Making Picture-Perfect Memories for life
Myriad memories frozen in time
For those of you who have been following my blog for a while now will remember that when we got Ruby two years back I wrote a blog and posted photo’s of her on a weekly basis.
Well Ruby is turning 2 in a weeks time and she still have a obsession with sticks. She loves it when I work in the garden and she helps her mommy by carrying away all the sticks and branches….
I took my first photo’s of Ruby when she was approx 8 weeks old. I have posted photo’s every week till she was 29 weeks old.
One of these days Ruby will be one year old and I can’t believe how time flies. She is a beautiful grown dog now and still loves chewing on old crocks and sticks. She also makes us mad with her ball. She just loves playing outside with her tennis ball. Her training is coming along great and she is very obedient. But like any child she also takes chances and when she was naughty you can see it straight away. I love Ruby to bits and cannot imagine my day without her by my side or next to my desk.
Here are a few photo’s I took of her this morning while playing fetch with her.
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For the time being I will only be posting my Ruby Tuesday photo’s over the weekend. I have so much work that I’ll have to prioritize.
I took this photo of Ruby on Tuesday morning when I took her outside.
Oh my word people I was suppose to post on Tuesday already but it completely slipped my mind. I think I have to much going on at once….
Ruby is a my Guard dog where ever I go in the house she is only a few steps behind. I was busy getting all my props together and making sure my cards are clean and batteries charged for my Photo Shoot at Bekkies and Boudjies Daycare the following day. Ruby slipped into my studio and was lying very quietly waiting for me. I promised her we would go play ball as soon as I am finished. When I walked towards my studio door Ruby dashed passed me wagging tail and all… We played a bit and then I got back to editing…
This morning I took some portrait photo’s of Ruby with my Canon 50mm lens. Reason for this the camera is lighter and it is less strain on my right hand.
When my schedule is more open I’ll go for a operation to fix the problem.
I got this one by holding Ruby’s ball rust next to my lens.
The second one was more tricky to get. She kept jumping up and losing the grip on the ball. But we got one. So proud her. 
I did not post a Ruby Tuesday post last week. Sorry for that. My right hand is suppose to rest and I’ll rather listen to the doctor this time. I need my hand to take lovely photo’s. I took this photo of Ruby on the Sunday. She went to play outside with Buddy our long legged Fox-terrier. The problem with her going outside to Buddy is the fishpond is like a magnet… Not even one minute passes and she went for a swim…
“Sleep is the best meditation.”
Dalai Lama
Last Friday I took Tekkies to the doggy parlor for a haircut. When we got home Ruby was very upset with this “new” dog. She stood a few passes back and started barking at this “new” dog. It went on for nearly a hour. I laughed so hard it was so funny. As soon as I entered the room Ruby would come and stand behind me and then she really started barking. When I took them all outside Ruby realized that it was Tekkies and only then did they started playing again.
I took Ruby outside this morning to go play with her ball. Everything were just dandy till Ruby spotted the man sitting on the pavement with his trolley. Now let me explain these people with there trolleys are up to no good and they throw out our garbage bins and just leave the garbage on the ground then move on to the next one. Some of them are also spotters for the criminal elements. So I am glad that Ruby charged him. I was not afraid that Ruby will bite the man I was afraid that Ruby run after him and a car hit her. I called her back while running after her with my camera still around my neck….
Ruby is really very intelligent and she is learning very fast. She is going to be a very good guard dog and we will train her to attack on command. This of course only for our own safety and hers.
Today I did not really have time to take allot of photo’s of Ruby. I am very busy with my studio and still have allot to do before it is finished. When I started on Sunday she was very restless and yesterday was worst. In the beginning she sit and moaned at the studio door and today I decided to put a piece of hardboard in front of the door to keep her out but she can still see me. It went better. Tonight I remembered it’s Tuesday so I grabbed my camera and took two photo’s of Ruby waiting for me in the passage. I think she will be very happy when my studio is finished.
Ruby is really growing up very fast. She is also much more protective over us. When a stranger comes closer her neck hair stands up and the her tail curls upwards. She also barks at everyone and at other dogs. I know this is also just a phase she is going through. She ‘s very alert and if she hears strange noises she goes and investigate.
