And back again...

It has been a year now since my dad has passed away... It was a time of hardly any personal photo projects for most of that year here... Just a few months ago though I started working on something exciting that helped me rekindle my passion for this medium again... It was not that I was no longer any good at my job, but I was just not feeling the fire that I used to feel for the art... Willing to push myself even without outside assignments further and further... Stay put until these new projects are ready for show!

Here is another image of this random series of found stuffed and abandoned animals that I seem to be coming across... This one seems to be quite defiant though... Fits my mood perfectly! I'm back again! ;)

A day at the taxidermist's...

What a weird way to start the year... I tagged along to help a very good friend of mine (Vincent Soyez) on a shoot... It was one of the first days this year that I was actually upright as I was dealing with a stubborn cold or flu... What an intense day... Lots of visual input and quite an experience in regards to smells as well... His shoot was very different, but luckily I was able to look around and take my own pictures...

I selected the top image as cover, because it reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe's work... As well it deals with what's going on behind the scenes as well... One of the reasons I like being a photographer so much is that one gets to see different places all the time... From pig stables to operation rooms... I've been there... ;)



This image was right next to the one before... Under the tarp remnants of a buffalo delivered earlier that day...



Earlier that day... One of those moments when one might not want to know how sausages are made...

Covered in dust: Ordered and not picked up yet...

A wolverine awaiting pickup...

Another view at the "friendly" wolverine... On the background other trophies being stored...



Flipped this one upside down... It was being stored on its back, but the image was too confusing... The eyes all whited out remind me of how seers are depicted in the movies... Kind of scary...

Fish trophies are apparently no longer made using any part of the caught fish... A detailed photo with sizes and weight of the catch are sufficient for a resin replica to be created... These are then artfully painted to match the original... Items pictured are waiting for their owners...

An unfinished shark surrounded by various fish molds...

An elephant tusk waiting for someone / something...

I was quite impressed by the eyes... Seemed lifelike to me...

A zebra under wraps...

Everyone perky and attentive...

One of my last images of the day... The shop had closed, but the owner kindly offered to stay until we were done with the shoot and packing up... This is where it happens... At least part of it... The other part (Molding the fish and painting) happens upstairs...

A dog, another dog!

This is another image from the trip to the Baltic Sea... A shot of the young hovawart puppy Atos... My dad's new dog... Really neat when he doesn't try to grab your hand with his teeth... ;)
Anyway, I tried to take his portrait numerous times... But he still has tons of energy, always moving around... So I got him here in the trunk of the car... Really like his attentive look...



I was actually quite surprised how much of the clouds were reflected in here... I don't remember noticing that when shooting... I guess I got lucky again! ;)

Fur ball attack!

On my recent trip to 242 St - Van Cortland Park station I was approached by a younger guy while I was taking pictures of the station... "Do you want to take a really good picture??", he asked... Usually I'm quite skeptical of these kind of offers... I - of course - know what makes a good image, don't I? But one of the things that I learned doing this series is to be more open and fluid enough to check out what presents itself, since things cannot really be planned here...
It turned out that he was a park ranger who was taking a 6 week old squirrel to the animal rescue station... Apparently it had been abandoned by its parents or at least been found and presumed to be abandoned by park visitors... He showed me this cute fur ball and I have to admit: It made a good shot after all! ;)



The ranger told me that this young one would need about six more weeks in care before being able to fend for itself....



Love how it's just rolled into a furry ball... Feet hiding part of the face...