Two cute farm mousers!

We recently acquired two farm cats to help alleviate mice from building nests in our tractor and rabbits from chewing wires on our car.  Yes, it was rabbits!  We drove to church one night and the car was not running right.  The next day my husband opened the hood and out jumps a rabbit!  Needless to say, my husband was convinced we now needed cats!  Boy, was I happy!  I love animals and now I have a couple more that I can spoil and enjoy capturing their cuteness!!!  I teased the black and white one by opening the screen door a bit and just adore the image below where he is sticking his paw through the screen.  I've named that photo "cat burglars."  You can see the gray cat in the background of that image keeping watch like a real burglar! The last image of the grey cat shows his loving personality.  He is the most lovable cat I have ever met.  If you are a cat lover like me, I know you will enjoy the images I've included below.... :)

A trail of dust, a muddy horse, and a laughing donkey

It felt good to finally get outside during our spring weather and take pictures of our happy animals as they they were let out into the pasture.  Both the horses splashed in the pond and got wet, but Ace decided to roll in the dirt after he got out so he got pretty muddy!  I had a hay day capturing our babies as they enjoyed their new found freedom!  Jane, one of the donkeys, was having so much fun you can see her laughing below! :)  I picked out my favorites from the photography excursion and have included them for your viewing pleasure!

Aerial view of Arizona landscape

I recently flew to Phoenix, Arizona, to attend my first Imaging USA. Imaging USA is the largest annual convention and expo organized by pro photographers, for pro photographers.  I traveled light so I didn't take my DSLR camera, but my little Canon G9.  I had never seen the mountains of Arizona and was awed by the rugged beauty of the landscape.  These images were perfect fits for black and white so I converted my favorites and have included them for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

A laughing horse :)

Ace was not actually laughing, but it sure looks like he was!  I was seated on the ground prepared to take photos of Ace so I could get the pretty blue sky in the background when he started making funny faces at me.  He is such a sweetheart!  Hopefully you get a good laugh from these images!

A flower garden in Branson

We took a short trip to Branson the first week of September and stayed at the Savannah House hotel.  The only images I photographed while in Branson were the flowers in their flower garden.  It wouldn't be a vacation if I didn't have some images to show for it.  I've included the beautiful flowers for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!!!

Their last and only professional portrait!

It's the final day that our four cattle are with us at the Smith Ranch before going to the sale barn.  It's a beautiful sunny September morning and a perfect day for outside portraits.  I grabbed my wide-angle lens and camera and headed out to the corral to have some fun.  The cattle have no clue that they are probably getting their last and only professional portrait!  They think I'm bringing them a treat.  They get very close to me with cute expressions on their face.  I have included my favorites from their session for you to get a good laugh!  Enjoy!!!

Horsing around

I was petting Reese Cup at the fence when Ace who is the boss of the pasture came up.  Reese turned to Ace and it looked like she was saying, "You're still the boss."  They get along so much better now than they used to.  Thank God for rain this season as they have been having their fill of pasture grass.  They look so strong and muscular!  Reese Cup's coat turned a pretty brown color this summer. I looked up her color and it officially called "dark bay."

 The image below was actually the first shot taken but I wanted to put the intimate one first.  Reese Cup saw me and decided to come over to me.

 Here she is hoping I had a treat but instead gets a closeup portrait taken.  She is being distracted as right after this shot she gallops over to our new neighbors who have two horses.

 She is galloping over to the neighbors next door to spend time with their horses.

Ace decides to join her.  Here he is starting to trot.

 Ace is galloping over now.  If you look closely, you can see Reese communicating with the neighbor's horse in the top center of this image below.