Some of Our Favorite Photos on #PhotographyDay aka #WorldPhotoDay

Logo stolen from the World Photo Day website

What is World Photo Day?

"From everyday life to incredible landscapes, our global gallery is an evolving mosaic of images captured by photographers of all skills levels living in a diverse range of countries and cultures.

No matter who you are, where you are or what equipment and skills you have, World Photo Day can help open your eyes to the possibilities of photography, and enable you show us the world as you see it."

I never have, (nor will I probably EVER) consider myself to be a Photography pro. One of my goals with this blog since I first started blogging in 2009 was to improve the quality of my photos.  I would say I am accomplishing that, but it remains a work in progress.  My photos are nowhere near where I would like them to be, but do I take some semblance of pride in a number of them that have appeared (particularly one that was a BlogPaws photo finalist in 2015), YES!!

This photo appeared January 7, 2015

  When I was a new blogger, (and sometimes even now), I would find myself feeling intimidated that I didn't have some fancy, over-the-top-expensive equipment to make my photos the best that they could be. I would find myself apologizing for photos that might be somewhat inferior in the aspect of their technical professionalism. What I often fail to acknowledge, (and I have a feeling that YOU are the same, is that often it isn't the technique that is the most important aspect of a photo, it is the EMOTION that is evoked from a MOMENT that has been captured. A moment that will NEVER happen again), to me, that is what matters most.)

From Days Of The Year:

"the medium is never as important as the memory or moment caught" 

Many of us, including ME, need to focus (pun intended), on that thought. STOP feeling intimidated by others who take photos that you feel are superior to yours. STOP being ashamed that you take photos with your phone, (that is why there are a plethora of photo sites that have been created that can help you take your photos to a whole other level! My all time favorite and most-used, because in my opinion it is the most user-friendly and easiest to figure out for those who are less technologically gifted, as I am,  is Ribbet. But there are those that swear by picmonkey and pizap just to name a couple more.). STOP APOLOGIZING FOR YOUR PHOTOS!!! KEEP LEARNING! KEEP STRIVING TO IMPROVE!!

In that spirit, I would first like to share with you some of my favorite photos that I have taken that have appeared on Instagram, some are pet-related some are not, what is important is that I have posted things that interest me and that I LOVE! (TIP: Contrary to popular belief, I do not think that your Instagram account or your Pinterest account have to be just about pets, even if you are a pet blogger. I know I do not follow the popular belief, but to me, I prefer following people with a bevy of interests rather than those who post just one thing.....just sayin' You will see the same thing reflected in my own favorite Instagram photos below. With 6.1k followers on Pinterest, I think I know what I am talking about!)

Follow me on Instagram!!

Tip for Photographing Pets


Believe me, even after having come a heck of a long way with my photographic "skills", I often seek out tips from others who take photographs that I admire. I recently saw this on My Pawsitively Pets and received some great ideas for items I could use as photo backdrops for photographing my boys!

Visit the original post here

Whether you consider yourself to be a photography professional, armed with enough lenses and cameras to open your own store, or if you are more like me, a "grab-my-phone-take-50-of-the-same-photo-and-pray-you-get-one-good-one" kind of a person, who then dashes off to their favorite photo editing site praying they can edit it into something usable, the main thing is to STOP beating yourself over your photo quality (or the lack thereof), and HAVE FUN!!!! (Yes, that was a run-on sentence,  and I apologize, but I feel strongly about this!!  I am tired of feeling as if my photos are inferior and many of YOU should be tired of feeling that way as well!!!) I have seen many, many photos that I view as being superb from those who think they have the photographic skills of a flea and some truly "meh" photos from those who tout their expertise to anyone and everyone who will listen!!!! Just HAVE FUN!!!

Hoping you enjoy this compilation of some of my favorite photos that have appeared on our blog.

Are they superior photo quality images? No. Is an emotion evoked when you look at a number of these photos? I would have to say yes.....I might be biased, but I feel that most of you will find even just one that strikes an emotional chord. Which one is it? Let me know below, then go and take some pawesome photos of your pets, your food, YOUR LIFE and have a blast doing it!!


Happy Photography/World Photo Day!!

Twitter Turns 10 On March 21st! What Was YOUR #FirstTweet !?

While watching the Today Show yesterday morning I learned that Twitter is turning 10!!!!!!  (on March 21st).

Back in  2009, I was encouraged by many to join Twitter which I fought tooth and nail! (I normally embrace change, but I am often slow to jump on the bandwagon pertaining to certain issues, it often takes much prodding for me to try a new social media platform.  I fought Instagram tooth and nail too until I finally gave in. I still have issues with it lol.)

I finally relented.  I remember for MONTHS feeling as if  I would never have any followers. I thought Twitter was ridiculous, now 6577 followers later on Cody's Twitter handle, and almost 3000 on Dakota's, (Dakota didn't join Twitter until 2011),  I am singing tweeting a different tune.

While many sing the praises of Facebook, I have made many of my most lucrative, important, (and more importantly, ENDURING), connections/relationships, on Twitter. (I find Facebook to be more of a "look at me, like me" forum which I often view with disdain.)

Wonder What Your First Tweet Was?

I did!! Contrary to what Cher says, you CAN "turn back time", you can see YOUR first tweet!!  I am sooo embarrassed that my first Tweet was to Ellen DeGeneres (whom I never tagged because I had no clue as to how!) And here it is!!

Is that hilarious or what?

What struck me as strange though, was I could have sworn I didn't join Twitter until AFTER I began blogging. I began blogging in October of 2009, and the date of my first tweet is March 2009. If I didn't have a blog, I am thinking my first user name had to have been different (I can't remember), because "Cat Chat" didn't exist. Regardless, I cracked up laughing when I found out my first tweet was to Ellen. I must have been watching her show that day, and she probably encouraged people to join Twitter and follow her. I am betting that is what it was.

Back in the "old" days, I was "live" on Twitter much more than I am now. I share my posts and the posts of others, I am big on tweeting quotes, photos of food and other things that strike my fancy. I tend to not do what others preach that we do, "just tweeting pet information" since my handle is pet related. I function the same with Pinterest, and have had success NOT doing things the way we are "supposed"  to.

I enjoy tweeting things that are a reflection of my diverse interests, I'm not one-dimensional, and just tweeting about pets or just pinning pets would pigeon-hole me. I love having followers that aren't necessarily actively involved in the pet world. By tweeting/pinning things that reflect all of my interests, I have found that many who end up following me, might have been interested by a tweet or a pin that wasn't pet related, and they end up having a cat or a dog (or whatever). It turns out being a "win-win."  When I follow people on Twitter I am intrigued by those who tweet a variety of topics,  and I think that many feel the same when deciding whom to follow.

It is mind-boggling to me that ten years have passed so quickly, will Twitter enjoy another ten years? It remains to be seen.  I do know that I myself and many others owe Twitter a world of THANKS!! Keep on Tweetin' on!!!!!


ARE YOU ON TWITTER? List your Twitter name in the comments so myself and others can be sure we are following you!