Karla Wakefield

Pet Photography

604.813.2435
karla@karlawakefield.com
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Pingu and Meeka

September 17, 2013 by Karla Leave a Comment

Pingu and Meeka are a pair of gorgeous, easy going, and playful young gals. They were surrendered together and are so bonded to each other that they need to be adopted into their new home together.

Pingu has bright blue eyes, just a hint of brown/calico markings and an awesomely puffy tail. As with all long-haired cats she’ll likely need a little bit of brushing to help keep that coat looking it’s best.

Photo of Pingu a white and calico cat at the Delta shelter
Just chilling out after our play session (she had lots of fun with one of my big reflectors)

Photo of Pingu a white and calico cat at the Delta shelter
Meeka is a short haired brown tabby who loves to supervise. Just look at those eyes and markings! Here she’s watching the action going on below and getting ready to join in.

Photo of Meeka a tabby cat at the Delta shelter

Since they need to find a home together they have a reduced adoption rate. You can view their details here and here.

Please contact the Delta Community Animal Shelter for more information on these two cats and the other pets they have available.

Filed Under: Cats, Shelter Features

Nova

July 14, 2013 by Karla Leave a Comment

Nova’s story is an unfortunate one. She had had a broken front leg that was never treated. Her owners couldn’t or wouldn’t pay to have her looked after and decided to surrender her instead. At least now she would be receiving the care she desperately needed. Since the old break could not be set properly and it was causing her constant pain the decision was made to have the leg amputated.

Luckily the Tollie Fund was able to cover the cost of her surgery and the fabulous staff and volunteers at the Delta Community Animal Shelter have been giving her all of the lovin’ this sweet, sweet girl deserves. It’s been a couple of months since the surgery and she’s doing marvelously.

She’s only a year old (give or take) and she still has that puppy energy and enthusiasm … though the day before we stopped in she had been out for quite a long walk and the weather was on the warm side so she was being smart and taking it easy. We didn’t mind one bit … we weren’t moving much faster ourselves in that heat.

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

She loves, loves, loves chewing on her toys … even when she’s too tired to keep her eyes open 😉

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

Nova, a dog available for adoption at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS)

The surgeons did a great job with the incision/scar … it’s healed up very cleanly. And look at that pattern on her head … can you see the howling wolf? 🙂

 

Visit the DCAS website to see Nova’s adoption info or call the shelter for more information

Filed Under: Dogs, Shelter Features

Wiggles

May 20, 2013 by Karla Leave a Comment

Visiting the shelter is always a very welcome break away from my computer, especially after weeks that have been as busy as the past few.

This visit was even more exciting because I was finally getting to see the new building that the Delta Community Animal Shelter recently moved into. It’s really nice … so much bigger and brighter than their old building with more space for the animals to get outside into enclosed patio areas. It looks like there’s going to be larger run areas for the dogs out back but I think that area is still a work-in-progress so I’m really just guessing at this point.

I was thinking I would get to see Chicklet again but found out that he’s been moved to the local Bosley’s in hopes that he’ll get more exposure (they recently adopted out two other rabbits).

Instead I got to meet a brand new arrival … Wiggles 🙂 … a very young little chocolate brown girl who was brought in as a stray.

Pamela (Chicklet’s favorite volunteer) was already there and Wiggles was snuggled up and sleeping on her lap. I joined them out on the enclosed patio and we chatted for a while until Wiggles woke up and got used to having another stranger around.

