have been wanting to expand my wall, I decided to give this DIY project a shot.

I picked up a set of three blank 8x10 canvases at Ross for $4.99. Using two coupon codes, I was able to order three 8x10 photo prints for a grand total of $2.99 for all three (the codes each let me order one free 8x10 when done in two separate transactions, so I only paid for one of the prints). Instead of purchasing Mod Podge, as most tutorials instruct, I used a DIY mod podge tutorial to make my own, total cost $1, with a ton left over. With the purchase of disposable paint brushes, this project totals in at $9.98 for three canvases.

Make-your-own mod podge is basically just a matter of mixing white glue half and half with water, or until you reach your desired consistency. Since I have never used or seen the real stuff, I just sort of guessed based on the descriptions I've seen online.

Then I took my canvases one at a time and covered them with the paste.

 I used a thinly applied layer that I was sure fully covered the canvas, paying special attention to the edges and corners. I then carefully laid the picture on top of the pasted-up canvas, and used a piece of flat, rigid cardboard to smooth the photo down. Then, I covered the photo with another layer of paste. One of the things that makes a photo canvas unique is the texture of the finished piece, and I am hoping that the layer of paste over the top will give them some of that texture.

 Here are the canvases all pasted up but still drying. Do as I say, not as I do, and lay these out flat to dry, otherwise you will get runny glue drip lines over the front of your photo canvas. (I fixed the ones on the cat picture by just running the paintbrush across again, since it was still wet.)

While I am positive they will not compare upon close inspection with my professional photo canvases, I think that for the price, they are certainly worth making. Especially considering that to have an 8x10 photo canvas printed up generally starts at $30 and goes up from there. So at $10 for three, I am saving $80 on this art work. That is eight flyball practices or four flyball tournaments (figuring that we normally end up paying between $16 and $20 per dog per day).

I will see how these ones hold up once hung on the wall. If they work well, I will be sure to be repeating this project with more photos, especially if I can get some good flyball pictures of my dogs or team.

Making a bath tub into a dog swimming pool

So, crazy idea. My dog is injured. Or rather, recovering from an injury. And swimming is one of the best ways to get her some exercise, get her working her shoulder, tire her out, and build back the lost muscle mass and stamina. Problem is, it is winter, making it too cold to swim her outside in a lake or river. There is a great place that does canine water therapy, but it is a 40 minute drive, has very limited hours during which I am normally working, and costs a LOT every time we go.

So, crazy idea. Why not make my bathtub into a swimming workout area for my dog? It would be indoors, have warm water, and be relatively easy to clean up. Only problem, really, is that the bathtub is too shallow for my dog to have to swim.

The idea then is to build a wooden frame to sit on top of the sides of the bath tub. This wooden frame would then have a pool liner attached to it that lines the whole bathtub and extended top area. I would use the shower head to fill it with the appropriate amount of water.

Obviously the bathtub is not large enough for a dog to swim around in, so I would have to rig some kind of a system to put the dog in a harness, hook the harness to the wall, and then encourage the dog to swim in place using treats, toys, and praise.

So, crazy idea? Or awesome project?