Thursday, June 13, 2013

Irish, Maia, and Midori

Friday afternoon at GIG was warmer than I preferred. I don't particularly like photographing dogs with their tongues dangling and with them panting, trying to stay cool. Some Greyhounds are not overly fond of warm weather, so I try to find shade wherever possible for them as I photograph.

Irish, Maia, and Midori belong to a volunteer of the Greyhound adoption group that ran GIG this year. I thought it might be nice to have the hounds pose by one of the numerous rail fences that cover the Gettysburg field. I had a certain image in mind before I had them pose, but it required a different time of day.

Anyway, the volunteer's father offered to hold the leashes while I photographed. I particularly like how all three Greyhounds are "smiling" and have their ears at half-mast; Maia (in the middle) is starting to tongue-dangle but not enough to be distracting. I knelt down below their eye level and tried to keep Sickels Road off in camera right out of view. If I had to do this over I would've asked for the leashes to be down on the ground and then threaded through the fence.

When I returned home and started processing the photos in this session I was amused by Irish's (on the left) expression -- almost as if he saw something funny was going to happen to me. I hadn't noticed this at the time I took this picture. I like their relaxed faces and how they're all looking in my direction.


Tintype and wet-plate post-processing is kind of an interesting effect at the moment. I had one preset to mimic 19th century film processing, so I applied it to this picture since we were in a Civil War battlefield. I am pleased with how this turned out overall.

(Shot with the Nikon D300 using the 10-24mm zoom lens and SB-400 flash; shutter-priority with shutter speed set to 1/250 second; aperture set to f/14 at ISO 200; -0.7 exposure compensation; center-weighted metered; shot in RAW, imported in Lightroom and DxO Film Pack 3.)

6 comments:

  1. This is a perfect Gettysburg picture. Wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. maybe i could enlist someone to dress in a union or confederate solder's uniform and have them pose with some dogs next year.

      Delete
  2. They do look like Civil War greyhounds

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that's kind of the idea i had in mind. i've been looking for a preset to mimic the processing done in that era. i often try different presets to see what results i get. most of the time i'm not happy with the end result, but it's fun to see what you do get.

      Delete
  3. What a gorgeous photo and great to know the story behind it and where it was shot. Yes, good idea about getting someone to dress in the appropriate soldiers uniform next year:) Love the preset. I bought Lightroom 4 earlier this year and have installed so many free presets it's ridiculous, lol. It's an amazing programme.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. this july is the 150th anniversary of the battle in gettysburg. i can only imagine how many civil war enacters will be there. in the four times that i've gone there is always someone walking around in period garb, both military and civilian.

      Delete