photograph 1 of a pet rabbit at the Delta Community Animal Shelter named Wiggles

Pamela has been a big help and a wealth of bunny knowledge … telling me about things like binkies and dewlaps and other fun stuff. You can see in the right hand photo below that Wiggles’ neck is looking a little bare  … that’s where her dewlap will be when she’s older

photograph 4 of a pet rabbit at the Delta Community Animal Shelter named Wiggles

Once she got comfortable with me she was full of curiosity and energy typical of any young one 🙂

photograph 3 of a pet rabbit at the Delta Community Animal Shelter named Wiggles

And of course one must always take time out to clean … very thoroughly …

photograph 2 of a pet rabbit at the Delta Community Animal Shelter named Wiggles

… especially between the toes (look at those toes!!! 🙂 )

photograph 5 of a pet rabbit at the Delta Community Animal Shelter named Wiggles

photograph 6 of a pet rabbit at the Delta Community Animal Shelter named Wiggles

Since Wiggles is a stray she’s not available for adoption quite yet, but if you’re interested in finding out more about her give the staff at DCAS a shout.

 

Update 6/7/2013 – It turns out that Wiggles is a boy … whoops!!

Filed Under: Rabbits, Shelter Features

Chicklet

May 15, 2013 by Karla Leave a Comment

Meet Chicklet!

Chicklet came to the Delta Community Animal Shelter as a baby and though he was found just hanging out in a backyard he’s definitely a domesticated bunny.

Apr-25-Chicklet-pg1

When I arrived one of his favorite volunteers was already there and she helped make the introductions. We wanted to let Chicklet come out of the cage on his own so we sat down and waited and chatted and waited some more. After about a half-hour-ish our patience was rewarded and he hopped out of the cage and into her waiting lap. She brings fresh greens and lots of lovin’ for him pretty much daily 🙂

It was such a wonderfully warm and sunny day that we decided to go out to the outdoor run (this was at the old location of the DCAS … they’ve moved to their new building as of May 6th).

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There is so much for a little bunny to explore outside …

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A few tasty dandelion leaves and a bath rounded out the afternoon …

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And all too soon it was time to go …

Apr-25-Chicklet-pg4

Chicklet is litter box trained, neutered, tattooed and ready for his forever home. Contact the DCAS for adoption details.

Filed Under: Rabbits, Shelter Features

Posh

April 24, 2013 by Karla Leave a Comment

Last week the Burnaby SPCA posted on Facebook about a little Guinea Pig found in a very sad state … her cage had been left in a ditch in the pouring rain and she was half submerged by the time she was rescued. I just can’t imagine how she ever came to be there. She has cleaned up very nicely and they’ve nicknamed her Posh.

Since Guinea Pigs need to chew on wood (like apple, pear, or aspen) to keep their teeth worn down to a healthy length … and we just happen to have a big ‘ol apple tree in the back yard … I thought that taking a few branches in would be a nice treat for her.

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It’s a fabulous tree. Even though it seems like we pick more apples up off the ground (and take to the wildlife rescue down the road) than we end up picking for ourselves we always seem to have lots. I’m still enjoying the applesauce I made last fall 🙂

So I sent hubby out to trim a few of the smaller branches that always want to grow where we don’t want them to grow and off we went to visit Posh.
 
Burnaby-SPCA-0089-Edit

 

She’s a little cutie of course and was ok with our visiting … until I touched the top of her cage and spooked her a bit … then it was straight into her little hiding spot. The cage bars weren’t very camera friendly I’m afraid and since it was a quick visit I didn’t ask about coaxing her out and giving her time to get comfy in front of the camera in a more open environment.

Posh isn’t available for adoption just yet, I’m guessing they need to wait to see if her owner comes to claim her. If you’re interested in adopting Posh if/when she is available give the Burnaby SPCA a call.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Pocket Pets, Shelter Features

Summer

April 6, 2013 by Karla Leave a Comment

During this week’s visit to the DCAS I got to meet Summer. A really, really sweet little girl. Both little and sweet are very accurate descriptors. She’s a petite little tabby and super friendly. She warmed up to me right away. Not that the treats I was holding had anything to do with it I’m sure. She’s roughly 10 months old so she might grow a bit more yet.

The first thing that grabs your attention when you meet Summer is her intense eye colour. I think they tend more to copper but could be considered orange too.  In any case they’re gorgeous! The camera doesn’t really do them justice.

