Spanish Galgo

My next several blog posts will be from my time in Spain.  For those of you who might not know, I found out about a dog photography workshop last year that was going to be held just outside of Barcelona.  It was appropriately named 'Barkelona!' I have a lot of photos to share including (believe it or not) some that don't include dogs!  ha!  However, I feel like I need to start by sharing a story about two dogs Luc and Ovi that we met during our first photo shoot.

I'd not heard of this breed prior to this trip.  They are Galgos or Spanish Greyhounds.  Here is some information I found on them on vetstreet.com for anyone looking to learn more about the breed or considering adoption.  They have a serious, reserved temperament and can be shy in the presence of people they doesn’t know. They are  affectionate toward his family and gentle with young children.  In the home, they are quiet, but when they are hunting they turn into a lively, energetic dog.

A height of 24 to 27.5 inches gives him easy access to kitchen counters, so don’t leave food out where he can get to it. He will have no qualms about stealing it.  Give a Spanish Greyhound regular exercise to keep him conditioned. He’s an ace competitor in lure coursing, a sport that involves chasing a mechanically operated artificial lure.

Galgo Espanols respond well to positive reinforcement techniques, especially food rewards. If you are firm, fair, and provide the right motivation, they learn quickly and easily. If you don’t, well, this is a big dog that can do a lot of damage untrained and left to his own devices.  Looking for a dog with an easy-care coat? The Spanish Greyhound has you covered. Weekly brushing of his smooth, shorthaired coat (the majority of Galgos have a smooth coat) and regular nail trimming and ear cleaning are all he needs to stay clean and in good condition.  The Galgo Español loves his family and should live indoors with them, preferably with access to furniture or soft bedding.  I love this last part:  gotta love someone who recommends letting the dog on the furniture. :)

Unfortunately, most of these dogs in Spain are considered worthless and are treated horribly and tortured to death.  If you want to google them and read more about them, please proceed with caution. Their story is unfathomable.  Rescue groups from across the world have stepped in and are trying to change the plight of these dogs.

During our first photo session, we photographed Luc and Ovi, two puppies that were rescued when their pregnant mother was taken to a shelter.  They were all puppy and they will live out their lives knowing what human love and affection is.  Yay for Luc and Ovi!!  Did I mention that they were puppies??  That has something to do with the fact that I'm only posting photos of Luc! :) :)

#barkelona

Project 52: Week 15: Exploring Color Contrast

This week for our Project 52 challenge, we are exploring color contrast. Just as last week, I like this challenge. I like exploring colors and thinking about colors as I am photographing my subjects and as I'm editing my photos. In doing some additional research on color contrast, I ran across this statement from the about.com site: "Colors don't have to be direct opposites or have a set amount of separation to be considered contrasting or complementary." It also goes on to say, "The more transitional colors separating two colors, the greater the contrast. For example, magenta and orange is not as high contrast a pair as magenta and yellow or magenta and green. Colors that are directly opposite from one another are said to clash — although this clashing or high contrast is not necessarily a bad thing. Some of these high contrast, complementary, clashing colors are quite pleasing." When I initially looked at the challenge, I assumed each color would only have one contrasting color because I thought that contrasting colors had to be exact opposites such as green/magenta or purple/yellow. However I learned that a single color can have several contrasting colors. This is yet another reason why I love doing these weekly challenges. I learn new stuff all the time and it isn't just about my camera and composition.  AND all of this learning once again makes me wish I would've taken up photography earlier in life! :)

The images that I chose don't have the greatest amount of contrast but given the green backgrounds, there is definitely some contrast with the first image having the most since it is a green background and as close as I could get to a magenta dog!

