Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Pictures from GreySave's Race to the Park picnic

For the first time ever I went to GreySave's Race to the Park picnic. I know a few GreySave volunteers because they have help run the silent auction in past years at the Solvang Greyhound Fest.

The park was at a different location than what they had used in the past. Many years ago it was privately-owned property, but now it belongs to the city of La Crescenta. It has many trees, and lots of grassy areas. I had a few sessions to do, and in between the sessions I wandered around the many greyhound-filled x-pens that were set up under the shade trees.

Here are some pictures I took during the picnic:

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Greycie

Everyone enjoyed spending time with their hounds, whether that involved walking in their little parade around the park, or taking a nap in the afternoon.

I tried to stay within the shade to photograph, as has been my habit of late. Center-weighted metering was used a lot here to help bring out the eyes, and I mostly used my heavy 70-200mm VR zoom for these shots.

7 comments:

  1. I did notice more eyes in these pics. Think I will practice with center-weighted metering.

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    1. i've found it's easier to bring out the eyes this way. that's not to say that the default matrix metering (i forget what canon's term for it is) won't do the same. but i usually find that using that setting underexposed the eyes a lot more often than if i use center-weighted metering.

      i'm still experimenting as you can tell.

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  2. You have such a magical way with the canine face.

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    1. i sometimes say that i shoot close-ups almost to a fault. it's very hard for me to back up and get the entire dog -- it has to do with backgrounds that i find distracting. on the other hand, getting the whole dog does show the pet in context with its surroundings, which is something i'm not very good at doing.

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  3. Awesome pics! The colors are so vivid!

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    1. thanks! using the "vivid" picture control setting on my camera does pump up the colors. but i don't want them so vivid that it looks fake.

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  4. I love the eyes in all of these photos! I'm not sure what the metering process is that you're talking about, but it has spectacular effects!

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