We have moved our little blog on over to a new server, with a new domain name, and a totally new look!



Go check it out here, and please be sure to bookmark it!

http://www.cowbellyblog.com/

We moved over to wordpress, after dealing with issue after issue trying to publish a blogger blog to an external server. (ok, actually I moved the blog over to wordpress, Christina just watched as I let out a big sigh of relief). Publishing with blogger was just getting worse and worse, and it had to stop.

I'm thrilled with the changes and I hope everyone who follows this blog is too. Now I can save much more time in posting to do what I really enjoy: take pictures! Plus I can show y'all the images in fullscreen mode. No more hassling with trying to get the perfect image size in the 3-column design without breaking things. This new blog design is getting very popular with photographers, for reasons you will see shortly.

For those of you who are interested in reading the full (boring) story about why I switched, and how I chose the platform, and what the template is, and where I bought it, please see the 'new name, new look, new blog' post on the new blog. For my photographer friends, if you purchase the template (which you totally should!) and have any questions about it please ask me! I can give you all the hints on tweaking the template to totally fit 'you'.

I am still very much tweaking my blog design and haven't yet added links or a menu (still debating on that one), so you will continue to see changes made, but the new cowbellyblog.com address will remain the same.

I still want to be able to link to all of my virtual friends so I will figure out how to do that soon. I may even have a dedicated page for links, and put little images next to each link- samples of each person's work or business.

Fun times!

Thanks for making the move with me. Your support is appreciated more than you could ever know. :-)

Jamie 'Cowbelly'

Labels: cowbelly's new blog, new blog, prophoto theme, prophoto wordpress blog theme

Stumble It!

I was at the Belltown off leash park early this week and met the most darling dog ever. Angel is her name.





Here is how we met:

I was looking for Fergie's poop in the bark after she did her business, and this medium-sized, very happy young black lab mix came running up to me, smiling and wagging her tail as if she knew me. Not in an obnoxious, bowl you over kind of way, but in a very friendly "heyyy, long time no see" kind of way. Ears back, smiling, submissive, super sweet.

Given that I am always happy to reciprocate, I got down and said "well hello there!" and gave her a hug and some pets. The first two things I noticed were that she was very sweet, and also very soft. I surmised she must have still been a puppy because she had both puppy fur and that extra skin that puppies always seem to have. She seemed a bit clumsy as well.

So we said our hellos and then she went on her merry way, after having made a terrific impression on me.

So I watched her play with the other dogs, and her 'brother' and tried to get Fergie interested in playing with her, but the Fergster prefers the boys.

So I found out from one of the regulars that the black dog's name is Angel, after telling him what a super dog she seemed to be. "Isn't she great?" he said. Apparently everyone knew her but me.

So here is the story:

The reason why everyone there knows Angel is because she is essentially homeless. Or I should say- 'foverer'-homeless.

She has been passed around from person to person, after her first owner abandoned her. She has had more homes in her first year of life than most dogs have in their entire lives. I think it's been like 7 or 8?

Right now she is living with a foster mom who absolutely adores her, but she has another dog and is moving to NYC next month for a new (demanding) job. She is totally uncertain whether or not she'd be able to give Angel the kind of home she deserves, so is trying to find a permanent home for her. Plus she figures, it would be so much better for Angel to have a new permanent home here with someone who can really love her and care for her, than to subject her to yet another disruptive event by moving her across the country. Hence the reason for this post.

I normally don't get involved in trying to rescue dogs, because there are so many people who do it and do it well, plus I like to donate money or services to rescue organizations instead, BUT, in this case, I just had to tell everyone about Angel.

She is a FANTASTIC dog.

I have met and worked with many many hundreds of different dogs over the years, and I can tell you, just from our short hour together, I know that Angel is special.

Why don't I take her? First, as I mentioned above, Fergie is far more interested in playing with and engaging with boys than girls. She largely ignored Angel the entire time at the park, even when Angel tried to play with her. Fergie LOVES to play with the boys, and it only seems right to me to get a companion for her that she will be really interested in. The other, more important reason is that I am so gosh darn busy right now I don't even make a very good doggie mommy for Fergie. For any new dog that comes into my life I would want to take several weeks off work to bond with the dog and do training and get acclimated to each other. Given my schedule there is no way that could happen anytime soon.

SO, I plead to anyone reading this who may be interested in bringing home a new dog, to please consider Angel. I guarantee you will fall in love with her. I have thought about her every day since I met her, and still am trying to rationalize a way I could keep her, even though I know it's not reasonable. That's how awesome she is. Let me put it this way: knowing what I know of her, and having met her, if I was searching for the perfect dog, I would drive through two states to take Angel home and keep her with me forever.

