Gypsy

I was running into a problem when I started working on Gypsy's session pictures at last year's Dewey Beach: everything was looking uninspired and dreary. What to do?

I thought I would add a lot more exposure than I usually do just because I wanted her to stand out more. So I added some black to sharpen things up a bit, and added a slight vignette. Even then the sky in the background was pretty featureless, so I played around with using a gradient filter and added some underexposure to see if I could get some details in the clouds to show up. That helped with what I had in mind. Then I did a bit of cropping and digitally removed her leash.



For the picture below, I'm exploring my photojournalist-wannabe side. I didn't want a standard pose here. After I uploaded the picture I felt like the image's vibe was ambiguous, or perhaps you weren't sure how how Gypsy is feeling (well? ill? stressed?) under a threatening sky at the moment:



She was actually turning to her right to present her profile to me.

I sometimes do this to see if I can see the scene in front of me differently. It doesn't always work (just like most of my pictures don't work) but it keeps things interesting, and helps me to keep trying to get better at seeing the world around me.

(Shot with the Nikon D600 and 18-35mm zoom; aperture-priority, with aperture set to f/8 and 1/160 second in top picture; shutter-priority, with shutter speed set to1/1600 second and aperture of f/4.5 in bottom; center-weighted metered; +0.7 exposure compensation in top picture, +0 in bottom; shot in RAW, converted to DNG, and imported into Lightroom.)

Some of my favorite photos I took during 2013 (part 1)

Bailee-Mae and Julie:

Andy:

Winston in Marsh Creek:

Tangerine:

Izaskun near the Peach Orchard:

Miami near the Peach Orchard:

Daisy wades in Marsh Creek:

Honda:

Duncan:

Axel, Janel, and Duncan:

PieSky:

(All shot with the Nikon D300 and D600 using the 18-35mm, 50mm, or 105mm lens; shot in RAW, converted to DNG and imported into Lightroom.)

Katie goes for a ride

I thought I'd write something about Katie enjoying a short ride down the street from our home and blah blah blah...

I'll let Katie's face tell you all you need to know how she's doing these days.

(Shot with the Nikon D600 using the 18-35mm zoom; program mode; 1/250 second at f/8 at ISO 800; auto white balance; center-weighted metered; shot in RAW, converted to DNG and imported into Lightroom.)

Sadie and Katie snuggle

Sadie is a snuggler; Katie is not. Sadie is needy and likes reassurance; Katie, not so much. Katie is not particularly fond of anyone lying very close to her. She will not bite if it happens, but she will usually get up and leave to go lie down somewhere else.

So to find Katie sleeping in a dog bed with Sadie's face so close to hers last week as Katie continued to recover from her surgery...well, we had to get a few pictures.

They slept together like this for awhile. It was comforting to see them like this.

(Shot with the Nikon D600 and 18-35mm zoom at 35mm; aperture-priority, with aperture set to f/4.5; shutter speed of 1/15 second at ISO 6400; auto white balance; imported and converted to black-and-white using Lightroom; normal JPG.)

Katie -- one week post-amp

(Shot with the Nikon D600 and 18-35mm zoom lens at 35mm; aperture-priority with aperture set at f/4.5; shutter speed 1/40 second at ISO 4000; +0.7 exposure compensation; center-weighted metered; normal JPG; imported into Lightroom and processed using the blue filter preset.)

Minty (2003? - 2013) and Hoover (2006? - 2013)

Both taken before their time from smoke inhalation from an overnight fire at home last week.

Minty at Dewey Beach last year:

Hoover at Gettysburg last year:

(Minty: Shot with the Nikon D600 using the 18-35mm zoom at 18mm; aperture-priority with aperture set at f/4; camera set shutter speed to 1/1250 second; matrix-metered; auto white balance; normal JPG.

Hoover: Shot with the Nikon D300 using the 70-200mm VR zoom at 70mm; program mode; shutter speed 1/250 second at f/8; -0.3 exposure compensation; auto white balance; shot in RAW and converted in Lightroom.)

Unexpected departures

Within the span of a week I have learned of the passing of two sighthounds that I have chanced to photograph: one Greyhound (Arrow), and one Saluki (Parker). Both died unexpectedly.

Arrow was a Greyhound that I met after he'd been returned to Fastfriends in 2011 because of food-aggression issues that became too much for his initial adopter (who loved him very much) to overcome. He was a striking brindle boy -- maybe I should say "half-brindle" because he carried most of what little stripes he had on his left side. His head was split right down the middle: stripes on the left half, nothing on the right.

He went to the foster home of a long-standing volunteer, who diligently worked on his issues. Eventually, the volunteer adopted him to add to her pack.

