CRT monitors, LCD monitors, and Rescue Dogs

My beloved CRT monitor died--it had been threatening to go out on me for a couple of years but it held on longer than I could have hoped. It was HUGE. I loved that monitor because I felt I'd really gotten the gamma settings just right on it. I felt confident that my photos were being edited properly--that the color and contrast was coming out well. But now I have this new LCD monitor and it isn't made for photo editing. It's made for watching movies and playing games. Trying to set the gamma on it and get the color and contrast just right is almost pointless. It makes everything look more vibrant, the colors are more rich, everything is over-saturated. Which is just great if you are playing a video game. But it sucks for photo editing.

It was a fairly inexpensive monitor and I needed a replacement monitor pretty bad. It was all I could afford, but I have lost all editing confidence. Until I can afford a monitor calibrator so I can have faith in my photo editing again, well, who knows how my photos are coming out. So I beg your forgiveness on how these may look.

I also haven't been out to shoot anything since getting back from California. Not having a monitor I have any faith in has been a real de-motivator. But yesterday was SO nice. And, since I broke down and adopted a rescue dog from Hound Haven of San Antonio, I was eager to take her for a walk on the farm.

Meet Iniga (named after the character Inigo Montoya from the movie "Princess Bride"). Hound Haven called her Penney but we wanted to give her a new name when we got her.

She has the doggie version of alopecia and while it's not evident in these photos, she has less than half the amount of hair she should have. Which means she sheds less than half the amount of hair than another dog like herself! She came from one of those horrible backyard breeders who claimed she had mange and wasn't a purebred Italian Greyhound--that she thought Iniga was actually part Chihuahua. I have trouble believing the breeder's Chi's and Iggies got mixed up. I mean, if that had happened wouldn't Iniga have some siblings at Hound Haven too? Anyway, we think she's purebred but with some recessive traits that make her an undesirable purebred Iggie--which is most likely why the breeder really gave her up--she knew she could never make any money on her. Iniga didn't have mange, her alopecia (caused by CDA in her case) was just evident when she was a puppy. She was also infested with fleas and had dermatitis as a result so she was in bad shape when Hound Haven got her.

We're crazy in love with her batty ears. One is always up and the other is always bent forward. It gives her this goofy but irresistibly cute look.

She weighs about 27 lbs., I'd hoped to get a slightly smaller dog. Italian Greyhounds are typically around 10 lbs. but in Texas, for some reason, they are bred bigger.

At the farm yesterday she didn't do too bad. She's still adjusting to her new life. But at one point Iniga and I were standing outside the car and I had her attached to me at the waist on a retractable leash. I was taking photos of some cattle. Next thing I know Iniga leaps (very gracefully) through the open car window to hide from those big fat cheeky bulls (cows, really). She didn't care for them much at all.

She's full of quirks and is a bit neurotic. So she fits in perfectly with us.

The clouds were just awesome yesterday. I HAD to go out and try and shoot something.

We've had some rains AND we've finally got a large portion of the farm under irrigation! WOOT! This is a big deal for us. And the cows are pretty happy about it too.

Doesn't this calf look like it's part hog?

We don't really get much of a winter, the second we've got some moisture and the temperatures stay above 32 in the mornings, it becomes spring in Brackettville. There are all manner of things blossoming.

Ah, the Mountain Laurel. Varying in shades from the palest, almost white lavender to deep purples. And the smell! Like grape flavored Fun Dip candy!

These wonderful yellow blossoms are blanketing huge areas of the county, it's quite lovely.

The Mountain Laurel tree below doesn't look so impressive. None of the ones on the farm do, but the ones in town are laden with purple. Cascades of purple, honestly! They're the ones that get fertilizer and daily watering. Such a beautiful tree--well tended or not. And, yes, it can be called a tree but most people consider it a shrub.

I found the root below growing in various places on the farm. Reminds me of armadillo armor.

And that's a peek at the beginning of spring in Kinney County. It won't last long. Soon it will be summer and, unless we are very fortunate and get lots of rain, the entire county will turn brown and dead looking until the change of seasons brings us more moisture. But for now, it's green and lush and colorful. The cows are happy. I hear hummingbirds are being spotted. And there's every color of flower imaginable out there blossoming. Just gorgeous.

Our Babies

Life has been incredibly busy lately and I haven't had much free time to shoot. A few weeks ago I did get to run out and shoot Our Babies. I shot nothing remarkable, but it at least got me used to the new camera. Plus we need some kind of system to keep track of who is who and how they're progressing so I wanted to photograph them. We'll be selling them online eventually anyway. They're doing really well, by the way, fat and happy.

Photographing them is important to me as I need to learn #112 from #57, and so on and so forth. Somehow we got two #7's. Guess we'll call them the twins.

So in this entry you can see a few shots of our babies and get an idea of what our grass farm looks like at the moment--pasture after pasture full of turned earth and piles of recently "grubbed" trees.

We have some nice woodsy areas preserved near the creek which flows constantly along the border of Pinto Farm. We had hoped Dolly would dump a few inches on us but, alas, we've had nary a drop today. So sad. Just a few inches of rain would turn our whole place green. It would be heaven to have a bunch of rain dumped on our recently cleared pastures!

We're getting a little help from the state to clear the property and we're taking full advantage of it. It's exciting to see the pastures being cleared of trees that shouldn't be there in the first place. Don't feel sorry for all the trees that are getting ripped up. The great, big, old oaks are all quite safe. It's the mesquite and cat's claw we're removing, for the most part. Didja know Mesquite Isn't Even Native To Texas? Crazy, huh?

This shot with the barbed wire made me happy, the camera focused on the post instead of the bull and I got a kinda sorta neat shot of a spider web. Okay, it's not remarkable but, hey, it was cool to me. Especially considering the distance I was from both the fence and the animal. It gives me a clue of what this camera is capable of.


When they see us, they come running in hopes of getting a little treat. It can be a little intimidating if you aren't used to it!







We're fortunate not to have to buy water for the farm. Artesian wells under the property will provide enough water for our grass farming operation.

Faces

Click to see Clovenfield in its entirety

So THAT'S why everyone shoots horses that way!

Got Corn?

I've often seen large beasties shot this way. I never gave much thought as to why, just figured it was the thing to do. But I've never shot horses or cattle close up so I didn't know.... these animals don't give you much choice about this particular shot. If they're even remotely comfortable around humans and if they think you might have a bucket of corn hiding behind you somewhere, then they're going to keep coming at you and there you are, madly trying to shoot their serene and precious faces with their big wet eyes but they're still moving and by the time they finally stop (just out of arm's reach) this is pretty much the only shot you're gonna get.

More of these cloven hooved beasties.