October in Bruno’s project saw lots of autumn colours and cuddles for the big guy. He does love the cool fall weather.
Fall Portrait
This photo is of Bruno having a good old fashioned lie down in the park. In his defense it was a three minute walk to this spot and a couple of people did talk to him on the way there.
Dave: Alright Bruno, lets go out and do a fall portrait of you in the park with the fog in the background.
Bruno: Did you bring cookies?
Dave: Yup, a whole bag full.
Bruno: Then the answer is an enthusiastic yes!
Dave: Alright, lets get you to sit in a right handsome pose by this tree.
Bruno: Got it.
Dave: Uh Bruno, if you’ve got it then why are you lying down?
Bruno: You said it was a fall portrait so I fell over.
Dave: Dude, can we try it sitting?
Bruno: Nope. I prefer my version. It requires less effort. And it is a fall portrait.
Dave: You are of course aware that “fall portrait” refers to the season with all of the brightly coloured leaves and has nothing to do with your body position.
Bruno: Dude, do you seriously think I’m going to fall for that line? Now for the next part of this portrait lets get some of those cookies to fall into my mouth.
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Story Time
My daughter Julia loves reading her puppies. This window bench in the kitchen is very desirable real estate in our house often filled with children reading, puppies lounging or a combination of the two.
This shot was inspired by the work of Theron Humphrey. He is an amazing photographer, and many of his images involve close contact with his pup Maddie, a wide DOF , bright images with a saturated colour palate. He often uses a POV from straight above and many of his shots are from the kitchen. His dog is adorable too.
Bruno: Hey Julia, thanks for having us up here with you for story time.
Julia: You’re welcome. I love reading and being surrounded by my puppies.
Bruno: Yup it is good. But can I make a request for next time?
Julia: What’s that? Do you want it to be just you up here?
Bruno: Nope. Freckles and new puppy are welcome as long as I keep getting the best spot.
Julia: Well then what is it?
Bruno: I was thinking of a different book.
Julia: Really? Would you prefer something with a golden retriever as the hero?
Bruno: No need for that. My sense of self worth is pretty well established and I don’t need a book to reinforce it.
Julia: A cook book then?
Bruno: Nope. Those just take a long time to get to the eating part.
Julia: What then?
Bruno: A Lifesaver’s book.
Julia: The sweet story book that Santa brings us humans at Christmas filled with rolls of lifesavers?
Bruno: Yup. It’s a really good book.
Julia: Interesting.
Bruno: Interesting and yummy. But the plot does admittedly have a few holes in it. Maybe you could fill the sweet story book with pepperoni and then we could all enjoy it together.
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Leaves
This next shot was a last minute photo taken just before sunset on Sunday afternoon. I really didn’t have much of a plan, but then I noticed this tree and thought shooting through the leaves could be fun. In the end it was quite well received and he is even Mr. September in the WCVM 2018 calendar because of it.
Dave: Lovely day for a walk Bruno.
Bruno: It sure is. And thank you for taking me out for a walk and snacks.
Dave: Snacks? Are you talking about those dog treats that I brought for the walk?
Bruno: Partly. But mainly I was talking about these delectable leaves.
Dave: Bruno, we’ve talked about this many time. You are not supposed to eat leaves.
Bruno: Oh, but I am. It’s right in their name.
Dave: How is it in their name that they are delectable and should be eaten.
Bruno: Because all leaves are delicious.
Dave: I’m not following. Are you talking about salad?
Bruno: Not the leaves I’m taking about. I will eat lettuce, but salad is only really good if it has bacon, eggs or cheese in it.
Dave: Well then what leaves are you talking about?
Bruno: You know, when you leave something somewhere. Like if you leave a sandwich near the edge of the table and it happens to leave the table and fall into my mouth. That is a delectable leave.
Dave: I’m not sure that…
Bruno: Or when you leave a muffin wrapper on the counter and it makes it into my mouth. Also delicious.
Dave: We do need to talk about your impulse control.
Bruno: Or when you leave new puppy outside and I get to eat her dinner.
Dave: That has never happened.
Bruno: I know. Just thought I would leave the suggestion out there for you. Now if all of these leaves could just leave the tree and make it into my mouth we’d be talking about an epic afternoon walk.
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Fall Boots
This autumn shot is continuing with a series of feet photos in Bruno’s project. Winter and Summer have been previously posted in March and July. Unfortunately I missed spring, but my son has already volunteered to do one with him wearing rubber boots in the spring.
This photo session almost never happened. The city had raked all of the leaves in the park early last week. But on Friday I noticed a small untouched pile just behind our house. But the bigger problem was a rabbit hopping out of the bushes right behind us when I had just got everyone set up for the photo. Good thing that Bruno took a while to notice it and there was no child dragging like in the winter photo.
Bruno: Hey Julia, I have something to tell you.
Julia: What’s that?
Bruno: I fall in love with you.
Julia: That’s super nice. But don’t you mean fell in love?
Bruno: Nope. I meant what I said. I definitely fall in love with you.
Julia: Thanks. But are you having trouble with your tenses or are you making a seasonal joke?
Bruno: Dude, I’m never tense. Definitely the master of chill.
Julia: Then I must complement you on your seasonal joke. Very clever.
Bruno: Yup. That’s me. Super clever. Now don’t leaf me hanging.
Julia: Leaf you hanging?
Bruno: Definitely. I said that I love you twice and you haven’t said it back yet. You can’t leaf me hanging like this. Even though I’m super chill, I’m still a retriever and us retrievers like public affirmations of how much people love them.
Julia: Oh Bruno, I do love you.
Bruno: Thanks. I be-leaf you.
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Story Time
Bruno is the most likely of our pack to join someone for a lie down in bed. Always. This last photo of October was Julia’s idea. I had other ideas that wouldn’t work because of gale force winds, but Julia came up with this perfect plan for his photo instead.
Bruno: Alright Julia. Time to read me my story.
Julia: Your story?
Bruno: Yup. I need a good bedtime story if I’m going to sleep well and feel refreshed.
Julia: But I had to wake you up to ask you if you wanted to get on the bed with me.
Bruno: See, that proves my point.
Julia: Really? I thought I proved my implied point that you don’t need a bedtime story to nap well.
Bruno: Nope. That nap was interrupted, so not refreshed. Now let’s try again, and this time lets do it with a bedtime story first.
