Abby’s Saturday // 2020 Blooper Reel

Welcome to my FAVORITE blog post of the entire year!!
It’s the Abby’s Saturday BLOOPER blog post! Cue the confetti – yayyyy!

So, let me give a tiny bit of background: once upon a time, before we had children – I looked around for a way to consistently practice & grow my photography skills. Thankfully, our sweet puppy stepped up to the plate & off I went on a journey of photographing my dog every single week.

When I started taking “Abby’s Saturday” photos – I had literally zero intention as to how far I would go. In other words: I did not have a goal in mind (it wasn’t a “Project 52” or anything). I simply wanted to pull my camera out every single week & take fun photos of our sweet pup to practice the skills of photography.

And well, here we are: SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS LATER.

These weekly photos have evolved from being just a simple photo on my blog with no words (a check-mark to say I’d “blogged”) to now including a short write up about our week (and some weeks – those write ups are long). And I love it.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t hard. Believe me – it is brutal sometimes to come up with new ideas or to make my subjects (which over the years have grown to include not just our pup Abby, but our kids as well) cooperate with the vision I have in my head.

To this point, I have published 333 Abby’s Saturday photos – but there are literally thousands of images that I take that never get posted. Some are simply not good photos, some concepts I have just don’t work out (you’ll see a few of those below), sometimes I can’t get all parties to cooperate, and then some photos simply end up in the “blooper reel” – and that’s what today is all about!
ENJOY a little peek “behind-the-scenes” of what really happens behind the curtain for these Abby’s Saturday photos!

Disclaimer: No Black Labs, little girls, or little boys were hurt or injured in any way due to the circumstances of these photos – I promise.

And one more thing: after looking thru today’s post, you’ll definitely want to go back & see the Blooper Reels I’ve posted over the last 4 years! Not only are they hilarious, but Braelynn & Leander are SO tiny! I’m suddenly so thankful for these weekly photos of our lovable (so patient & tolerating) pup & our quickly growing sweet girl & sweet boy!
2019 Bloopers || 2018 Bloopers || 2017 Bloopers || 2016 Bloopers

(The following photos are shown in the order that I took them throughout the year, so kicking things off with January & ending with the very last photos I took of Abby, Braelynn, and Leander!)

More often than not, I need to employ a little help from Derrick to make my vision a reality & thankfully, he’s always willing to step up & give me an extra hand!!

Wait – that’s not Abby..

Remember how I talked about those concepts that never quite turn out? I wanted this one to work so bad! We tried in multiple different locations around the house & I just couldn’t get it to work. Ultimately, I gave up & decided to try something completely different – which turned into one of my all time favorite solo-Abby photos.

Hairball?

Don’t worry – a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s – right?

Silly faces!

That day I let everyone go a little crazy out in our mud-pit of a backyard.

Abby wasn’t really getting the whole “social distancing” thing.

She struggled with paw-washing too – pandemic-life has been rough on our pup!

Oh wait – you thought these photos were EASY? I know, the finished product is always polished & pretty – but sometimes getting there is quite difficult.

And just in case you were under the impression that Braelynn always cooperated (being a big 5-year-old girl that she is) – the answer is that they like to trade off who is going to be the stinker for Mom.

And sometimes – it’s not a kid at all – but Abby who decides she doesn’t want to participate!

I could say SO many things about this photo – Abby bailing, Leander has no pants on, Braelynn obviously upset that everyone else isn’t cooperating.

Apparently, Abby did not want to be sharing the spotlight with D’Artagnan!

We’re all about the kisses over here.

That face you make when a bug flies directly up your nose.

When the neighbor dog comes out – the photoshoot is over.

I’m just thankful that this particular photo was not taken seconds before someone vomited!

If you can’t tell, Abby puts up with quite a lot with the two munchkins.

He’s crying because his Starbucks cup is empty – I cry at that point too.

Abby’s best attempt at a smile!

And this is Abby’s best impression of a ghost!
(Otherwise known as, I was shooting with a longer-than-usual shutter speed & she jumped up to see what was in Derrick’s hand – causing the blur-effect.)

Okay, now that you’re hooked, you know you want to go back & see the bloopers/outtakes from the last 4 years!
2019 Bloopers || 2018 Bloopers || 2017 Bloopers || 2016 Bloopers