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So a few of you tweeted/messaged/facebooked me about Trouble. For those who follow me on Twitter or are friends with my on Facebook, you know we’ve had some weird problems with Trouble for the last 6 weeks. Right after we got back from China in May, Trouble starting having terrible outbursts. Like nothing I’ve ever heard/seen before. He would be completely normal and then BAM! He’d scream in pain for a full 30 seconds. I don’t mean yelp — he was quite literally making the exact same noise a dog would make if you were to cut his foot off with an axe. Absolute bloody murder type of scream. It was terrible.

Worst of all, when he’d have the episodes, he’d always run over to me as it was happening. His body would sort of seize up and he would scream in pain (you could easily hear him a block away, to give you an idea). The part that really hit me right in the heart is that he’d look right at me every time — knowing I’m the one that helps him with any other problems, so of course I can solve this one, right? It was extremely difficult to witness — but all I could do would be to coddle him as it was happening and see him through it. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

He was having an outburst every day for about a week solid. The vet had absolutely no idea what was wrong. We tried cleaning his insides out with a high fiber diet — as he eats EVERYTHING and the vet thought that maybe something was stuck in his stomach (we’ve found spiderman toy legs, full pieces of thick chalk, and tons of other things in his poop). He went about 5 days without an outburst so we were hopeful that we found the problem!

Then it started happening again. This was a few days before I left for Africa — so we were so happy that we decided on Lindsay staying home as there would be no way both of us would leave with Trouble having a problem like this. We had x-rays set up to check to see if it was his spine — and when it happened again, without me there, Lindsay couldn’t handle it (understandably — it’s really such a terrible, heart-wrenching thing to witness). She took him to the 24 animal hospital. The vet there did immediate x-rays and prescribed Trouble some pain meds — at least until I got home.

A couple days before I left for home, Lindsay called me in tears. Our vet told her that Trouble spine was the problem — and that surgery would be $5-10k. The vet (lovingly) sort of let her know that she wouldn’t be a bad pet owner if we decided to put him down — and that, along with Lindsay’s pregnancy hormones, sent her to emotional turmoil. She knows I would never put Trouble down if we didn’t have to, but with me not being there, and with the vet prepping her that it’s an option, she just was so terrified that that might be an option.

When I got home, that morning we met with the vet. We told him we’d absolutely do the surgery. He referred us to a specialist.

The specialist. Wow! This Vet was amazing. In the last year, he’s been published on issues of the spine more than any other Vet… ever. He gave us good news… and bad news. The good news was that his spine was great! Nothing wrong with it at all. We were thrilled with that. The bad news? No clue what was wrong. Trouble had something wrong with a wrist of his — so he assumed that that was it. But there was conflicting things so the vet was still quite confused. They did more x-rays and joint taps. Still nothing certain.

So the vet told us to just wait it out. Kennel Trouble so that he can’t do any exercise — for six weeks! This was terrible! But if it was necessary for Trouble, we’d do it. The vet said he’s 80% sure that if we do this, Trouble wouldn’t have another episode and we’d never see him again. Well, it’s been 4 weeks since his last episode! We’re not out of the woods yet — just hoping that Trouble doesn’t have one again for a few more weeks (we saw the specialist about 2 weeks ago — so 4 weeks to go).

Anyways, here’s the little money burner :)

I never thought I’d be THAT guy who will spend ridiculous amounts of money on his dog — but I totally am. I couldn’t imagine letting him go at 11 months of age! He’s just about the sweetest pup out there ;)

Bobby

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I’m almost caught up with posting the Africa trip! Woohoo!!! I’ll get right to it…

A brown snake eagle at sunrise. I absolutely love birds of prey.

One thing I loved about this trip was the amount of jackal we saw. My last trip had only one jackal. This time? We saw well over ten! And many at close distances for long periods of time. This gorgeous little Side-striped Jackal was still a bit groggy from having just woke up. Me and Garrett went out while everyone slept a bit — and our Jackal buddy was definitely made the early drive worth it!

At the lookout near Olifants. One of the few places you can get out of your vehicle. Without fail, every time I’ve gotten out at this lookout I see something. This time a herd of elephant were crossing the Olifants river. So peaceful to watch :)

Towards the end, my brother-in-law, Isaac, got behind the wheel a couple times to get the full experience :) This should give you an idea of how much we get to engage the wildlife!

Driving and then having to stop to wait for an extremely peculiar/interesting/fascinating animal like an ostrich cross? It’s so fun.

