Day 8: gift from the heart

I’m still running a day behind on the Joy of Love. I’m not sure if the prompts are getting less obvious (at least for a canine subject), or if I’m just creatively blocked, but I’m not finding it as easy to immediately take a photo of Dorsey that epitomizes the theme and looks good. Tuesday’s theme was Gift from the Heart, and after getting such a fantastic shot for Generations, I just wasn’t satisfied with my photography for the new theme. Finally, today, I came up with an idea to illustrate how much love Dorsey gives me and play with the mechanics of the photography in an interesting way.

Dorsey loves to snuggle up with us when we’re sleeping, whether it’s at night or for a nap. He’s particularly fond of my ultra-soft Brookstone blanket, and he’s developed a habit of curling up in the crook of my knees or against my stomach when I’m laying underneath it. The warm pressure of his body is incredibly comforting when I’m sick (like the week I was bedridden with a particularly nasty case of the flu) or have a migraine. For this shot, I pretended to nap while holding the camera out and taking the photo. I liked the way the glow of the sunlight washed me out and highlighted Dorsey’s fur.

The day before, I had tried several other ways of showing his love of cuddling, but I wasn’t satisfied with the results. They are perfectly nice photos, but just didn’t excite me. Dorsey curled up in bed with John last night with his head resting on John’s leg:

Dorsey napping with his back pressed up against my leg while I’m working (his typical weekday position):