Ok So Here's Spring! (i Knew It Was Out There Somewhere!!!)

[sara]

This is what I woke up to a week and a half ago...

It's been a very snowy spring... but here's what today looked like

Hmmmn, seems we have found some mud..

And finally... and awesome standing broadside shot!!! My gorgeous boy!!!

 

[sara]

And after this 2.5 hour walk with Oliver, I took Mouse and Boo to the dog park in town... I forgot to take pics

And after slicking Mouse up with sunscreen and putting on her t-shirt, so she wouldn't burn...

I got Sunburnt! It was 14.3C

 

[Anneke]

Great pics!! And so much snow Just a week ago!! Strange weather

 

[Dogster]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the pics!!!!!! That amount of snow is so overwhelming.... And to turn into that ^ that is just amazing!!!! Oliver has such a shocked look on his face befor catching the ball And you're right, her is GORGEOUS!!!! Very slim!!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

AWESOME PICTURES, SARA!!! Glad spring has finally reached your town, too!!!

 

[sara]

Great pics!! And so much snow Just a week ago!! Strange weather

Not really strange... typical of Alberta. we have major weather fluctuations here

LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the pics!!!!!! That amount of snow is so overwhelming.... And to turn into that ^ that is just amazing!!!! Oliver has such a shocked look on his face befor catching the ball And you're right, her is GORGEOUS!!!! Very slim!!!!

Thanks! But I was thinking that he was looking rather chunky! LOL He gains weight a bit in the winter, and hasn't lost it all yet But he's the best looking boy in the world! And no, I'm not biased! LOL

AWESOME PICTURES, SARA!!! Glad spring has finally reached your town, too!!!

Thanks My favorite thing to do is take pics of my boy

 

[tigerlily46514]

Sara, you really DO have a gift when it comes to photography! I'd hire you in a heartbeat to get some decent photos of Buddy, of which i have so so few....

Sara, you should consider starting a thread, maybe, with some tips on HOW to get such great shots! like what do you do? how do you get these shots? For real, you oughta see some of the lousy pictures i have of Buddy. If i took a stack of photos of Buddy that i have taken, say there are 50 photos,
out of that 50,
there's probably only about 5 that would be good.

 

[tigerlily46514]

<----resists urge to post photos to prove how lousy my photography skills are!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

<--loses ability to resist urge, and now begins to posts a few examples of lousy photos i take:

this camera began taking all blue photos for some reason, so we quit using it...and that was our "good" camera.....darn..

I have trouble enough with still photos, and action shots are wayyyy past my ability. I now own about 40 pictures of Buddy's TAIL!! or of his NOSE!! ....as he runs by!!.but, apparently, i have not uploaded any of my huge stack of nose or tail photos into the computer....

 

[Dogster]

Oliver looks fantastic!!!! Shivon also gained a bit of weight.

 

[Dogster]

Okay.... Don't know why the camera takes blue photos. But it's a good pic!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

^and yes, in above photo, Buddy WAS looking at me, or so i thought, when i clicked the button..

AND it was a lovely sunlit day in the spring woods....not a pre-storm moment, as the photo would lead you to think..

 

[Dogster]

 

[tigerlily46514]

ey, i guess i will have to train a distance "look at me"......i have only trained a close-by "look at me". If i even say "look at me", Buddy runs over to me, and looks at me from right next to me....

never thought of that, training a distance "look at me".....

 

[Anneke]

I realised today that Jinx doesn't know that eather. Cooper knows "watch me" and will stay where he is. So today I wanted them to look at me, for a great picture, but they were distracted. So I said watch me! Jinx got up and ran to me...
I realised I started making funny sounds since I got Jinx, to get her to look at me. Or I show her that I have a treat and hold it in my hand while I take the picture.

Besides the blue haze and Buddy not looking(I have tons of those shots too) the picture is quite good. But Dogs always look better when you get down to their level. So you find me on the ground most of the time Eather crouching or sitting, even laying flat out on my belly.
For the rest it is just getting the timing right. Anticipating where your dog is going and how long your camera takes to actually take the picture after you press the button. Most camera's have a setting where they take a few pictures after you press down. That one is very handy with action shots, like the one with Olly jumping up.

 

[tigerlily46514]

yes, gettting on the ground WOULD help a lot!! So so many of my photos of Buddy seem an odd angle, cuz i WAS standing up, that would help! thanks!! how did i never ever think of that!!??

the multi-shot feature WOULD be great thing to try, too! thanks! I wonder if i have that, or where it is!! To this day, i have only one(1) picture of Buddy running, where he is even in the frame...

 

[sara]

ok. ummm

I'm not good. I'm an average photographer, there are alot better photographers out there. What I do is tske hundreds of pics, to get the few I share

But with the action shots. It has to be a bright sunny day. I cant get good shots when it's cloudy, or in a shady area.

My camera, I have to hold the button down halfway, then it'll take the photo instantly... but I have many MANY shots of body parts LOL

Like this one... though it's kind of arty

And this one

Here's a fun one I forgot to post

Oh and another... I like his ears in this shot! LOL

I also have to be careful to take shots of Ollie in light settings... if he's against dark background, he ends up being over exposed... which is why the pics of him against the dead grass turned out so well

I had the camera on shutter speed priority at 1/1250 for all of these shots, which is also why they turned out so well, a fast shutter speed, and not zooming in much.

Oliver is also very easy to get photos of. he's light coloured, but not white, he has nice dark eyes and nose. and he's really good at distance control. I can verbally keep him away from me. and he likes the ball!!!

But it's not easy to get good shots, when you're the one also throwing the ball! which is why all the photo's are verticle... I am not good at getting horizontal shots one handed LOL

 

[sara]

And yes, I am kneeling in most of these pics. Angle is very important for good dog shots. you need to be at their level.

As to the blue pic... that is an awesome shot! even with him not looking at you! I actually really like pics with dogs looking away... I take them on purpose...

I won a contest with this pic:

And this one too:

And this is a fav pic of mine... except for the pinch collar. I used to be a bad, bad trainer. and I haven't used this horrible device since the summer after I got oliver.... I beat myself up about this all the time, and actually haven't shared this photo before, even though it's an awesome shot... I am so embarrassed over the collar

 

[tigerlily46514]

WOW! THANKS FOR TIPS!
I had never ever thought of those things!
and
i just about got goosebumps, some of these pics are so good!!!!!!
wow......

 

[Dogster]

Exactly, those pics are AWESOME, Sara!!!!! Totally professional, not kidding.