This week’s #PetPhotographyChallenge of “Thirsty?” is a technical one. I almost went with some older fun photos for this one too, but decided to at least give it a try on a new one. I’ll share the old photos at the end as well.
Getting your pet to drink when you want them to can be tough! The recommendation was to try this after a good long play time, or after some dry treats. I decided to use a trick I’ve used before to get Luke to drink, and that’s to put ice cubes in the water. I think the idea is to capture your dog’s tongue lapping up the water, and to freeze some of the droplets and their tongue in motion.
Luke doesn’t drink water like a normal dog. He often doesn’t really use his tongue. His preference is to stick his whole snout in the water, then pick his head up, swallow, and dribble back out whatever he doesn’t need (sometimes on us if we happen to be nearby!). It’s a messy endeavor, but we’ve learned to live with it, and he does sometimes drink normally. Adding the ice cubes to the water only increased the mess!
You need a fast shutter speed to see the droplets of water and freeze the action of their tongue. Our main water dish sits in a rather dark area, and fast shutter speeds don’t let in a lot of light. Even with a wider open lens I couldn’t get enough. I also thought putting their dish in the sunlight might add some more sparkle to the water droplets. Moving the water dish means they’re not as likely to drink out of it, so that’s why I thought adding the ice cube might work. The problem is Luke is really good at bobbing for ice cubes, and he was faster at getting it out there than I was at taking the shot!
I didn’t have a lot of luck with him at first, so I thought we’d give Cricket a try. For her, an ice cube wasn’t going to work, but I thought maybe floating a treat in the water might. Here’s how that went:
OK then, back to Luke! We had a little more success the second time around. I had hoped to get more of the water coming out of his mouth, but those shots just didn’t come out clear enough.
I also liked this shot, since you can see the sparkles of water in his whiskers:
This challenge might have been easier to do in the spring or summer, because we can have lots of fun with water then! Here’s a couple from last May. Luke loves to play with the hose.
Have a great weekend, and keep hoping for Spring!
I love these photos! Cricket’s obvious hesitancy is hilarious (what’s the catch mom?) And Luke’s close up shots are beautiful. Teddy is a fan of the hose too. He tries to walk off with it in his mouth when it’s on!
That’s too funny! Luke hasn’t tried that one yet. He seems to enjoy having me hold it, so he can get me wet too! LOL
Great photos. Sounds like Luke drools as much water on the floor as he manages to drink!
Pretty much!! 🙂
Great shots!!
That is a fun challenge. The pictures came out great.
hahaha my dogs will do the same thing with the hose, like a front end emema. Cricket you are so cute and weary, Luke you took some great photos with your water drops.
I always have to laugh at Luke when he starts coughing and sputtering when playing with the hose – you’d think he’d learn!
These photos are great – what camera do you use ? I still have to use my phone camera, but it is amazing what I do manage – maybe one day I will treat myself !
I have a Nikon D5500 DSLR. I still use my camera phone a lot too though – it’s easier to carry if we’re outside, and always handy if I want to catch a candid shot. Mostly I just get the “good” camera out for planned photo shoots. 🙂
Wow, you did great with these photos. 🙂
Those are all great! I have to keep the boys’ water bowl on a towel or they dribble water everywhere. Luke is so funny. ☺
The towel is a good idea! We have a mat under ours, but Luke still manages to miss that!
Wow, that IS a tough assignment!! But you did a great job! The only one of my girls that I could have gotten a “thirsty” photo of would have been Callie, because she’s the only one who drank enough water at one time for me to even try. Kissy, Shadow, and Ducky was/are intermittent drinkers. And Shadow tends to get at least half of it on the floor instead of in her mouth.
Ah, sounds like Shadow has the same technique as Luke! Our golden Moses had that technique as well.
The last 3 are my faves but I LOVE the 3rd to the last one, with the close up of the nose by the red bowl. Love it!
Thank you, Caren!
BOL that’s a big water bowl
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Lily & Edward
He is a funny boy, and messy.
You did an amazing job! Sam abhors water so I’d fail this assignment. I think he only ‘sips’ when he drinks anyway and will never drink if someone is watching. Ever!
Oh, that’s kind of funny. Dogs and their quirks, huh? I guess that means Sam is not a swimmer? 🙂
Sam walks around puddles on the sidewalk and definitely stays a healthy distance from any stream bed. To say he’s ‘not a swimmer’ is an understatement! LOL
LOL. He sounds just like our late beagle, Kobi. We did everything we could to get him to cool off in our kiddie pool, but even floating a treat in there would not entice him!
Those were so good and the ones with the hose really made us smile! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Cricket is so cute! I’m pretty sure Rye would be suspicious about why a treat had ended up in the water, too (although she probably wouldn’t hesitate for too long before eating it).
I guess Cricket isn’t as willing to stick her whole nose in the water in order to get a treat out! Or it’s just because she never sees any reason she should have to work for her treats, no matter how easy it might be. 🙂
how great to read about drinking habits at st. paddys day LOL maybe Luke’s fountain gives him some green beer today?
We thought Bokeh would have been better in December and this one in the summer too! Not always easy to have the camera in hand when we are drinking. Nice water shots, though.
Thank you! We agree. The only reason I had a good place to shoot my Bokeh, was because we still had the Christmas lights in the bushes outside!