Best Dog Photographer in America!

Well, we knew we were going to be featured in Doggie Aficionado magazine, but imagine our surprise when we saw that our studio was chosen "Best Dog Photographer" in the country! Woo-hoo!

Fellow Savannah native Jamie Deen (of The Lady and Sons fame) is featured on the cover, so the 912 has been well represented this month.

Thank you so much to everyone for all the love and fur over the years. This is a major thrill for us. It just keeps getting better. :-)

Parker and Kristin

PS: The image that is featured is our V-Dogs portrait - you can see it on display at Intown Animal Hospital along with many more fabulous dog portraits.

Hanker for a Hunk a' Cheese

You may remember this delightfully odd video from your youth. Or, from your nightmares.

Weimaraner, Yawning

Charlotte is a real beauty of a Weimaraner. She is eight months old and the beloved dog of a local veterinarian.

I've always loved these dogs, their cleverness, their eyes, their warm gray fur and musculature. Every time you meet a Weimaraner, they make you feel good about life. Our Italian Greyhounds are sort of like mini-Weimaraners, except way more obnoxious!

Squirrel, Gone

As previously noted, squirrels seem to have a death wish. They dart out in the road, do a little dance, and try to make you squash them flat.

But my previous experience with the fuzzy tailed rodents could not prepare me for a spectacular act of squirrel suicide this past Saturday.

We were traveling down LaVista road on the way to Till's soccer game, when a crazed squirrel goes running towards the street. I saw him coming, and managed to slow down and swerve just before he leapt with geometric, kung-fu movie precision, his arc landing him at Point X on LaVista Road a nanosecond before my tire passed over it.

Gone. Stupid squirrel. Totally ruined my morning.

This is probably the sixth squirrel I've run over in my life. If you take that as the average, then multiply by the number of drivers on the road, it's a miracle there are any squirrels left.

Anyhow, here's a funny picture of a squirrel drinking beer:

Swim Team

See more over at Parker Smith Fine Art.

Tellus Museum

For a great time with the kids, head out to the top notch Tellus Natural History Museum in Cartersville. Dinosaur bones, great exhibits on sound, light, mechanics and magnetism. You can splash around while panning for gems, dig for fossils, marvel at the amazing Foucault's Pendulum, and view the amazing mineral exhibit (one of the best I've seen outside of New York and DC). They even have fossilized dinosaur poop! The boys, of course, loved it.

Separated at Birth?

Yoda's walking stick @ Serenbe

Crab claw in the asphalt @ Stone Mountain

Doggie Aficionado

We just found out that Parker Smith Portraits was one of the choices for Best Dog Photographer in Doggie Aficionado's recent online reader poll. They are rebuilding their website, but apparently we are in the October issue! Woo-hoo!

Baby J.

Fine Art Updates

Just added to the Fine Art gallery: Untitled Portraits

The Rules of Whack Bat

It's All About the Benjaminz

Hundred dolla bill, ya'll!

Serenbe, Summerville, Stone Mountain

We spent Labor day weekend bopping around Atlanta and points both South and North. Our first stop on Saturday was the lovely Serenbe community in South Fulton.

Serenbe is a 1000 acre planned community with a working organic farm, gourmet restaurants, classic homes, an inn, artist ateliers and endless walking trails. The boys enjoyed the organic market, with homemade oreo cookies, fresh berries, a drum circle. We had lunch near the dog park and wished we had brought the 'ooches. A horse Park, trampolines, gift shops. It's great.

They also have in-ground trampolines which are scattered around the area to help (safely) burn off excess boy energy! Kristin and I decided to build our second home there. :-)

On Sunday, Kristin took the boys to the new Chocolate Experience at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and I drove 90 miles up to Summerville, Georgia for the first event of this season's Georgia High School Rodeo to create more Rodeo portraits. Shooting film with a large camera, these days are always very productive for me. I see better. Five hours of looking and photographing amounted to six rolls of film, only sixty total exposures.

Here's the scene, taken with a dirty iPhone (for that trés chic LensBaby effect):

As I was packing up my equipment, there was a loud thud and cry. In the middle of an event, a young girl's horse apparently had a heart attack and fell, dead, right on top of her. It was a frightening sight. A group of men raced in and freed her. Fortunately, she was not injured, just greatly shaken. Horses are powerful animals, and I give them great respect, and distance.

Monday was T-Lo's seventh birthday, conveniently timed with a school holiday, so we went to Stone Mountain for a little play time. The boys really like the crazy climbing area called SkyHike. I found a few faces to portraitize, and we played some mini-golf.

Birthday dinner was at our new neighborhood restaurant, Napoleon's. T-Lo made his goofy face when he got his Scooby-Doo Nintendo DS game from Nana Cheri.

We finished the night at Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, and Till got a big birthday hug from the Yogurt.

Happy Birthday! What a great weekend!

Pibbles and Nibbles

We have donated our portrait of pit bulls Pibbles and Nibbles to Friends to the Forlorn, a pitbull rescue group. They are printing a calendar to sell to benefit lovely pits like P&N, sweet dogs who need a home!

Everlasting Moments

"What do you see as you look throughout the camera, Maria? You see a world to be explored, to preserve, to describe.

Those who have seen it cannot merely close their eyes. You can't turn back."

- Everlasting Moments

The film Everlasting Moments tells the story of an impoverished Swedish family in the early 1900s. The mother, Maria, wins a camera, and through the encouragement of a local portraitist, learns the art of photography.

It's about the joy and sadness of life, family and art, and how, as a photographer, you find beauty in the world against all odds. Highly recommended.

Cousins

Cousin K. was in the studio for her one year portraits when Kristin and the Monkey Boyz stopped by to visit, so we tossed them all together to make a sweet portrait for the grandparental units. It's nice to have a little girl to leaven the all-boy madness!

Mutt of the Week - Jess!

Jess is the sister of Bean, our previous M o' TW.

They were both adopted from Ruffus Rescue, who are at the Toco Hills Pet Supermarket several weekends every month, with lots of dogs and cats who need your love. Be sure to keep them in mind when you need some fur-based lovin' in your life.