She is still in love with her ball. When she gets outside she goes and sit in front of the wooden box where we keep her balls and her comb. She is not yet very keen on the brushing side of things but she will play ball all day I think. What we do now is while playing ball we brush her. She is loosing allot of fur now and this means more cleaning work for me, but I don’t mind I love her to bits.
Lizette did a photo shoot for her niece and some of the photo’s were very over exposed and others under exposed. I know from experience that in Jpg you can only correct the exposure a little bit that was when I decided that I needed to teach Lizette about RAW. Some people don’t like using RAW because you have a few extra steps of editing to do, but I love RAW and the quality of your work really takes a step up.
I took Lizette outside and Ruby and Tekkies played our models. Then I showed her the difference in quality of the photo and how to work with your RAW file.
Here are some of the photo’s I took during our lesson.
Yesterday while playing ball and taking my photo’s of Ruby for this blog post something very weird and very funny happened. Normally Ruby brings her ball straight to me so that I can throw it again. Yesterday morning she ran past me and when I looked back I just had to take photo nr 2. Sorry Ruby for intruding on your privacy…. 
We had lovely weather on Monday and yesterday so everybody enjoyed the spring sun and got our dose of Vitamin D for the day. My mom also came out and I went and fetch her a chair so that she can sit down when she wants to. My mom have not even touched the seat and Tekkies jumps up to sit on her lap….
Three weeks back this tree in our neighbors garden had no leaves only branches just look at it now….
Even Tammy decided that it’s better outside than indoors under her blanket….
Okay mom I can we play ball again. Stop talking to Granny and play with me please….. Even when her tongue is dragging on the floor of exhaustion she still wants to play. At this point I put away her ball so that she can play with her four legged sisters…
Yesterday was National Heritage day here in South Africa and it is also been known for the past few years as National Braai day. We went out for the day and Ruby had to stay outside and play with the other 4 legged brothers and sisters.
Last night I took these photo’s of her. She was either very upset with us for letting her stay outside the whole day or she was dead tired of all the playing…..
Hi there I am back after a lovely week in the Northern Cape. I visited a few nature reserves and took lots of photos. Unfortunately I missed week 24/25 due to my travels…
Here are some photo’s I took of Ruby while we were playing catch this afternoon. She loves playing with her ball.
Hi there, I know I am a day late but I was very busy yesterday and did not have time to post. I did take some photo’s of her yesterday morning before I began working.
I think Ruby has stop growing for now. She is busy getting new teeth and eat allot but she is standing still. Well so it seems.
Ruby has enough energy for 4 dogs and she is really giving me allot of exercise. She has this new habit she comes and sit by me and then she starts moaning. Normally when she moans she wants to go outside to use her bathroom… Nowadays she moans and as soon as she gets outside she runs straight to the wooden box were we keep her ball. She wants to play fetch the whole time…
The boys are studying for their exams so on their break they would go play fetch with Ruby. This works for me because now the boys also get some fresh air and some exercise.
Here are some of the photo’s of Ruby and I also throw in some of Tammy and Tekkies.
I will not be posting next week Tuesday. I will if I have time post photo’s of Ruby on Sunday. I am going away on holiday from 9 September to 16 September 🙂
Today it’s to cold outside and I don’t want to be in the wind to long. Just got over the flu and are looking forward to my holiday in two weeks time. Today I took photo’s of Ruby on her “playpen” (our bed). As you can see the covers I put over keeps getting darker…
The coat hanger she’s busy chewing she got the first day that she came to us. It was lying in the sun-room and I wanted to throw it away but when she started playing with it I let it be. She is still playing with it but now it is in two pieces inside the cover. The Crocks I gave her also the day when she came to us this was to prevent her from chewing our shoe’s. It is working very good so far only one incident when she took my husbands shoe to her bed but she did not chew on it, she chewed her Crock…
Ruby is still barking at everything and the latest is chasing the poor birds when they come to feed….
