Bet ya didn’t know that I took off for a few days this week with my pooch, didja? Well, ok, if you follow me on twitter, you knew of my little escape, but I never mentioned it on the blog. I had plans to go the previous week but they fell through (very sad story) and I didn’t want to jinx this trip by talking about it. But it happened this time, yay!
So the Fergermeister and I took off and stayed at the most lovely cabin on a bay near Freeland, and I brought my camera, and we did as close to nothing as possible. I took lots and lots of pictures, so I am posting lots and lots of pictures, because I found it impossible to narrow them down. Hopefully this will enable all of you to enjoy our trip with us vicariously!
This is what was awaiting us when we arrived on Thursday evening. Ahhh heaven.
I love these shots because even though they are both imperfect, they give me the feeling as if I was back there in that moment.
There was a dedicated doggy area at the cabin (the owner is a multiple dog owner), and Fergie couldn’t believe her luck when she spotted the balls and toys. I have never ever seen her so happy. It nearly made me cry.
The adorable neighbor pooch Cooper. He was a doll.
I wish I had taken more shots of the inside of the cabin, but honestly we were outside almost the whole time. But the cabin was positively darling, very clean and comfortable and furnished exactly as I would furnish a summer cabin.
The cabin had a fully stocked kitchen, washer and dryer, very comfy queen sized bed (and also a loft and pullout bed in the tv room, not pictured here), and sleeps up to 4 people. I can’t wait to go back and bring my mom and sister, who I know will love the place. I’ll leave details at the end of this post on how to rent the cabin for yourself. It is dog friendly, and even has a separately fenced side yard that you can contain your pooch in, and, get this, a new doggie bathing area outside with both cold AND hot water (awesome). The property is huge, and the most fun place I can imagine a dog being able to explore and sniff around while being completely contained by the fence around the property.
Late that first night I could not get Fergie to come inside. She was having so much fun throwing her new toys around the yard that she didn’t want to go to sleep. So I brought my camera outside and decided to try and take some nighttime shots. That’s moon flare you see below.
And that my friends, is the moon! Woohoo!! It took a long time for me to get this shot, but I finally got it, and it was worth it.
Our view the next day.
There are gorgeous flowers in bloom all around the property, and I was even greeted by sweet-smelling fresh cut flowers inside the cabin. It was awesome.
The Cabin owner’s beloved passed german shepherd pooch is buried on the property, and Fergie and I spent some time laying on a blanket near her grave keeping her company. I only wish I have a spot as beautiful for Fergie once she is gone. Dogs live such short lives.
The hardest part of the trip was trying to decide where to lie down outside. This was one of my spots under a giant cherry tree in the side yard, and this was my view.
Warning: there are A LOT of Fergie images coming up. My lenses were focused on her nearly the entire time, so I ended up with like 450 shots of just her. Hopefully you will think she is just as cute as I do. Man I love this dog. 
I’m thinking this one needs to go big on a canvas.
I LOVE this shot. Totally imperfect, and I love it for it’s imperfection.
This is the look she gives me whenever I ask a question. “Fuurrgee? do you wanna….?”, then this. She is sooo cute!
If you need just one reason why I love this dog so much, it’s looking at you below. I would do anything for her.
Sarah left a comment on one of Fergie’s Facebook images saying she had a little black olive nose. So the whole trip I referred to her as ‘little black olive’. Here is a shot of that little nose.
Stick induced happy coma below.
The sky changed colors throughout the sunset, and then I couldn’t believe my eyes when it turned purple. I tried everything to get the color right in the shots in-camera, and even went so far as to change the custom white balance (K) in 10 degree increments over about 100 degrees both up and down, and never got the color right in camera. That is one of the most frustrating things about digital photography- so often what you see with your eyes is nearly impossible to duplicate with your camera. I suppose seasoned landscape photographers would have told me I needed a special filter to get the shot. Oh well, in this case Lightroom did the job.
