The outtakes. For those who think its easy to get just the right picture.

I must admit that some of these photos were digitally altered in my computer before posting them. I am not a professional photographer, I take hundreds of pictures and manage to get lucky with a small handful. In these pictures the Santa Claus hats each had an elastic chin strap that I removed so it wouldn't show and all three Rottweilers had their leashes on in my failed attempt to get them to stay still. In the past I had relied on my wife to hold at least one dog while I worked the timer and shutter on the camera. But none of that helped and because of her Alzheimer's she wasn't able to assist me. One good thing about this comedy of errors is that it makes for some funny pictures. Old man Axl doesn't sit very well like he used to and after a few seconds he lays down and I couldn't get Ruff to look toward the camera. To make matters more complicated, we now have a puppy that is a bundle of energy and it's impossible to predict which way she will move or what she will do next.

Last year was the first time I stopped trying to include me and my wife in the picture and took our Christmas card photo with just the three Rotts. I tried it once more this year with the same problems plus a new one that I didn't have before. But as unpredictable as baby Bessie was, it was in that very last picture that she decided to give her over-sized boy friend Ruff a loveable little kiss and made everything perfect. So here are a few of the outtakes.

This was almost a useable photo except that Bessie was supposed to be sitting between my legs instead of me looking like I just got off a horse and Axl decided to lay down and Ruff got the Godzilla eyes. My wife is still holding some of the leashes but I removed the chin straps and the leads connected to their collars.

I have read that there is a remote shutter release made for my camera. I am going to look into it. If it is workable then my wife and I can still sit on the couch and get the dogs in position in front of us before taking the picture. Up to now the major problem is me having to release the timer on the camera and then walk back and sit down. But on the plus side, the Rottweilers are more photogenic than I am anyway so who cares what I look like.  

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very enjoyable holiday.

p.s. If you are keeping track of Bessie's progress, you may be interested to know she now weighs 61-pounds and is 5 1/2 months old today.