Oooooooh kids. Last night Diarrhea Planet was playing at the Turf Club and you better believe we hired a babysitter and had an amazing time seeing some good old fashioned rock'n'roll. My face is still sore from all the smiling. Want to know what you missed? Here, watch them play a song live.Want to see more photos? Here you go.And you better believe I got a t-shirt. Ezra will probably get kicked out of school for wearing it in middle school. Well worth it.

I kinda left Miss Magda out of this week's Monday at the Madhouse post. I felt like talking about her would seem like a brief addition, and she deserves much (much) more than that. So I'm using up a full post to update you on our princess here.So what's the story? She has been WONDERFUL. I don't know if she's sad because Merlin is gone or if she was always jealous of him and acting out a bit or maybe she's just picking up on our own sad vibes, but kids? She has calmed the hell down. Sure, she's still squealy and jumpy when company arrives. But day to day? Her behavior has improved IMMENSELY. And I hesitate to write this for fear of what's around the corner, but I'm so dang proud of her that I cannot resist.She walks right by my side now -- rarely pulling or wrapping my legs up with her leash. She comes when called. She snuggles like it's going out of style. She is so gentle and careful with Ezra. This morning she greeted him by licking his toes and resting her chin on his thigh while he was on my lap.I don't know if this will last, but I am so grateful for this development. As if I couldn't adore her any more, something like this happens and here I am.Also... notice the grey on her chin? Looks like my sweet thing will prematurely whiten like Memphis. Ah well, I can't be too critical. Ezra is turning my own hair white as well.For your internet share of the day, the making of this New York Times sunday magazine cover is RAD. Check it out.

Today I've been working on processing a shoot I had last week with two adorable golden retrievers. This girl here? Daisy? She's 15. And you can bet she reminded me of this little lady. Daisy is slowly going blind (poor girl!) but she still has lots of spirit and was happy to follow me around working for treats and posing for the camera.Also, today is Earth Day. For most of you, it's a day to think about the planet etc etc etc. But for us, it's the anniversary of us adopting Memphis back in 2003, so our thoughts are with that troublemaker and how she stole our hearts for 9 glorious years. For many years, when I thought of that girl I was so sad about how she died or about how much I missed her. And I still miss her. But now remembering her makes me happy. She had so much spirit... grief really does get better over time. I'll be glad when I'm in that same space with Merlin.For your internet shares of the day, watching them turn this space from a hockey arena to a basketball arena was fascinating! Also (thanks Margaret!) I love this site that shows you where to find your shows streaming on the internet. And lastly, this collection of photos for Earth Day are stunning. Go look for yourself.

My pal Katie had an adorable baby boy three weeks ago, and today I finally got to meet the cutie! You guys, he was so light! It is so crazy when I get to meet babies that are smaller than Ezra was when he was born. They seem soooo much tinier (and easier to carry). Plus, I really enjoyed how this little munchkin wasn't trying to pull out my hair or earrings when I held him (despite his lovely, long fingers!). And word on the street is that he's sleeping in large chunks already. Think he could come over to my house and teach the smallest Plesser a trick or two? Hmm?But honestly, while it's super fun to meet new babies, it was more fun to catch up with my friend and see how she's holding up as a mother of two. Not only is Katie just an amazing, hardworking lady (she was on the phone working when I arrived!), but she manages to make it all seem easy and glamorous while doing it (no easy feat, I tell you). It was a nice break in my work-filled afternoon.And? I finally managed to whip up some Internet shares for you :) First, how about the teaser trailer for the new Bond movie? I know it's a few weeks old, but that doesn't make it any less fun.Also? Jeni's ice cream (THE BEST IN THE WORLD) has a new line of flavors inspired by art! I LOVE THIS! And lastly, it's national letter writing month, which I am ALL for. Here are some pretty notecards for the occasion!

I get asked all the time how I get such great photos of pets. And to be honest? It's not that tough! It requires a little patience, a little training and, most importantly, GOOD LIGHT. Are you seeing a theme in these posts? I hope so.So today, I'm going to break down the easiest way to get great shots of your pets. You don't need a studio or anything fancy, you  just need a large window and some stinky cheese. Here we go.1. Get your animal in the room with the best light. For a refresher on lighting, go here. If you see your dog doing something cute at 10 pm by the light of your television, dear sweet jesus do NOT take a photo and post it online. No one else will tell you this, but I will: Photos taken inside at night? They usually suck. For it to be worth it, your cat better be hula hooping. Sorry to rain on your parade.2. Get the animal up a little. They are less likely to move if perched on something (a bed! a chair! a radiator!). Plus? This creates a more interesting angle.3. Remove all unnecessary clutter/color from the background. Keeping your shots clean is key. Below is an example of me doing this in my everyday life. Also? Shot on the iPhone.This was Magda looking all sassy on my messy bed. So my first step was to (somewhat) make the bed and shoot it from an angle where you couldn't see my messy hampers/background. The middle photo is a little better, but by no means does my bed look like it's straight outta Pottery Barn (even though it is, ahem), so I changed up the angle in the last photo to really make the focus my dear, sweet girl. Much better, eh?4. If your animal is pretty good at sitting/staying, then you'll need a high value treat (bleu cheese is Magda's favorite) to draw their attention. You want to hold the cheese right below (or above) your camera lens. They will hold their gaze wherever the food is.5. If your dog will not stay and is instead lunging at you for the treat, maybe watch this video. (Yes, the effects and type are horrendous, but I really like this guy's technique.)See? Simple.

This is Millie, and she turned one year old today! It was so fun to have her in the studio -- you can't see in this photo, but she's SUPER smiley and man, did she dive into her birthday cake for the camera. It became super helpful to have a shower in the studio, which I never anticipated before! Ha!So if Millie is so dang fun, why did I choose this photo? It fit my mood better today. It's been a rough one because, well, I miss my dog. Since I was having a small child around today (that was not my own), I sent Magda off to doggie daycare. What I didn't anticipate was how weird it would be to be so alone in my house.I counted back, and I haven't been the only creature at home since 1997. Yeah. That's a long time. And while Merlin wasn't the most active of pups, it became painfully obvious how much I paid attention to his trips to the water bowl, his raspy bark when the mail was delivered or just how often I would stop by to give him a good scratch between my work projects.I'm also hyper aware of all of this because the old man's ashes arrived yesterday. It is so sad to think a soul that large comes down to a box that tiny in the end. Sigh. I know grief takes time... but today was tough.OK. Enough of that. Jamie called to try to cheer me up with the brand new Star Wars trailer (does he know me or what?), so you should watch that. And this also fascinated me today: Wait until you see what all The Rock eats in a day. AH-MAZING.

Today was set aside as a scouting day. I have a lot of clients who already live in the west suburbs or who are moving there, and when I'm trying to come up with locations to photograph them in, I'm at a bit of a loss. And frankly, I get lost every time I visit this part of the metro area (including today -- I think I got lost about six times). So it seemed smart to take this 67-degree weather and hit the road, amIright?I threw the vizsla in the car and off we went to explore forests and dog parks. Sadly, the exact kind of location that I dream of finding was not found (but if any of you know of such a place, please share it with me!), but I did find an outstanding new dog park and another great area for hikes etc. And Magda loved the field trip! And I almost stole a 4 month old silver great dane! OMG. The cuteness. (Jamie would have killed me.)For your internet share of the day, this is an amazing art project that I should have thought of. But let's be honest, I would have eaten it all.