It was today when I saw a picture of Arrow roaching for the camera that in the caption were the words "final picture." I was puzzled at first, then I realized and understood what she was saying, although I did not (and do not now) know the circumstances of what happened to him. The suddenness of his passing took my breath away. His stay in his new home was much too short, but I try to dwell on the fact that he was home and with people who loved him.

Parker was a Saluki that I am pretty sure I had seen at a previous Solvang Greyhound gathering. His owner introduced herself to me last year, and reintroduced herself to me this year. She told me that she was writing a travel piece about the gathering for the website Dogster, and so asked me for permission to use some of the photos that I was to take during the Gathering. I had photographed Parker being blessed by Fr. Gerald Barron of Santa Ines Mission in Solvang during the Blessing of the Hounds on Friday:

Later that afternoon, at the pizza dinner, Parker and his owner sat close to us. I grabbed a few shots of him as he was curled up on the grass underneath the party tent where we all ate:

He was a little shy and kept to himself.

Towards the end of last week I was told that a few days after returning from Solvang, Parker had died from hemangiosarcoma. He was full of cancer, but he gave no outward sign that he was in trouble. His owner will still write her travel piece, only now it has turned into a remembrance story. Perhaps a couple of my pictures will accompany her article in Dogster.

I've been thinking tonight about these two. Perhaps there is some comfort in that their passings were short, but I think that it is small comfort nonetheless. There are two big holes in two different households now, and though there will be others to take their place, their holes will not be filled.

A Greyhound's nightmare

(Shot with the Nikon D600 using the Nikon 18-35mm f/3.4-4.5 AF-D zoom at 18mm; aperture-priority, with aperture set to f/4; camera set shutter speed at 1/100 second at ISO 800; center-weighted metered; auto white balance; normal JPG.)

Some of my favorite photos that I took during 2012

Ava near the Sunken Road in Fredericksburg:

Romeo the galgo in his backyard:

The head of a newly-retired greyhound is cradled by an adoption group volunteer:

Jesse the Chinese crested relaxes during a break from small-dog testing:

A newly-retired greyhound smiles for me:

A greyhounds runs at the Blur of Fur at Gettysburg:

Joey and Ruth at Dewey Beach:

Hailey:

Hoover and Jennifer at Marsh Creek, Gettysburg:

Elvis on his bed:

Amelia is taken for a morning stroll in her wagon at Dewey Beach:

I'm sure I'll think of some others. I'll put those in another post.

Remembrance is a powerful thing

On Sunday at Greyhounds Rock the Tripawds founders, Jim Nelson and René Agredano, had a tribute leash on their table in the vendor area. And attached to this leash were ribbons of all colors -- some with a little angel ornament. And on each ribbon is a name of a dog that lives with cancer, or that has been claimed by it.

We added a ribbon each for Alex and Nikki as a tribute, and to let them know that we have not forgotten them. I remembered, and for a few minutes I could not see.

During Jim and René's lecture later that morning, I could not help but capture a moment when Jim had to pause and remember as he was describing a picture of Jerry, their German Shepherd, taking one of his last rides before the end.

Remembrance is a powerful thing.

(Here's a link to the PBS Nature documentary's segment of Jim, René, and Jerry's diagnosis. And this is a link to the entire Nature episode.)

Waiting for the Daddyman

My friend PJ is an avid runner. During Dewey weekend he ran in the short 5k run held to support the fight against cancer. This was not enough, though.

He had brought his two girls, Kali and Zuni, with him this year as he had the year previous. He always takes time to run with his girls on the beach. But when he goes for his runs alone we watch his girls for him. They are not pleased to be left behind, but they are no trouble. They settle in and patiently wait for him to return.

On Sunday it drizzled off-and-on for most of the morning, which put a little damper on things after the two bright, sunny days we had had on Friday and Saturday. But PJ went for his planned run south from Dewey Beach towards Indian River Inlet and beyond anyway. His girls followed him down the stairs and, after he left, lingered by the front door for awhile, waiting and watching.

I saw the girls from the top of the stairs and snapped a quick picture -- just because Greyhound ears amuse me to no end.

(Shot with the Nikon D600 using the 18-35mm zoom lens at 35mm; aperture-priority, with aperture set to f/4.5; camera chose shutter speed of 1/40 second at ISO 250; matrix-metered; auto white balance; normal JPG.)

Dewey Beach Friday sunrise

Just add greyhounds...

(Shot with the Nikon D600 using the 18-35mm zoom lens at 18mm; program mode; camera chose 1/20 second at f/3.5 at ISO 2500; auto white balance; matrix-metered; normal JPG.)