Usually I have my 50mm Lens on my Canon 500D but Sunday I decided to try my 50mm on my Canon 7D. WOW I thought I got great shot’s before with my Canon 500D but I must honestly say from now on I’ll switch lenses more often…
In the past I took my photo’s in Aperture Priority mode but the past two months I switch between Aperture Priority and Manual mode. I am getting much better in Manual mode and as soon as I am confident enough I’ll shoot mainly in Manual.
Ronald was playing fetch with Ruby. I saw the opportunity to try some action photo’s in manual mode and I am happy to say I am very happy with my results. 🙂
This week you will get a double dose of Ruby… Keep a lookout for Ruby Tuesday tomorrow. 🙂
Ruby decided that her Ball on the Rope had to be demolished. This morning she was very destructive breaking everything she could get her paws on….
I had a wedding on Saturday and due to wet socks and shoes I’ve got the flue. For once Ruby did not jump on me instead she’s licks me. I have an infection in my right eye and when I am lying down I must just close my eye because she constantly wants to lick it. I went to lie down this afternoon something totally new for Ruby she just could not understand in the end she cuddled up and lay next to me.
Because I am not feeling well and I have so much editing to do before Saturday’s Matric Farewell,I did not take allot of photo’s
It’s been raining today so I did not take some photo’s of Ruby outside. Instead I took photo’s of her in her favorite new sleeping spot. We have a round cane chair and it is very comfortable and Ruby seems to think so also.
Tekkies our Miniature Sheepdog (That’s what the Vet said) Is a great mother to Ruby. She washes Ruby’s eyes and ears and when Ruby goes outside she goes with. Tekkies plays with Ruby and when Ruby gets out of hand like children do she growls and Ruby listens.
I hope we are getting some nice weather soon so that I can take Ruby for a walk. She has to much energy….
Hi everyone,
I cannot believe how time flies by. Ruby is growing up fast now and started taking things from the counter tops and tables. Now to get her to stop it.
For a few weeks she has been very naughty leaving us surprises in the house, we gave her a “hiding” with a rolled up newspaper. This seemed to work because she is coming to me again and asking me to go outside. Shame it I take to long she’ll stand up against me and moan then she’ll start running towards the garage door.
Sometimes she also asks me to go out but then she just runs around in circles. The next few days the weather is going to play along so we can go for walks in the mornings.
Here are some photo’s I took today on one of our visit’s outside…
Ruby is really growing up fast and she is also very busy. We need to walk with her more often but the weather is not always playing along.
This morning it was raining again so I took some photo’s of her in her bed that’s getting to small and of course on our bed.
It’s a struggle everyday to make our bed and I have to throw an extra comforter over to ensure our bedding stays clean. When I am trying to make the bed she starts bringing all her “toys” a coke bottle, a piece of wood, an old shoe and her ball. I then start throwing everything on the ground I have hardly started and she’s back on the bed. This morning I ignored her and she picked up her ball threw it on the ground jumped off the bed picked it up and jumped back on the bed then she barked at me.
Ruby is really growing up fast now. She knows when she did wrong because she disappears when you call her. Normally we’ll find her under the bed.
She barks allot these days and sometimes the hair on her neck stands up. When she see herself in the mirror she would stand and bark at herself till I pat her and then she’ll calm down.
It’s winter here in Cape Town and there is always wood and logs lying around the fire place. Ruby loves this chew toys. As soon as you take it away from her she’ll get up and go get another one. I permanently have wood on our bed.
Today I realized that Ruby loves the camera. She poses so nicely for her human Mommy… Love her to bits….
The past 10 days I was on bed rest and this morning I had a photo shoot. I was exhausted and only realized it’s Tuesday a bit late. So I took photo’s of Ruby in her corner of the kitchen. When I am busy in the kitchen this is her spot. She went to the Vet yesterday and they are very happy with Ruby’s health. With her next visit she is getting her chip.
Here is a few more photo’s of Ruby in her little corner…
This week I could not really move around and take stunning action photo’s of Ruby. I have a Inguinal hernia and was told by the doctor to keep still he is not going to operate. So today I took a seat on stump and took some photo’s of Ruby.
