This is Bobo. She’s a Pomeranian, currently three years old, and has lived in two countries in Asia that I have never even had a chance to visit. A new trend that emerged at the start of the pandemic was to get a dog. Everyone was stuck at home, and bored, so why not? I think the dullness of daily life and loneliness from being trapped in the house got to my parents as well, because my mom(who couldn’t even stand the thought of dog fur floating around the house) and my dad(who had adamantly refused to make the long term commitment of owning a dog) agreed that it was time to invest in a pet. Like everyone else, my family got a dog. Unlike everyone else, we got our dog from Thailand. Why? Because with its rounder face, bigger eyes, and tiny five pound body the teddy bear variety of Pomeranians that only Thailand offered looked absolutely adorable. Bobo was born on August 18th, 2020 in southern Thailand. After four months spent with her parents and another one day layover in Japan, she arrived in Naperville. The real life Bobo somehow managed to look even better than her advertisement photo on the website, so cute that I began to love taking pictures of her. Dog photos have now taken over my camera roll, and are probably using up a lot of storage on my phone. Since there’s a platform here, I thought I’d take the opportunity and share a few of my favorites.
In order to keep a bit of academic structure in this blog post, I’ll rate the five photos from a few different perspectives: photographic skill, how good the dog looks, and artistic quality.
December 26th, 2020 – This is the first ever photo I took of Bobo, from the first day we brought her home. I don’t want to give it a low rating simply because of nostalgia, but the photo itself is really bad. The lighting is horribly dim with an orange undertone, and the bars of the cage are blocking the view of the actual dog. My l
ack of prior experience with dogs made for the fact that I was nervous to even move her out and get a better angle.
- Photographic skill: 0/10
- Dog’s appearance: 8/10
- Artistic quality: 2/10
July 25th, 2021 – This is, in my opinion, the best photo of Bobo. She is actually looking at the camera, seems really happy, and I like how the sun makes the col
or of her fur a brighter shade of white. It is also the one photo in which my iPhone camera managed to get a shot that isn’t heavily pixelated.
- Photographic skill: 8/10
- Dog’s appearance: 10/10
- Artistic quality: 6/10
December 25th, 2021 – Considering only the amount of effort it took for Bobo to wear the Santa costume, this photo deserves a decent rating. With th
e tree and presents in the background, I think it’s pretty artistic with the coordinated holiday theme.
- Photographic skill: 5/10
- Dog’s appearance: 9/10
- Artistic quality: 8/10
June 2nd, 2022 – This is Bobo with my friend Lily’s dog Coco. Bobo and Coco were forced to become friends by Lily
and I, and they were born holding a responsibility to maintain this friendship because of the matching names. They are also each other’s only friends because none of the larger dogs care to socialize with them. I think the photography and artistic quality is average, but at least both of them look cute.
- Photographic skill: 5/10
- Dog’s appearance: 9/10
- Artistic quality: 4/10
September 4th, 2023 – This picture is a bit different then the rest because it was actually my friend who took it. Since it is now in my camera roll and Bobo looks good, I’m going to quietly add it here in th
e end. I love the entire aesthetic with the beach and the dog, and Bobo and I look genuinely h
appy to be there together. The photography obviously gets a 10(thanks Katie your photography skills are amazing),and I think thewhole viewmakes the photo seem pretty artistic.
- Photographic skill: 10/10
- Dog’s appearance: 10/10
- Artistic quality: 9/10
To anyone who read up to this point, I truly appreciate and respect your patience because even my family expressed disinterest in reading through the entirety of this review on Bobo’s pictures and she’s their own dog. Today’s topic has been relatively casual, and I didn’t really intend for there to be an argument, life lesson, or deeper meaning about this post. As I’ve been writing this and scrolling through my camera roll, however, I’ve noticed that these pictures that seemed useless and unwarranted in the moment have come to hold much more value. They have allowed memories that turned black and white to regain their color. So I guess I now have an ending thought: take pictures of meaningful things so you can remember them, always.
Thank you for introducing me to Bobo. What a great looking dog. This is a wonderful topic to address. I love the grading scale you provide. The pictures are awesome and Bobo appears to be living quite the life. Dogs are awesome and Bobo seems to fit that description. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Carol, it’s nice to see that you have a dog and you look happy with him. I have never had a dog, and never truly wanted one that much, but I would have been excited to get one, but my sister did as a child, who is 5 years older than me. I think she was really close to getting one, but ultimately my parents did not let her get one, and maybe I could have had cool looking photos of a dog like you if my sister got one. I like the rankings of the photos but I think the first one should be higher, because it’s like the first picture of him, and he looks cute, even though you cannot see his face. Do you have any other pets, or think of getting another dog? Are there any regrets getting Bobo, in spite of the great photos and probably many other joys he provides you?