The Life of a Dog

[NorthernFocus]

They've really got it rough....

Had a bit of evening light coming in the window. Grabbed my D800E, 70-200 f2.8, 1/125s, f/4, 200mm, ISO400 handheld w/VR on. Nose just tweaking out of DOF on second shot.

[Shadowman]

Nice looking animal. Almost lost against the background.

[gregj1763]

Hi Dan, Great looking dog and give him a pat from me.
If you have a bit of trouble with out of focus areas in a photo, below is a link that I found very helpful about selective sharpening.
I dont know what editing software you use but I'm sure that a google search would find something similar for your pp software.
Cheers, Greg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcT8fJTejcM

[Donald]

That first one is, I think, very, very good. The expression captured is wonderful and the harmony of colour and tone lends a wonderful ambience to the pose - just all lazy, comfortable and unhurried. Works well.

[terrib]

That first one is really nice. You were right to take advantage of that light and the dog cooperated with a great expression. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the comments. She just raised her head up in the first shot so had a better expression on her face. In the second one she was starting to get annoyed with me for interrupting her nap.

Thanks for the link, Greg.

[Manfred M]

Nicely done. Keeping everything in the same tone family as the dog works really well here. I also thing that getting down to eye level was the right thing to do; a much more personal and intimate PoV.

I personally prefer the second shot as it is a tiny it less busy (I guess I prefer the closeup head-shot style), although I personally would have cropped the head a bit tighter (with less wall / background above the head). This would bring the eyes up a bit higher in the frame.

Do the eyes have slightly different colours, or is that just a result of the lighting?

[NorthernFocus]

Here's another version. The eyes are the same color. It's the lighting. Already desaturated one a bit to even them out.

[djg05478]

Are these photos showing up in the post for everyone else? All I see are icons indicating a picture should be there.

[Donald]

Are these photos showing up in the post for everyone else? All I see are icons indicating a picture should be there.

I'm seeing them okay at the moment.

[djg05478]

Rats. Chrome and IE not displaying them for me. And I see GSPs in the avatar

[Harpo]

Great shot Dan. I agree with a lot of whats been said- the different shades of brown work. The first one is real nice because it tells a story. The tighter crop of version 2 of the second photo seems to have more personality rather than just another head shot. It also seems a little sharper, at least on my monitor.

[NorthernFocus]

...The tighter crop of version 2 of the second photo seems to have more personality rather than just another head shot. It also seems a little sharper, at least on my monitor.

Thanks for the comment. Yes I picked a different photo to do the tighter crop because the first head shot was getting a bit soft around the nose (imagine a dog with a soft nose ) and it would show worse with a tighter crop. So I used a sharper shot.

Debbie if you're a GSP person you can see the old ones in the avatar and the pup you're missing in this post at this link .

[djg05478]

Yay...I can see them on my machine at home. Yes I'm a GSP person, I have two. Great photos, love the golden light.

[NorthernFocus]

...Yes I'm a GSP person, I have two...

Please share. Maybe we should start a GSP thread Not that they are better than other dogs.... well not ALL other dogs at least

[djg05478]

Please share. Maybe we should start a GSP thread Not that they are better than other dogs.... well not ALL other dogs at least

Yeah.....I do this to my dogs Her eyes are a little soft.



My other one lounging.



Time to get some outdoor photos I guess. Just looking through my stuff and realized I don't have many I really like. Anywho.

Love your puppy photos. That must have been a hoot! Mine are rescues that I grabbed as adults.

[travis4567]

Beautiful dog, beautiful photos!!

[NorthernFocus]

Grace has a sister that's a rescue. She's been with us for eight months now. The only real quirk she came with is tough for Alaska. She's got a thing about snow shovels and attacks them. Even if it's just leaning against the wall. So whenever we have snow to move, Maddie has to go in the crate or she flips out. Here she is a bit more relaxed.

[djg05478]

Grace has a sister that's a rescue. She's been with us for eight months now. The only real quirk she came with is tough for Alaska. She's got a thing about snow shovels and attacks them. Even if it's just leaning against the wall. So whenever we have snow to move, Maddie has to go in the crate or she flips out. Here she is a bit more relaxed.

She's very pretty. Bummer about that snow shovel thing. Although, dogs are very resiliant. If she's food motivated with a lot of patience and a lot of bacon you might be able to recondition that aggressive response.

[NorthernFocus]

She is definately food motivated. We'll get there eventually. It's a minor thing anyway.