This post is a bit different from my usual ones but it’s an important one. Thanks to another local photographer friend, Katie of Kage Imagery, I had the opportunity to spend two afternoons at Home for Life: The Animal Sanctuary of St. Croix Valley. Home for Life is a different kind of animal shelter in that it’s just that…their home for life. It houses animals that are unadoptable due to disability, temperament, age, health, etc.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for animals. Big time. I have a hard time volunteering for shelters because I want to take every animal home and it breaks my heart when I can’t. I thought Home For Life would be a good opportunity to volunteer because I’d be comforted by knowing that they did have a home (and also not be allowed to adopt anything!) To be honest, many of the animals arrived there in much worse shape than I had imagined. Paraplegic, missing eyes, tattered, abused. It was hard to see.

But all of these animals have a home and are being taken care of. And not just half-heartedly, either. The staff know the names of every single animal there (250) and the story behind each one. The animals have couches and beds and baskets and cubbies and yards and wheels to replace missing legs.

And that is pretty cool.

Home for Life depends on donations. The animals below are have sponsors but many of the animals there do not. You can sponsor an animal, donate time and skills, or a variety of other things. Go to the Home for Life website and click on the How to Help tab for details.

Because look at these faces…

Part of my Halloween festivities included a trip to St. Paul’s Java Train Cafe to see the Ignite Fire Troupe performing fire poi dancing. I think I’m going to start practicing this in my backyard. If all my arm and head hair is gone the next time you see me, you’ll know why.

Just like most moms, this mom contacted me to take create some special keepsakes of her boys. Her boys, though, are small and furry. :) This whole session was a complete blast for me. We did the shoot in a gorgeous backyard and the kitties were my instant friends. I really didn’t want to leave. I’m thinking of turning full-time cat photographer. The constant leaving might break my kitty-loving heart, though.

Today I went kayaking for the first time with my sister and some of my girlie pals. We went on the Kinnickinnic River, departing from River Falls, WI. It was a little on the brutal side. The river is quite low so we hit lots of rocks and spent lots of time emptying kayaks full of water. The worst thing, though, is no cameras! That’s the second time in two weeks that I’ve had great photo ops that I couldn’t photograph. Earlier, my sister’s fiance graduated from the prison guard training program at Lino Lakes Minnesota Correctional Facility and we got to attend the graduation and take a tour of the prison campus. But sometimes mental photos just have to suffice, I guess. (Seriously, the image of the proximity of prison toilet to prison bed and prison roommate is permanently burned into my mind.)

In any case, in the meantime, here are some various works of art from the Fourth of July party we had in our backyard.

(That’s me!)

These type of photos aren’t hard to do if you have a camera with manual settings. You’ll want to wait until it’s pretty dark because you’ll need to do a long exposure. For these photos, I varied between 5sec and 30sec exposures, depending on what people wanted to draw. You may want to keep your aperture pretty stopped down if you’re getting in too much light. I think I did most of these at 9.0? And you’ll probably want a tripod, although I did these by setting the camera on my lap. And a super secret hint…the artists don’t have to draw their name backwards…you can flip it later in Photoshop. :)

Lots of destinations with good photo ops tomorrow, here’s hoping I can walk! And that the bed doesn’t rock ALL night long.

My friend Paul/Preflash Gordon, the one who got me started on Roller Derby, also happens to be the photographer for the St. Paul Saints. Always one eager to share his enthusiasm for anything, he’d been trying to lure me to a game with promises of a media pass. I kept meaning to go but never setting an actual date but when he mentioned that Thursday night’s game would be followed by fireworks, I jumped.

The “Ushertainer,” The Nerd and Mascot Mudonna.

Before the game, they honored women who have served in the military, from Afghanistan and Iraq, all the way back to WWII. These are all women who have served at some time or another.

The woman on the left (the one holding the ball, not to be confused with Paul who is walking into my shot ;) ) was an Air Force pilot in WWII. The crowd applause when they announced that was amazing. The names of the other women and the wars that they served in can be found here.

WWII fighter planes in missing man formation, or missing woman formation as they declared it for the game. The plane breaking away symbolizes all the women who have lost their lives while serving.

The colorguard during the singing of the National Anthem.

This photo makes me laugh a little because what exactly is going on?

Afterwards, there were fireworks just beyond centerfield. They let fans come down and sit in the outfield to view them. I have to say, there’s something a bit more patriotic about seeing fireworks over a baseball field.

And now I am off to prepare for my own Fourth of July celebration – a cookout and bonfire in my backyard. Have a happy holiday, everyone!