My money-maker work is in dog shows and weddings with portraits of people, children and animals contributing a bit as well. And while I was very happy with the images I produced in those categories, the images I most enjoyed creating were in other categories: landscapes, wildlife, travel and candid pet. So, I've chosen a couple in each of those categories to share with you.

Our trip to Hollister CA in April to shoot the American Rottweiler Club National Specialty provided a few opportunities to photograph the areas in and around Hollister as well as Carmel and Monterrey. In Hollister, I was fascinated by the rolling hills sparsely dotted with Oak Trees and managed to capture this image near dusk.



Our hotel was actually in San Juan Bautista which is also home to an old Mission. In this shot, I was looking through an antique fence into the graveyard behind the Mission.



My wildlife excursions were almost exclusively along the Shingle Creek Nature Trail near our home. There I captured this shot of a River Otter trying to watch us while hiding in the water plants.



And along Lake Toho in Kissimmee, I spotted this Limpkin.



My favorite set of children portraits included these two:





My favorite formal dog portraits included these two:





Both were taken on location.

I had a lot of favorite candids including a bunch of the puppies but, overall, this Halloween shot of Sundance is my favorite. It's become part of the American Rottweiler Club's Meet The Breeds Exhibit.



Those are my favorites of 2009. Hope you enjoy them.

Jim