The second thing you notice is that her fur is incredibly soft. Surprisingly so. The alternating light and dark banding (agouti) on the individual hairs in her light parts have you expecting a rough texture, but that’s not the case at all … its super silky!

 

Summer-single-4

 

She is still full of kitten curiosity and energy. One of her favorite activities is watching the birds at the feeder just outside the window (excellent placement I must say! 🙂 )

 

Summer-triptych

 

Not one to stay still for very long it was only a matter of time until she found where I had left the treat package (oops!).

 

Summer-diptych

 

Shelter staff have categorized her as an ‘Orange’ Meet-Your-Match cat and that certainly matches my experience with her … affectionate, outgoing, curious … an excellent supervisor kitty!

 

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Unfortunately Summer tends to think outside the box … if ya know what I mean … so she needs a warm barn type of environment where that won’t cause any stress with her people.

Talk to the DCAS Staff or check out Summer’s adoption info page for more details.

 

 

Photography Notes

Working in the smaller area of the communal cat room I ran into a few hiccups …

Lens selection – A few times my shorter/wider zoom was too short but I couldn’t always back up enough to focus my longer zoom. Next time I’ll take a macro lens that has a longer focal length than my short zoom and a closer minimum focusing distance than my long zoom and see how that works out. I’ll probably still feel like I have the wrong lens on half the time 😉

Lighting – The room is well lit from a normal people-working-in-the-room perspective. Windows on opposite sides help to let some daylight in. To the camera though its still on the dark side especially near the floor. I bumped the ISO up as high as 1600 at one point but that still wasn’t quite enough action stopping power to keep up with a jumping kitten. Yes, I could have gone higher on the ISO and may do so next time just to see how noisy things get. I had a flash unit with me but decided not to use it for a couple of reasons … 1) I know it won’t recycle fast enough when I’m wanting a burst of frames; and 2) there were other cats in the room (at least one is from a feral colony and is slowly being socialized to people) and they were being pretty shy. I didn’t want to add to their stress by having a flash constantly going off in their space. There are some very nice continuous light options available that are light weight and cool to the touch with low power consumption that I have started looking into. Next step is to phone around to the rental places and see what’s available locally.

 

Filed Under: Cats, Shelter Features

Buddy

March 30, 2013 by Karla 1 Comment

Thursday I had the good fortune to meet Buddy out at the Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS). He’s the new kid in town having just arrived from the shelter in Terrace where he was surrendered when his owner fell on some hard times.

The shelter environment can be stressful for the animals in care but Buddy seems to be taking it all in stride.
Photo of Buddy at the Delta Community Animal Shelter

 

We could tell he was excited to see us and happy to take all the pets and tummy rubs we wanted to give. Of course I fell in love with those big soft ears.

 

Photo of Buddy at the Delta Community Animal Shelter

 

Such a handsome and easy going guy!

He’s very inquisitive and alert. During our time together we had some visitors and heard a bit of yelling from the nearby construction workers. He always wanted to go check things out but I don’t recall ever hearing him bark. That could just be my failing memory though 😉

 

Photo of Buddy at the Delta Community Animal Shelter

 

He’s got such a wonderful creamy beige and brown coat with a very subtle scattering of black hairs on his upper back and a perfectly white tip on his tail. So cute!

 

Photo of Buddy at the Delta Community Animal Shelter

 

It wasn’t long before the excitement of the day caught up with him and it was time for a little snooze. Did I mention that I totally fell in love with those ears?

 

Photo of Buddy at the Delta Community Animal Shelter

 

Buddy will be ready for adoption just as soon as he’s neutered. Shelter staff say he’s good with kids, cats, and other dogs too.

 

Photo of Buddy at the Delta Community Animal Shelter

 

Talk to the DCAS staff  (who are absolutely wonderful too 🙂 ) to get all the details about Buddy and to fill out an adoption application.

 

Filed Under: Dogs, Shelter Features

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