I don’t have words to express how much I love this shot below. Fergie is such a good model, and held still while I craned my neck to try and get her in focus and the sunset perfectly exposed.
Then we were off to Double Bluff beach, where it was hot and very dry.
Look at her face in that shot on the left below. LOL.
A commenter had asked how I made the ‘flash’ file on Bella’s post. It’s actually really easy. It’s an animated GIF file, made in Photoshop. You just drag all of your images as layers onto one image, so you end up with a multilayered file, then go to ‘window’, ‘animation’, create new frames, and select the layer for each frame, set the duration of each frame in seconds, and then save for web as a gif. Here is a more in depth tut: animated gif tutorial.
And that my friends, was my trip to Whidbey Island with my doggie daughter! Hope you enjoyed the images and my cute little girl.
If you are interested at staying at the same lovely cabin we did, check out the listing on VRBO, and when you contact the owner Julia, be sure to tell her Jamie at Cowbelly sent you! Can’t wait for my next stay there.
26 Comments
jamie, these are wonderful! i’m so happy you got to have your vacation
Awesome shots! It looks so amazing there! I wanna go with my furbaby
Thanks for sharing.
Glorious Jamers!!! LOVE the animated gif. thanks for the tutorial- I am gonna have to try that
Glad you had a great escape- you certainly earned it!!
LOVE!!! this series. Looks like a great time!
So glad you finally got your vacation
I think we went on one at the same exact time!
Aww. Looks like you both had so much fun. Beautiful location, blue skies, trees. Love it!
Wow, looks like a very relaxing place, that cabin looks so cozy. I’m assuming you were smiling as much as Fergie was.
Love, love, love the pictures. It looks like you and Fergie had a wonderful time. That place is so gorgeous!!! I LOVE the pic of Fergie laying in the grass and you can see her face through the grass blades.
Nice place and photos, it looks like the perfect unwinding spot - and thanks for the GIF tutorial, I’ve often wanted to try animation with a sequence.
looks like you both had an amazing time!! glad you were finally able to get away.
Awww, love the shots! SOOO happy you had a mini vacation!
Thanks for “sharing” your va-ca with us! Shots are great! Now I want to go!
What a fabulous vacation! Fergie looks like she was in heaven!!
oh my gosh jamie!
what a magical trip!
thank you so much for sharing it!
melissa
looks like an amazing time Jamie! Glad you got away!
i love fergie!!! and your trip looks like it was loads of fun for both of you. i’m jealous you got to go on a trip with your dogs–i’m missing mine like CRAZY!!
great photos! good for you to get away when we had the great warm weather! i love vrbo, we have rented places several times through them from WA, OR to Hawaii. great vacation with your great puppy girl!
hugs,
puglette
:o)
Looks like an absolutely perfect place for a doggie holiday!
Awwwwww Jamie - I loved every single word and image from this post. Geeeeeesh Fergie, how did you and your cute little black olive nose get to be so lucky to find a Mama that would love you sooooo much? Makes my heart so happy to hear how much you adore her….. really. xoxo
Looks like you two gals had a great time! Your photos are amazing… Fergie is packed full of cuteness and I can see the love for you in her eyes!
Ahh so nice to be able to take a break and give your dog some much needed attention
Fergie is so stinkin’ cute….how can any one not love that face.
Love the water pics! Looks like you guys had a great time!!
Love your work, Jamie! I am gathering, that I simply shoot too wide open too often when photographing the pups….gotta stop down a bit and get more detail! What aperture do you find yourself at most of the time?
Your imperfections are wonderful!!!!
I love how you not only spend your time with your furry loved one but spend time with one’s on the other side of the bridge. Your a really good soul, I can tell.
I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more cowbelly!!!!
(I can never get tired of saying that)
Thank you SO much for the steps on making the ‘flash’ file. I will be trying it soon. I love the one you ended up with
Very cute. Thanks again!