Since last week she started barking at everybody entering our house or if she hears the other dogs bark outside she’ll sit on our bed and bark and bark and bark…. The others has stopped along time ago but she goes on and on. Then she also barks at our African Grey Spyker. Luckily for Ruby he is still tolerating her even if she stands up against his cage.
Something new she’s doing now is bringing in bottles, yogurt holders anything she can play and chew. Where does it land up? On our bed…. If I throw it on the grounds she just jump down and pick it up one by one and put it back on the bed. She now needs to learn that the bed is for sleeping at night and not a playroom…
Ruby is growing up to fast. Her latest is to snoop on the kitchen counters and the stove. You can’t leave anything near the edge of the counters, tables and the stove. She also opens my Tupperware cupboard to get something to chew then takes it to her bed… She also knows when she did something wrong when I call her she runs and hide under our bed.. Just like a child…
She still wakes me at night to go outside and with it being winter here in South Africa it’s cold and wet. I am thinking of getting a litter box for her just for the night. During the day I don’t have a problem taking her outside.
Ruby loves water and when I take her outside she always end up playing in a puddle or two. She loves being outside and when it’s not raining I try to play with her a bit. The best of all is I play fetch with her and then after the second time she disappears into the house and go throw the ball in her basket. Everything goes to her basket. She collects sticks, stones and leaves…
When I open the sliding door between our house and my parent’s Granny Flat Ruby slips out the gate and go visit my parents. The first time she slipped out I got a scare because she just disappeared and my son was riding his bike. My first thought was she slipped out and ran off…. Then I heard my mom talking to her, what a relieve…
Here is some photo’s I took this morning of Ruby using my Canon EOS 7D with my Sigma 70 – 300mm 1:4-5.6 lens and my Manfrotto Monopod. I must say I am impressed with the photo’s. I get better quality action photo’s with this combination than with my Canon EFS 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS. Now I can see with my own eyes why photographers have more than one lens in their bags… I am building my lens collection but it takes time… Still looking around to see what my next buy would be. Thinking of an 85mm but will first ask a few wedding and portrait photographers before I buy any lenses.
Ruby and I had a ruff night. Ruby had a upset tummy and I had very little sleep.Every time her tummy went during the night that was at 1:15, 2:51 and 4:07 she woke me up… First I took her outside and after 10 minutes in the cold I came back in and start the clean up process. By 4 o’Clock I was not a happy mommy. It’s like pajama drill with the boys all over again. Luckily her tummy is settled now but for the next two to three days she’ll eat rice and paste. Do not want another night like last night.
I took her outside this morning after she had her rice and some gravy and well last night did not effect her at all it seems. She was running around and playing like nothing happened. I on the other hand are busy falling asleep while typing this blog. Luckily she learned how to jump on the bed so if I fall asleep tonight she can get up by herself. She is still very curious and is also starting to push her boundaries.
She knows she are not allowed to go past the vibecreate wall but the past few days she is pushing her luck. This morning I had to talk in an angry voice and she turned around immediately.
Today’s photo’s I took with my Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 lens. I need to practice taking action shots with it because I am going on holiday in September and won’t have my extender for my camera yet. Still saving up. But if I get to know my lens better and know when I can push and how far I can push it so much better. I will be taking my tripod with but one always needs to master your handheld techniques also…
What can I say, Ruby is growing up very fast. She have to go to the Vet on Thursday for her injections. This madam really crawled into my heart.
This week she started barking at everything and if there is a strange sound somewhere in the house she’ll come and sit at my feet and start barking. One of these days I will not be able to let her out in front. If she’s going to start running I will not be able to catch her. We want to chip her so that if she get’s lost they could return her to us. Our Boer bull got out when our maid did not close the front gate properly. I still miss Kiara and if I walk past houses with Boerbull’s I would look at their chest, Kiara had a White Diamond shape on her chest….