If you are interested in meeting her and possibly welcoming her into your home, please email me at info@cowbelly.com and I will put you in touch with Angel's foster mom. Who by the way has the following things to say about Angel:

"Angel is an absolute love. She is just over 1 year old, playful, sweet and loves to be loved. She is house trained, can do basic commands (including paw!) and walks pretty good on a leash too, not to mention she has the softest fur I've every felt!

I just took her to the vet and had her first round of shots (Parvo and Rabies) and she is scheduled to be spayed on June 2."

Oh yes, and of course, Angel is fantastic with other dogs- boys and girls alike.

Email me at info@cowbelly.com if you are interested!!

Labels: angel, angel needs a home, belltown off-leash dog, your new dog

Stumble It!

Since I can't show the editorial photography I have done recently for CityDog Magazine until the summer mag actually comes out, I decided to provide a sneak peek of sorts at the shots I have taken for the 'Dog's Eye View' article for the summer 2008 issue.

I am calling this photographic art piece 'slice of life'.

Labels: city dog photography, dog's eye view article, slice of life, sneak-peek, win photo shoot

Stumble It!

Remember Diablo, Chico and Pucci? The three adorable boys I photographed in Pioneer Square last year?






The final product will look something like this when hung:

Labels: chico, decopaw dog art, diablo, pucci, triptych

Stumble It!

Remember Ella? Beautiful white dog with soft blue sky background. We are now making art for Ella and here she is in blazing color.

Ella's proofs were inspired by the colors and textures of the Pacific Northwest. Ella's mom will probably go with the one with the trees with a pinky sunset instead of orange. I myself like the beach shots because I have been spending a lot of time on the beach lately now that the sun is finally coming out. It's about time!! I'm ready for summer!!

Labels: beach dog shots, ella decopaw art proofs, weather in seattle

Stumble It!

Ever since I got my fancy new macbook pro in early April I have been wanting to get all kinds of fun, fancy new things to go along with it. Although it has everything on it in the way of software one could ever want (Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop CS3 + Bridge CS 3, Lightroom 1.0, Dreamweaver, MS Office, etc, etc) it doesn't yet have anything ON it in the way of casings or even a laptop bag, with the exception of the laptop bag that is part of my camera bag (Crumpler Whickey and Cox).

Laptop bag aside, I found something late last night online (yes, while in bed surfing the web on the mb pro), that has me positively drooling.

'IT' is a customized, colorful paint job by a company called colorwarepc.

Examples:




You can even do different parts of the frame in different colors- the backside, bottom, handrest and display frame are all customizable with about a billion different colors.

They even do ipods, imacs and also HD tvs!! I think there are other products available as well...


As far as I understand the process is done with automotive paint, with a clearcoat finish, and it is a super-tough, and permanent, (gorgeous) way to customize your 'toy'. And after reading multiple user reviews it seems clear that it doesn't affect the performance of any electronic equipment or part- even the scroll wheel on the ipod works as good as new!

You can either ship them your existing piece or purchase a new, pre-colored piece from them. You can even order color samples for $5 per sample before you order.

The downside? It voids your manufacturers warranty.

Otherwise, I would be all over the dark cherry color, with a metallic gold apple logo.

Still dreaming about it, still thinking about it. Might just have to get it done on my Blackberry. The tough part is just picking the color.

Aren't these awesome!?

Labels: colorwarepc, coolest mac product ever, macbook pro

Stumble It!

I just wanted to pop in and say hi and tell everyone that I am still alive. Since the commercial assignment ended early last week I have been doing a bunch of freelance photography for CityDog Magazine.

Labels: citydog magazine photography, citydog summer issue, freelance photography, i love my job

Stumble It!

Seattle Pug Rescue's annual event 'Pugmania' last Saturday was a blast nonpareil.

By the end of the day my face hurt from laughing and smiling so much. I met so many adorable pugs and their wonderful, warm owners that it just filled me with joy all day. If I learned only one thing from Saturday it's that pugs are quite possibly the most loving, affectionate and joyful breed as a whole out of any breed in existence.

My trigger finger was working overtime. I think I took over 700 pictures at the event. Which was very easy to do because apparently there were over 1,000 people and their pugs there. I was totally shocked at the massive turnout! Because I had a hard time picking my favorite images I am sharing a whole bunch with you guys here.

For those who don't share my undying love for pugs, my apologies but you'll just have to deal! ;-)

Labels: pug event at magnusen park, pugmania, pugmania 2008, seattle pug rescue

Stumble It!