Sunday, October 14, 2012

Amelia

At Dewey Beach, as dawn broke on Saturday while I stood on the beach I saw a couple approach, pulling a garden wagon along, close to the water's edge. In this wagon rode a brindle hound. I stood and watched for a few moments, then decided to photograph them. After taking four photos, I thought I might stop them and get their and their hound's name, but then I thought better of it: it just seemed better to not disturb their walk together and to let them be. The following picture is the last of the four:

Amelia goes for a ride

The couple turned around and headed back from whence they came. I got a little closer to them this time, and photographed them and their greyhound again after they had passed me by. The hound looked and sniffed, taking everything in:



After I returned from Dewey I shared that first picture, and made the comment that the hound was probably the most-photographed greyhound there. It wasn't too long before I was informed of the greyhound's name ("Amelia") and a bit about she came to use a wagon. She was found as a stray with a bad leg that she couldn't use. Two surgeries were done to repair the leg, but it was ultimately amputated. She can get around well enough as a tripod, but the couple load her into the wagon so she doesn't get tired.

The wife wrote me a few days ago to ask about buying a print. I'm honored that she asked.

(Shot with the Nikon D600 using the 70-200mm VR zoom; aperture-priority with aperture set at f/2.8; camera chose shutter speed of 1/4000 second at 70mm at ISO 100 (top), and 1/800 second at 200mm at ISO 400; center-weighted metered; auto white balance; normal JPG.)

10 comments:

  1. Love the way that the people are both holding the handle going forward, but you can see the greyhounds face as she looks back.

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    1. i had taken a couple of shots zoomed in much closer to isolate amelia but perhaps zooming out a bit to include the couple gives better context as to why i was affected wheni saw them.

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  2. I agree with gyeong! I love how they're both pulling her. For some reason, this one made me really misty-eyed this morning. It's just such a sweet shot. All hounds should be so loved!

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    1. i didn't include their faces on purpose. but maybe it would've been a stronger picture if i had included their heads. i flip-flop a lot about this.

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  3. I agree with houndstooth...such a sweet shot. The love I wish for every hound.

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    1. the soft morning light also made this picture for me. but more important was the interaction between the couple and amelia.

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  4. I love seeing all the pictures of Amelia. I think it's wonderful that her people love her that much!

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    1. i have seen similar things with other greyhounds, and i always marvel at the owners' devotion to their pups.

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  5. i will take a look at that particular post. thanks for letting me know.

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