Burrowing Owls

I had seen several local photographers post photos of the burrowing owls at Zanjero Park and I finally decided to go check them out for myself! These little guys were so adorable. I could have hung out taking photos of them all day. They seemed pretty used to people being around, as they just sat there staring at me for the most part.

This is one of my favorites. I really liked a lot of these in black and white...

The owls kept flying back and forth between their perches and an area with dirt mounded up, so I was able to get a handful of photos of them taking off and landing. Here's one of them...

He's a little hard to see, but there is a third owl in this next set of photos. He was just rolling around on the ground acting like a fool and the other two kept looking at him like, "Dude, WTF?!" It was hysterical!...

Their eyes are so intense...

This little guy was so adorable. He'd pop his head out and look at me and then back up, and then stick his head out again and start all over again...

Eventually, he did decide to venture out, though. I guess he decided I was safe enough...

I REALLY like this one!...

As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos of these cuties as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes.
Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram

© 2017  Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Little Cuties

I took these when I took photos of Daisy and Gatsby in honor of their adoption anniversary.

Here are some black and white photos of my little puppy cutie patooties:

Sweet Zoe...

And Little Lexi Lou...

Look at that adorable little face...

Somebody's sleepy...

The "where are my treats" for being good and posing stare down...

Another adorable little face...

I just love my little goobers!  Their cute little faces bring a smile to mine.  I hope you enjoyed seeing them, too. Thanks for stopping by!

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes.
Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2017 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Where Does the Time Go?

We adopted Daisy and Gatsby the day after our anniversary, so it's easy to note when another year has gone by since we brought them home. This year marks four years since they joined our little family.  I know I sound like a broken record on every single one of these pet posts, but I seriously have no clue how it's been so long. It feels like half that time!

In honor of the anniversary of their adoption, I decided to take some new portraits of them. They both did much better with the photos than they did last time, and I was able to get more variety of images.  I think some of them are super cute, but I may be biased!

As a random side note, we recently purchased new furniture for our bedroom, and we have no clue what we are going to do with our old furniture.  So for now, it is just sitting in our front room until we figure it out.  For some crazy reason the old headboard has turned into one of their favorite places to lay, especially Daisy.  Many of these photos were taken with the cats sitting or laying on it.

OK, enough babble.  On to the photos!

We have the weirdest animals.  Seriously, what cat lays like this?...

Watching the crazy dogs from the safety of the stairs...

I just love that sweet face...

What are you looking at, Daisy?...

It's amazing how much Gasby's eyes have changed since she was a kitten, they used to by almost entirely orange/gold and now they're green...

Gatsby is usually quite content just sitting watching the world go by...

A little cat nap...

This photo is definitely one of my favorites of the bunch...

Catching a few zzzz's...

Love this one of Gatsby!...

Another favorite...

Really, Gats?  You're such a goofball...

Love this one too!...

I'm not sure what she's looking at but definite another favorite!...

If you made it this far, thanks for stopping by and checking out the photos of my sweet fur babies!

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes.
Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2017 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Bye-Bye, Business Page

A large part of the joy of photography is sharing photos with those who want to see them; for what good is a photo buried on a hard drive where no one can enjoy it?

When I was running my business, I thought it was necessary to share my photos on my Facebook business page. However, I always found it quite frustrating trying to jump through Facebook's algorithm hoops in an attempt to get my photos to show up in my followers' news feed.  As a result, I never really enjoyed running the page.

(For anyone who has never run a business page, FB shows you how many people have seen each of your posts.  Then they give you the opportunity to boost the post by paying them to show it to people.  I really don't understand exactly how it works, but I do know that if people don't start interacting with the post moments after it is posted, no one ends up seeing it.  That's why businesses are always nagging you to like, comment, tag, and share their posts.)

When I decided that I wanted to start shooting again, I hadn't made a decision regarding my FB business page.  I suspected I would end up going back to using it, but I haven't found that to be the case.  After posting a few photos and links, I realized that only a handful of people are actually seeing them.  So, I decided why waste my time?

Because 12 people out of 696 followers?  Seriously?...

Since making the decision, I've been struggling with where the heck to share my photos.  I already knew that I was going to continue posting them on my blog, just like I always have.  It seems like blogs are dying a slow death these days, but I still really enjoy keeping mine so I'm going to keep doing it.  So, if you ever want to see what I've been shooting, pop on over to my home on the internet and check out my photos!  I also decided to keep posting to my MWP Instagram Account, as I am a total IG junking and love using it.  If you're on Instagram, follow me (@michelewhitacrephotography)!  If you're not on Instagram, what. are. you. waiting. for???

Which brings me back to Facebook.  As much as I wish it wasn't so, Facebook pretty much runs the internet world and it just makes sense to use it to share photos.  If I'm not going to be using my business page, that leaves my personal one.

In the past, I was always hesitant to share photos because I didn't want to drive everyone insane.  I said as much to a friend recently and her response was that I was being ridiculous.  She said that when you chose to be FB friends with someone, you sign on for whatever they choose to post.  Her reasoning made a lot of sense to me and eventually ended up changing my mind about using my personal account to share my photography.  So consider this fair warning that I am going to start posting more images and blog links soon!

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes.
Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2017 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC