A New Puppy

I had  forgotten the pleasant sounds of children and puppies…

 

Instant Affection

 

 

Some Like to Pose

This is Teddy.  He is pampered but he likes to pose for the camera and I am not one to pass up a ham.  I liked this little dog very much.

Nikon d90 with Sigma 24-70 at 70mm.  1/40s at f/5, ISO200, Portrait Mode.  In Lightroom, I added clarity to bring out the fur and I increased contrast and brightness in the eyes.  Not much also, really, he may not have been colorful in the fur but he was in personality.

Warm Towels

Walter loves laundry fresh from the dryer, especially towels.  When they are piled on the bed ready for sorting, he is on top soaking in the warmth.  It doesn’t matter that it is hot as Hades outside, he loves the laundry.  We don’t mind, he gets regular showers and he doesn’t spend much time outdoors.  He is cleaner than my son, actually.  Yesterday, a load of pool towels was on the bed and Walter tunneled into them until his head emerged from the other side.  One by one, the towels were pulled from under him and folded.  When the last towel was removed, he jumped off the bed and went to find a sunbeam.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day.  

Nikon D90 with Nikkor 50mm.  1/50s at f/2, ISO800, Portrait mode.  In Lightroom, I cropped, adjusted the light so as not to blow-out his fur and mask sharpened.

Things my dog hates

This was my wife’s idea, she wanted to beautify Walter.  He complied with her desire but the second she put him down, that bow was gone.  However, it stayed long enough for me to get the photo!  When I see this, it makes me smile and I hope it does the same for you this Monday.

Three Ponies

They were waiting patiently for horse treats and carrots.  I took this late in the day as it was getting dark.

Nikon D90 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.8.  1/60s at f/5.6, ISO400.  Camera set to Landscape.  In Lightroom, the image was cropped, clarity and contrast increased, vibrance and fill light added.  Apparently, I forgot to sharpen the image.

 

Weed Eater

I don’t have a clue as to why he does it but Walter has a taste for weeds.  He goes into the back yard, sniffs up a good one and then proceeds to tear it from the ground.  Ordinarily, I would not complain as it saves me considerable effort but…Walter eats the weed.  I am sure it is not good for him and we try and stop him, yet he can be pretty sneaky.  I like this photo because the look on his face is a combination of indigestion and sheepishness.  Please note the dirt caught in his Level 3 maloclussion (underbite).  

My daughter took this photo with the D50 and a 50mm lens.  She likes to set the camera in Auto mode but has been asking a lot of questions about the other modes.  She likes the combination of the D50 and the 50mm because it is light.

On another note, my schedule has been full and (knock on wood) business has been good but I’ve missed one of my favorite past-times: blogging.  Hopefully, this weekend I will get a chance to catch up on everyone’s blogs.  Next week is going to be tough, also.

Weed Eater, D50 with 50mm f/1.8.  1/160s at f/4.5.  Photo by CC.

Cat in Repose at ISO800

One of the things I’ve read about the D90 is its peformance at high ISO.  ISO is sort of like film speed but it means that the digital sensor becomes more sensitive and takes in more light.  I took the ISO to 800 for a couple of quick handhelds of my cat, Yao Ming.  He was near the big windows in my family room in a spot that lets him ward off the provocations of my little dog.

Taken with the D90 and the Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 19mm.  1/50s at f/4.5 and ISO800.  In Lightroom, I cropped and adjusted the light level on Yao’s white chest.  I increased clarity to make his fur more defined and then I looked for noise.  There was remarkably little but I used a bit of noise reduction to soften the shadows.

Boo

This is Boo and Walter.  Boo is hard to photograph.  First, she has black fur so you always need a lot of light.  I have to use flash even in sunshine.  Second, Boo is camera shy.  The minute she sees the lens, the head goes down.  Boo is 17.  She is half shitzu and half chow but is the sweetest dog I have ever known.  Only once has she lost her temper and that is when another dog attacked my wife.  Boo goes 50 pounds and the chow came out in her that day.  The argument was over fast.

Well, I held Boo’s head in my hands while the vet put her down today.  It was hard.  I cried.  I kept my head down, looking into her eyes and the tears dropped on her head.  You see, no one wanted Boo but me.  She was the last pup of her litter, the others were all small but it was pretty obvious Boo was going to be big.  Something about her, though…the minute we met, we connected.

Oh, she was a pretty lazy dog but she was a perfect kid dog.  You could pull on her, climb on her, bite her ears and she would put up with it rolling on her side or doing that ferocious fake growl that never amounted to anything.  We took her for a walk this morning.  It was a very slow walk but it was beautiful out, clear and sunny and cool enough that she didn’t overheat.  She enjoyed the walk and she had the sweetest look of thank you in her eyes afterward.

At the vet, we talked over what to do but the vet knew when she saw Boo.  My wife left us, she couldn’t bear it, and I stayed holding her sweet head.  The vet had two assistants come in but I told them it was ok, she would be no fuss.  And she wasn’t.  Afterwards, while my head was down, the vet put her arm on me and said a prayer.  Then she said, “You will see her again, you know.  I really believe that.  I think God chooses them for us the minute they are born.”

I hope so.  The house is empty without her.

Ducks

Early one chilly morning, I watched the sun rise through the mist rising from a lake.   I followed these two little ducks without really knowing what they were until they got close.

I was shooting landscapes with my Sigma 24-70.  This was shot at 70mm, f/8 and 1/25s.  The sky was beautiful shades of reds and yellows but for a brief moment, the light went sort of green.  In Lightroom, I used split toning to make the darks blue.  It gave the photo an odd cast.

Another Walter Portrait

I used a bit of reflected white light from an open window on this shot; no flash.  The 24-70 was mounted and set to f/4, 1/80s  and 70mm.  I think the f/4 blurred enough of his chest to give the photo an almost floating look.  At first, I thought the focus was off because I usually try and get the eyes sharp but I dunno…I kind of like it this way.  What do you think?