DEEP BREATH

Deep Breath, Columbia MO

Big Red taking a break on the trail at Grindstone Nature Area.  Another rare black and white from me.  I guess it's getting less rare lately.  See my favorite black and white photo here.

I know shooting into the sun is usually frowned upon, and more than that, it's usually very difficult to pull off, but I couldn't resist when I saw Big Red backlit like this.  I was able to use the zone system to get the exposure just right while getting off a quick shot before Big Red caught his breath.  I employed the zone system quickly by spot metering on Big Red's face and and adjusting the exposure so that it read -1 stop.  Knowing the zone system, I knew that -1 stop exposure on Big Red's face would provide enough details so that his face can be seen while also giving me a good range of mid-tones and highlights, preserving some details in the highlights that would have been blown out if I had increased the exposure 1 stop.  With the zone system I was able to make the decision quickly and confidently, and could start to think about composition and timing the shot with his breath.

By the way, it's hard to focus when you're shooting into the sun!

Photo taken Feb 18, 2012

EXHALE

Exhale, Columbia MO

Big Red does not wait to exhale.  He came running up the trail from behind me, huffing and puffing plumes of breath all along the way.  He had just finished romping through the woods after a squirrel and was catching his breath while looking for his next friend to chase.  I already had my camera set up on the tripod taking multiple exposures for an HDR photo of this trail in the morning light.  I was about to ask Big Red to kindly move out of my frame, when he turned to the side and exhaled a perfectly backlit breath.  He stood still enough for a moment to allow me to capture him and his breath at 1/40th of a second.  He's such a good boy!

This is a three exposure HDR.  If you're curious about my field process for HDR photography you can read a little about it in the caption for my previous daily here:
http://smu.gs/xyAvva

Photo taken Feb 1, 2012

ANGEL BOY

Angel Boy, Columbia MO

Big Red sitting on guard in the sun at the end of our bed.  Isn't he a handsome boy?  We have lots of nicknames for Big Red and not all of them are very flattering.  But in this photo I think he resembles "Angel Boy," the nickname I use most when he's behaving like a perfect angel (very rarely used nickname).  And the light was so beautiful on him that it could have been shining down from heaven directly.  Fitting for an Angel Boy.

I really like to use natural light.  In this case I wish I would have turned up the ISO a stop or two and increased my shutter speed so I could get a sharper image handheld at this range.  But I'm quite happy with this exposure.  I have not converted many photos to black and white in recent memory and this is one of the first I've tried using Lightroom3.

Photo taken Jan 28, 2012

PINK SKIES OVER BIG RED, COLUMBIA MO

After a great vacation in Omaha it didn't take us long to get back out to Grindstone Nature Area with the dogs.  The sky was gray all day but the sun started breaking through the clouds just in time for sunset.  That's why I always bring my camera, no matter what the sky looks like when I'm leaving the house.

THREE BIG REDs

My dog Big Red wandered into the fame on a few of the shots for this multi-exposure HDR photo.

Big Red is Amazing!

My boy Big Red is an amazing dog.  One thing he's especially good at it is posing for my camera in outdoor settings.  He'll sit or lay down and stay long enough for me to get a few good shots before he moves on.  For action shots I let him follow his nose in a direction away from the sun while I get my camera set up (switch to servo mode, high frames per second, 1/500 of a second or faster and as small of an aperture as the sunlight will allow).  Then I call him back with some urgency and fire away as he comes running.  The key is getting him to run back to me through an area with good lighting, which usually means sunlight in his eyes to create eye catches.  Larger apertures will reduce the depth of field and leave you with fewer shots in focus.  But sometimes the shallow depth of field is useful to blur out a distracting background.  One last trick that I use for action photos is to move the autofocus point to either the far right or far left (on horizontal shots) so that Big Red is placed in one of the outer thirds of the frame.  This helps create an attractive composition following the rule of thirds and will leave you with creative options for cropping.  Enjoy some of my favorite Big Red photos: