Saturday, May 18, 2013

Winston

When I went to the Greyhounds In Gettysburg event this year I flew to Baltimore a day earlier (on Wednesday) than I had done in previous years so I could meet up with Gretchen and her two English coonhounds on Thursday afternoon. We met at Sachs Covered Bridge and stayed downstream of the bridge. Downstream of the bridge there are a couple of footpaths that one can walk alongside Marsh Creek. We walked down one of those paths until we got to a place where we thought Winston might want to step into the creek.

It was clear to Gretchen that Winston was very excited just being outdoors and sniffing whatever new smells there were by the creek. Unlike last year the trees were late in displaying their spring greenery, so there was a lot more sun and harsh shadows than I preferred. Winston was just dipping his front paws into the creek when I tried to hold my camera down low and blindly pointed it in his direction, taking one fill-flashed picture with my D300 and the SB-400 flash attached to its hot shoe.

When I got home I thought I'd try using a Lightroom preset for a different look.


We walked back to the bridge and fortunately there were few people around while I took a couple of pictures of Gretchen and Winston.


Lately I've been trying to capture a bit of something that describes the relationship between owner and pet. Most owners beg off from being included in a picture, but I'm glad that Gretchen was more than willing to be a part of the picture. I think it makes for a stronger image:


(Shot with the Nikon D300, Nikon 10-24mm zoom (top picture) and SB-400 flash; Nikon D600 and 50mm lens; aperture-priority; center-weighted; shot in RAW and converted to JPG using Lightroom.)

10 comments:

  1. Winston is a handsome lad! I too love to see owner and pet together. The pictures of Gretchen & Winston are so special. I notice the same thing about the foliage when I went on a bus tour the beginning of May. I had taken the same tour on the same weekend last year and the difference was amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. at least the weather was mild, although if it had been cloudy i would've been happy with that. it turned out to be a little warmer than what was forecast, but most importantly it was not hot for the greys.

      Delete
  2. I love the shots of them together! Those are really fantastic! Which preset did you use on the first one? It wasn't ultimate fighter, was it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no. this time i used a color preset using DxO's FilmPack 3. i added a bit more fill light to winston after applying the preset.

      Delete
    2. It turned out gorgeous! Are you going to stick with Lightroom if you have to "rent" it by month?

      Delete
    3. my understanding is that lightroom will remain "boxed" software and not on CC.

      Delete
  3. Love that preset. I bought Lightroom a few months ago and adore it but collecting presents can become an addiction! Great to see an owner with their dog and Winston looks like a real character. On my bucket list is getting someone to take a family portrait of me with Beryl and Frankie for posterity:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hey, i'd do a portrait for you if we lived closer together. or should i just fly out to your place? i've never been to NZ before.

      Delete
  4. I agree about capturing the bond between pet and owner! even if they don't want to be in the pics, you should still encourage it because they will treasure those images one day. Where do you get your favorite LR presets from?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mostly i use the ones that come with LR and then change them a bit depending on my mood. i also use presets that are suggested on the lightroom killer tips site.

      Delete