Heather Dalton Photography | Blog » portraits

Crash

Heather — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:31:24 +0000

My family’s border collie, Crash, died yesterday. He was about three months shy of his 16th birthday. We got Crash when I was 14. When we went to go look at the litter and pick out our puppy, all the puppies were bouncing off the walls and running around like crazed, energy-filled border collies tend to do. This one puppy, however, was lying back in the shade, just chilling and watching all the other puppies. He was very laid back, and we knew he was the one we wanted. He was the runt of the litter, very smart, and very sweet. He had bright blue eyes, that eventually turned amber and then brown, and reddish brown fur. He was an adorable little fuzzball, and we loved him immediately.

We had two grown cats at home, and Crash was about their size (or maybe even smaller), and they quickly put him in his place. He grew up knowing that the cats were the bosses and should be feared and respected. Many years later, when I was in grad school and brought my cat Kepler home with me at Christmas, Kep took full advantage of Crash’s fear of cats. Crash was sleeping, minding his own business, and Kep marched right up to him and hissed at him. Crash jumped up and ran away, and Kepler chased after him. It was hilarious watching a 10-pound cat chase a 40-pound dog.

When he was little and wanted to lie down, all four legs would fly out from under him and he would crash – thus he got his name. It also helped that he had puppy nails and long fur so if he went chasing a ball into the kitchen, he had no traction so he went skidding across the floor and crashed into the oven.

Border collies are herding dogs, and Crash always tried to herd anyone, whether it be one of the members of my family, our cats, any visitors… If they were going somewhere, he was going to make sure they went in the right direction (according to him). This little trait of his tended to make the cats pretty angry. Or terrified. My younger cat, Apollo, isn’t afraid of anything (vacuum, hair dryer, the outside, bigger cats, etc.), but when I took him home the last two Christmases, he was really afraid of Crash, who by that time was arthritic and deaf, as well as being scared of cats. It was too funny watching Apollo creep around the house to stay away from Crash, who was completely harmless.

Crash was incredibly smart. He loved to play fetch with his tennis ball, but my dad, with his herniated discs, didn’t want to bend down to get the ball, so Crash learned to put the ball in his hand after he retrieved it, rather than at his feet. He sat and stayed and waited for permission before running out into the yard, even with the door wide open. The one thing he couldn’t ever quite grasp was heeling. I used to run in my neighborhood in Austin, and I took Crash with me on a leash. He always wanted to pull ahead and sprint, and then he’d get completely out of breath and we had to stop so he’d stop wheezing and panting before we could keep going again.

Crash was a part of our family for more than half my life. He loved us, and we loved him. He was a wonderful dog, and we’ll always miss him.

Baby Crash with his bright blue eyes

Older but not yet an adult – long legs and floppy ears! You can see how he crashed to lie down in the second one – all four legs out from under him

One of the first pictures I took with an SLR (film) camera was of Crash in our front yard

iPhone photo of Crash in March, 2010

Crash and Dad on Christmas Day, 2010

This Christmas, I knew it would be the last time I saw Crash, so I took him out in the yard and took pictures. I also snapped some while he was “helping” my mom in the kitchen

The Halligan Family

Heather — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:40:49 +0000

Eve had not had pictures taken with her husband and kids in quite a while and wanted to give prints as Christmas presents to her family. I met them at Bay Area Park about an hour before sunset one Saturday in late October to take their portraits. We first had the kids run around the playground to get some energy out, and I took some fun candids of them climbing around on the playground equipment. Then we strolled along a wooden walkway over the water and got a few posed shots. It was a gorgeous evening and we had a great time! Eve has a beautiful family, and she ended up making Christmas cards to send out as well as prints of the photos. Pictures are always a great gift!

The Nutcracker!

Heather — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:42:06 +0000

My friend Colleen had never seen The Nutcracker and always wanted to, so I got us tickets for her birthday. We were seated in the lower balcony, so we had a view of the entire stage, as well as the pit orchestra! The dancers were fantastic and the music was phenomenal. We had a great time, and Colleen got me a Nutcracker ornament to commemorate the event, which I hung front and center on my little tree in my apartment.

Sam at the Capitol

Heather — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:30:33 +0000

The State Capitol Building in Austin is an impressive building made of pink granite from the Texas Hill Country. I took Sam there to wander around at sunset one of the nights we were in town for the 4th of July.

Sara and family at the park!

Heather — Sat, 28 May 2011 20:30:20 +0000

The last time I was in Austin I got to take some pictures of my best friend Sara and her parents in a neighborhood park. We walked around the park a bit and people-watched. They are fabulous people, and it’s always wonderful to spend time with them.

Sara makes some of the best faces!

I even got to be in a few pictures!

Sara’s parents are adorable

Extended family portraits

Heather — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 23:05:59 +0000

Cathy contacted me because her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary was coming up and she wanted to give them pictures of their entire family. She, her husband and children, her sister, her brother and his family, her parents, and one tiny, fluffy dog all gathered at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, Texas a couple of weeks ago. The kids had a lot of fun climbing around on the trees and playground equipment, and the park had many lovely locations for photos. Pictures are a fantastic gift idea for any occasion!

Ladybug!

Portraits of Terri and Brittany

Heather — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:14:57 +0000

While I was in Austin, I took portraits of Terri and her daughter, Brittany. It was cold but pretty out so we headed to a park near their house for some outdoor pictures before going home to take pictures with their dogs in front of the Christmas tree. It’s always fun taking pictures with them and we had a blast!

It was a little difficult at first to get the dogs to cooperate… But it made for a pretty funny picture

Long-time friends

Heather — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:22:58 +0000

One of the nice things about being back in Austin over Christmas was getting to see people I’ve been friends with for a long time but don’t get to see often. A few of them even let me take pictures of them.

My friend Erin, who now lives in Oahu

My friend Cate, who was my science teacher in eighth grade

My awesome cousin Erin

My best friend of about 12 years now, Sara

Christmas!

Heather — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:31:38 +0000

My parents, my brother Matthew, my grandma, my dog Crash, my two cats Kepler and Apollo, and I all gathered at my parents’ house for presents and brunch on Christmas morning. Poor Apollo was terrified of Crash (who was just as afraid of him) and spent most of the time upstairs. Kepler ventured into the action but quickly took refuge under the tree. A great time was had by all (with the possible exception of the cats…).