That’s Not a Stuffed Animal

I don’t for a second doubt that the owner of this dog regards it as a collectible—and the “Ty” tag surely means something. You remember Beanie Babies, right? Well, this pooch isn’t one of them. He appeared in the window as my wife and I wife walked by on June 15, 2023.

Ha! After I put away Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, after taking the Featured Image, a smaller dog poked up its head and vamoosed before I could react. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/3200 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 11:50 a.m. PDT.

Since I had the smartphone out once more, I looked over the photo and showed Annie. She rightly criticized the composition, which I explained as done to exclude the house number. She smartly suggested that I remove it during post-production. But, damn, when I moved to take her advice, the window was empty. I salvaged the shot by cropping.