Thursday, December 20, 2012

Romeo

Romeo is a galgo español. He was adopted six years ago. I took this in his owner's backyard on a mid-Saturday afternoon when the sky was punctuated by large rafts of clouds. I had him stand in a pool of sunlight, and tried to not overexpose his white face. He stood out from the dark grass in the background, and adding a vignette directs your eyes to his.

Six years ago I had never met nor heard of galgos. But since then I have been fortunate to have met several of them. They are a special breed of dog, and deserve a better fate than that which befalls too many of them after their hunting days are over in Spain.

Romeo

I converted this into black-and-white to see what I would get:

Romeo

I'm not sure which version I like better. Maybe it's just as well that I like both.

(Shot with the Nikon D600 with the 50mm f/1.8 lens; aperture-priority, with aperture set at f/4; camera set shutter speed of 1/400 second at ISO 100; auto white balance; shot in RAW, converted to Adobe DNG and imported into Lightroom.)

8 comments:

  1. Handsome either way. Never met a galgo I didn't like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i've liked all the galgos that i've met, so i don't understand why many are disposed of in such terrible ways.

      Delete
  2. I've been reading more about the galgos and actually met one at Dewey Beach. Of course, I love them, and you have such a special talent in capturing the beauty of all the animals you photograph, Steve.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, lori. my wife went to scooby a couple of years back to volunteer for a week. she escorted one galga and one podenco back to california so the people who adopted them could get them at the airport.

      Delete
  3. The first picture almost looks like a black and white photo as it is. It makes his eyes really pop. What a handsome hound!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i was trying to catch the sunlight falling on his irises. you can look at his left eye and see how low the sun was at the time i took the photo. i decided not to use any fill flash to lighten his shadows because i was pretty sure i'd lose details in his white face. i'd made that mistake the first time i photographed him, and i wanted to be sure i didn't do that a second time.

      Delete
  4. I couldn't pick a favorite between the color and black and white. They're both gorgeous! Romeo is quite the dog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'd like to see this in a large print. i think it would hold its detail pretty well.

      Delete