These are wolf pups with my friend, the very tired Steve Wastel, co-founder (with his stunning wife, Paula) of the Apex Protection Project. Yes, they rescue wolves and wolf dogs.
He's here with his youngest charges, which he got when they were 3 weeks old. They are now 8 weeks, and pretty much do nothing but pee, poop, sleep and squirm, 24/7. Poor Steve and Paula have not had much rest since this mischievous trio entered their lives. The female (in the center) is the real rascal :)
I wanted to use this image, but even though the pups are much better in it, I wasn't happy with how Steve looks.
The shoot was quite a challenge, as they truly will not sit still for more than 10 seconds. They had to be let down to pee, poop, or have Steve lay down pee pads, or scoop up poop. He and his wife are both training and socializing the pups, and whenever one would pee on the pad (as they are being trained to do), they'd get a "good pee!" from Steve.
Plus the house is not only stuffed with crates, and puppy-proofed with chicken wire (because they chew on EVERYTHING), setting up my lights was quite an adventure. Every time he put the pups down, I'd run to hold onto the lights, as they seemed to find endless amusement trying to wiggle UNDER the stand legs...
It is a miracle I got this shot at all.
Apex is currently running a fundraising campaign in which you get to name the pups, if you would like to donate towards their substantial medical bills. My recent entry with my other friend, Vernon, was also created for fundraising purposes :)
The wolf in that image is the same one in the shot with Paula.
For those who may not know, an apex predator is the one at the top of the food chain :)
[Nov. 13th, 2015 04:50:02 PM]
Derek, you are absolutely right. But what with all the squirming, and this being a very tight beam, I was lucky to get them in the light at all :)
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Place: 2 out of 75 Avg (all users): 6.9479 Avg (commenters): 8.0000 Avg (participants): 6.1500 Avg (non-participants): 7.5179 Views since voting: 2610 Views during voting: 212 Votes: 96 Comments: 23 Favorites: 10 (view)
Congratulations on the red, Johanna. The shot is so lovely.
I enjoyed reading your notes. If Steve has had the pups since they were 3 weeks old, I assume something happened to their mother? What does the (intended) future hold in store for these guys?
I wasn't surprised to see you get a ribbon in this challenge and you sure win the blue for the cute factor. Really excellent photo. Congrats on the ribbon.
Strong on a few levels. Cute pups. Great light and tones. Kinda funny. The composition is lacking in drama and the connection between the dogs and the camera and model could be stronger. 8 Voted earlier.
apex predators
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