The calm before the storm

Sunday morning dawned all nice and pretty, but a snowstorm was predicted for later in the day so Smooch and I 

headed out early for a really long walk. One of these days it's going to be warm enough to ride Lucy again *sigh*.

By the time we got home, the temperature had dipped even further below 30

and Hank and the herd were tucked against the trees out of the wind.

Cold, cloudy days are good for something: the light.

My models were most cooperative as I continued to practice with the new camera. 

I'm using all the same lenses that I used before – the only "new" part is the camera body. 

And the rockin' new strap, but that's a subject for a whole other post. 

All of these pictures were taken with a 50mm lens.

I use a zoom lens most of the time; using a prime or fixed lens is a little more work – 

I have to go to my subjects instead of zooming the lens to get close to them. 

My latest theory is that shooting with a fixed lens burns more calories, and that's always a good thing.

Anyway, Lucy and the boys and I were all mellow and chilling out – figuratively and literally. 

My shutter-pressing finger was one degree away from frostbite, so I was about to head back to the house.

Then George and Alan exchanged looks and all hell broke loose. 

And I took enough pictures to last the whole week! See you tomorrow.