These three young siblings were out and about during our Sunset drive at Olifants later that night. So cute :)

People may say their ugly or creepy, but I love vultures.

Crossing the bridge at Olifants on our Sunset drive, this beautiful bull was taking a break for a drink. I could have watched him for hours.

Another incredible sunset while out on our sunset drive :)

On our way to a bush walk the following morning, we got up close and personal with this beautiful male lion! It’s such a special feeling — being right next to such a majestic animal. So grateful for all the lion sightings we had :)

Here’s Isaac trying to prove that if you go out on a bush walk, animals aren’t the only things that can blend in out in the wild :P

On our bush walk, we found a male Cape buffalo — the number two killer of humans in Africa (with hippo being number one). Like an idiot, I didn’t take a single photo (I had PLENTY of time). But I shot some video of him. He was steaming (it was early and cold) and looked as though he was guarding the gates of hell! It was so incredible to see. The above is a screen shot from the video.

My favorite tree out in the Kruger is hands down the Baobab trees.

Out on another sunset drive that night…

The following morning we made our way from the Olifants lodge all the way to Skukuza. We left just before Sunrise. This is just before getting to Satara (for those familiar with the Kruger)…

So far, the trip had been just about the most incredible trip we could have asked for. There were many things that I didn’t shoot at all. There were some things that I only shot video of. We had two incredible leopard sightings, for example, on the last sunset drive I posted about here — but I didn’t shoot at all for the first sighting (just wanted to take it in) and the second sighting I only shot video (which I’ll show later).

We also had Caracal, Civet, African wild cat (looks JUST like a small house cat — only Garrett saw this one. Luckily we all saw one later)… so many incredible sightings that I experienced instead of fumbling about for the right lens, getting it ready, and then the animal just disappearing after I get the shot — with no time to enjoy it for myself. I’m so glad I put the rules of “enjoyment” on myself over the rules of “get the shot!!!” I experienced so much more this time :)

Kruger, how I miss you already. Next year can’t come soon enough…

Bobby

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So my friend, Kevin, made one of the most stupidly fun iPhone apps I’ve ever played. Bling Bling Cash Money. It’s pretty dang addictive — and I’m still not exactly sure why! But it is…

Kevin, his wife Vicky, and Garrett out in London :)

Kevin is a stand up guy and a good old fashion family man. Who doesn’t love that, huh? So grab your iphone and download Bling Bling Cash Money here — it’s free so jump on it! And see if you can beat me/pass me up while you’re at it. I’m over 7.5 million dollars right now, so… yeah, I’m kind of a big deal :P

So get yourself some cash and support my friend!

Bobby

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A few weeks ago, Jessica Claire emailed me asking if I’d be up for an interview for the Shootsac newsletter. Being a total lover of my Shootsac, I gladly obliged :)

Here’s an excerpt from the interview…

Q: Tell us the truth–how do you find the time and money to go as many places as you do? Is this something that would be realistic for anyone? Are there sacrifices you make in other parts of your life to make this lifestyle possible?

Before my job allowed for me to travel while getting paid, we just roughed it. I think at one point we went two years without seeing a movie in the theaters. We never ate out. We only bought food at the grocery store that was significantly on sale. We bought a car from impound for like 400 bucks (after a couple other clunkers). We basically never spent any money so that we could go at least one or two new countries every year. I began making money as a photographer a few years ago and I started getting paid to travel so it just went from there. I no longer had to spend my money to go to awesome places in the world.

Look at just about every young and broke Australian or Kiwi. They aren’t super rich, but I swear I run into more Aussies and Kiwis who are traveling the globe for a year than anyone. Everyone might not be able to become a photographer and get paid to travel, but I think a new country every year is completely realistic for just about anyone. But again, if you live in an awesome country like America (or many other awesome western countries), and have tons of opportunities, if you aren’t doing what you want there’s a good chance you don’t want it bad enough. So if you want to see the world, make it happen!

———-

Feel free to read the rest of it here, if you like. Be warned — I’m a bit of a talker ;) Thanks to the Shootsac peeps for letting me ramble on and on and on and on :)

Bobby

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So yesterday we shot Amy and Ian’s day after portrait session — well “couple of days after” session, I suppose :) I LOVE when couples choose to have day after sessions because it frees up so much more time on the wedding day. It’s not so much a big difference for me, but it enables my couples to have more time to be with their friends — something I love :)

Anyways, Amy took us to quite possibly my favorite place I’ve ever shot a couple before at Pechanga. As you can see, it’s simply breathtaking…

I can’t wait to post this wedding in full soon!

Bobby

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