Back to Ruby…. She loves sticks and stones. Every time we go outside she’ll either bring in a stick or a stone…. It is wonderful to see how her interest change and how she develops. Even though she is still a young pup I have already start to train her to sit when I give her her food. The waiting till I give the demand to eat we will work on when she is a bit older. For now I am satisfied that she sits when she sees me approaching with her bowl of food. Even when I give her and the other dogs their treats she sits. This she learned from them I think. She saw that if they sit they get a treat so she also started to sit. This reaction is what made me decide to start her training a bit earlier.
Now if I can only get her to leave Ogies our cat alone. Ogies does not want to play with Ruby and Ruby just don’t get the message.
I can’t believe another week has gone by…. Ruby is growing up fast now and eats like a maniac. She is also starting to get very naughty chewing on everything except her chew toy that I bought her.
The more time I spend with her the more I realize she is much more work than a baby… It’s cleaning up after her, feeding, playing, cleaning, feeding, playing, brushing and so it goes on and on ….
The past few days it’s been raining allot and now she starts doing what the other two dogs do. They run outside feel the freezing cold wind and wet grass and drive way, make a U turn and run back inside. This results in leaving me puddles and …. in my outside passage. I get very angry with them but at the same time I think if I am a dog I’ll do exactly just that. It’s been freezing cold… Ruby is going to grow up and I need to get it into her head that she needs to do her stuff outdoors even if it is freezing. It’s not that she have to stay outdoors for hours I take her and as soon as she is finish we go back indoors to her warm bed.
Today I also realized that she is aware of different sounds around her. When my mom’s dogs bark it does not really matter to her she goes on sniffing and chasing leaves, but when the dogs down the road barks she stands still ears straight up in the air and listens and watch down the road. In there is nothing she just go on with what she was busy doing.
Here are some photo’s of her taken earlier today…
A week ago I introduced Ruby our German Shepard puppy. Yesterday afternoon I took some photo’s of her while playing outside with Tammy and Tekkies her older sisters. She is growing up so fast and I must say she is very good. She let’s me know when she wants to go out. The only problem is when I am busy with something and can’t drop it immediately I get a “present” in the house. But otherwise my floors stay clean and dry if I take her outside approximately every hour.
When I am at my desk in my office she lies on the little carpet. She’s my little shadow for now when she’s older she’ll be my big shadow…
I took these photo’s with my Canon 7D and my Canon EF 18-200mm IS lens. I am still struggling to get my action photo’s right. Most of them blur and I need to get it right before I go to the Kruger National Park in December. Birds in flight is going to be a problem if I do not get my settings right. I never had this problem with my Canon 500D. So if someone is also using an 7D could you please help me in the right direction. I shot these photo’s in Aperture Priority (AV) ISO 800, F 5.6. Manual select :Single point AF, Center- weighted average.
I am happy to introduce Ruby our newest family member. She is a 8 week old German Shepard. Today when I took her outside to visit mother nature I took a few photo’s of her. I must be honest she is learning fast. When I call her and my other two dogs to go outside she listens and come with. A few times now she asked me with little moans to go outside. Each time she just made it to the patch of grass….
When the people came to drop her off I had no clue we are getting a new puppy. I was mad because we already have 3 dogs, a cat and a parrot. I asked my husband why didn’t he warn me? His answer was because I knew you would say no…. But it only took a few minutes for my heart to melt…. I am a real sucker for puppies and Ruby stirred up some memories of my first German Shepard Simba. Oh how I loved him it was a very dark day when we had to put him down due to age…
Here are a few photo’s of Ruby. Will share some more as she grows up….
On Friday 8 March 2013 the South African Guide Dog Association had a Boerewors Roll sale at Sanlam Head office in Bellville to raise funds. Some Guide dogs and their owners as well as two puppies and their trainers came to visit.
It was a wet and cold Friday, but the rain did not put a damper on the fundraising.
By lunchtime the guide dogs were showered with attention and people wanting to know more about the dogs and how the training work.
All these lovely people supported the South African Guide Dog Association by buying a Boerewors Roll or two…
Preparing the Sausages for the Boerewors Rolls
The South African Guide Dog Association trains on average 65 guide dogs per year for the blind and visually impaired. The process is human intensive and the guide dogs are trained over and 18 month period. The first phase is spent with their “Puppy Raisers”, dedicated families and individuals who “adopt” a young guide dog puppy for 12 months. Thereafter the young guide dog in training returns to the SAGA centre and is allocated to a qualified guide dog mobility instructor who will formally train the dog for a further 6 months until it is allocated to a blind recipient. You can sponsor a puppy for R3500 or a full guide dog for R10 000.
For any further information on the South African Guide Dog Association please go visit their website.
On Friday morning I had the great pleasure to take some photo’s at a fundraiser for the South African Guide Dog Association. The rain was pouring down but the guide dogs and their trainers and owners did not mind. More photo’s later about this event.
We went De Hollandsche Molen for the day a few weeks back. After breakfast my parents and I went for a walk to look at the new houses and like always I had to carry my camera with just in case… I took the photo of the sign on the one gate and when I got to the other gate of the home this not so scary little dog greeted us.
Say hallo to Chirp Chirp one of the two new chicks to our collection. Chirp Chirp played model today.
Well you all know that a while back our Dwarf Hamsters had 7 little babies. While they were still 3 weeks old the mom had another batch of 5. These are ready to go to the pet shop now and what a surprise when we wanted to clean moms cage there were 2 little ones…… I am totally confused the dad was not near her and yet she still got 2 new babies….
I just love photographing dogs. Since a little girl I loved dogs and cannot resist calling and playing with them. Everyone always said be careful the dog will bite. Till today I can only remember one dog biting me and that was a little dog that got out and bit my ankle. I turned around and patted it and since then he never came after me.
Today I had to hear that Ogies Armand’s cat is a famous model. According to him she already had two photo shoots and are just to beautiful for words. 🙂
Here is our famous model getting her beauty sleep….
I just love this photo. When I saw the dog in the middle of the road waiting for his/her owner I just saw a photo opportunity.
Tonight we were watching a movie and when I walked pass Armand on the chair I saw this cute photo. I ran to get my camera and in the process I nearly dislocated my little toe against our bed…. Ouch Ouch but I got my photo.
7 Little Hamsters only 4 days old.
On Wednesday our hamsters had babies. I did not want to take photo’s of them and left it to today. Yesterday I took photo’s of a protective Mommy hamster. She is so cute I took a few photo’s of her and then let her be.
On Tuesday the boys each got a little Dwarf Hamster.
Today I am introducing Jakkals Junior. He is just like his owner Lian. He loves posing for the camera just look at the eye contact.
“Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.” Goethe
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” St. Thomas Aquinas
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison
“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” William Arthur Ward
“Truly grat friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget….” G. Randolf
“Motivation is when your drams put on work clothes!” Milton Berle
” It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela
My photo of the day for 8 July 2012 is a little Meerkat from the Emoya Estate.
The little critter was just to quite. While visiting in Bloemfontein for the weekend Maryke took us to Emoya.
We spotted the little Meerkat with a bell around his neck. As we walked it followed us everywhere we go. It was just to cute and entertaining. I took allot of photo’s of the little critter but will share that with some more information of Emoya.
Today’s Photo of the day is yet again Armand and his cat Ogies. I just can’t get enough of these two.
The school closes for the holiday’s on Friday but his teacher decided they must do some maths exercises when the rest of the kids are already in holiday mood. He made himself comfortable on our bed doing his maths and Ogies decided that she is going to keep him company. She made herself comfortable on his back…
My photo of the day for yesterday was Minky our Corn snake. It took me more than a year to get use to her. The kids always love teasing me with her and they just loved it when I jump up and scream when they bring her near me. Then one day I decided I better make friends with Minky. Please don’t get me wrong I will not take her out of her cage but when hubby goes away I need to clean her cage and for this I needed to start trusting her.
Minky is not aggressive at all and now and then when hubby needs to clean her cage and the boys are not around I will hold her but only in my hands and my arms are covered. I hate the feeling of her going over my skin. Some days I’ll sit in front of her cage and watch her. When she needs to shed her skin she is so dull and her eyes are gray. She shed her skin not long ago just look how gorgeous her colors are.
Here are a photo of her eating her dead mouse. I don’t like it if they give her food that is alive…