Next up in the blog circle is Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati and the San Francisco Bay Area. Click the link at the bottom of each post and you'll end up right back here.  Be sure to check back next week too as I hope to have some really exciting, out of this world photos to post!!! :) :) :)

Project 52 - week 14 - Consider your Color Palette

This week's assignment, consider your color palette is one that I love because it is completely about developing your style as a photographer.  This is something I think about but I haven't quite figured out how to capture what I would consider to be my color palette when I am shooting.  When I look at other photographer's photos, I am drawn to images that are monochromatic.  I like images that are calming and soothing but I struggle with creating those types of images depending upon where I am shooting and the subject. The first photo posted below nails this for me and I want to continue to strive to create images like this.

On Saturday 4/2, I attended an event called Paws in the Park in Pineville NC.  It is a fundraiser to bring awareness to Black Dog Syndrome which is centered around black dogs being the last to get adopted from shelters and the first to be euthanized.  There were tons of people and their dogs at the event.  I had a booth, my camera and 3 friends to help.  I took photos and I posted them on an online gallery for people to view and purchase if they were interested. If you'd like to look at the photos, here is a link to the gallery.  I know I won't do this type of event many more times.  It was a lot of work but at this point in time of my photography career, the experience for me was invaluable AND I had a blast!!

In thinking about the 'Consider your Color Palette' challenge for this week, it's easy for me to choose the photos because I was in the same location for 4 hours on Saturday snapping photos of dogs. The colors are similar although it is interesting to me because the weather changed so much during the day, the tone of the colors in the photos did too.  Below are several that I took on Saturday.

What I can't figure out and I would love anyone's input on this, how do you create a style or a color palette in your gallery of photos when you are photographing different dogs in different locations when the colors aren't the same?  I know a lot of the work can be done in post processing but how do you try and take photos that have the same color palette?  That is another composition challenge I've yet to figure out but I'm having a lot of fun experimenting.

Click here to go to I Got the Shot Photography, Northeastern PA Pet Photographer's page and see her take on the Project 52 - week 14 - Consider your Color Palette challenge.  Be sure to click the link at the end of each post and you'll end up right back here!

Paws in the Park 2016

The photos from yesterday's event, Paws in the Park are online.  You can view them at http://seespotruncharlotte.shootproof.com/gallery/pawsinthepark2016/.   I would love (LOVE) your feedback on the images.  Shooting pictures outside at an all day event like this can be a challenge.  Yesterday was no exception.  Around 10am, we were in total cloud cover, then the sun came out, so the rest of the day the sun was going in and out of the clouds.  Conditions like that are tricky to photograph in because the camera settings have to be changed each time your light source changes (which was all the time yesterday!) Another challenge photographing at events like this is trying to keep the leash out of the way as much as possible.  You can see in the gallery, for any super duper well trained dogs that could be off leash, I generally took a lot of pictures of them.

Towards the end of the day, a guy (the 4-legged kind) walked up.  His name was Buddy and I immediately fell in love.  Things had slowed down as it was close to quitting time so I was able to spend some time with him.  You see, See Spot Run Photography was founded because of my black lab Buddy.  We adopted Buddy from Lab Rescue of NC on 12/31/08 and we were told that he was between 7-10 years old.  Not long after we got him, I told my husband, 'however long we get to have Buddy, it will not be long enough.'  We were lucky to have him for 6 years but it wasn't long enough.  As Buddy's health was failing in the summer of 2014, I decided to buy my first professional camera so I could capture a nice image of him.  One that I could look at and be thankful to have.  If you stopped by my booth and saw the black & white photo of the black lab, that is Buddy (pictured above.)  My heart dog.  He died about 5 weeks after I got the camera and I am so glad I have this image of him.

So, when this big guy named Buddy came walking over to me, I knew I had to capture some images of him too.

  I had such fun at Paws in the Park.  If you would like professional images taken of your pet, please contact me.  My Buddy helped me find my passion back on that August day in 2014, when I walked into that camera shop.  Thank you Buddy.  I am forever grateful because there is nothing that I love doing more than photographing a dog.

Project 52 - Week 13: Use Focus to Abstract

Our challenge this week is to 'use focus to abstract.'  As a photographer and a new photographer at that, trying to use a 'lack of focus' to create an image seems foreign to me, uncomfortable even.  I would imagine as I gain more experience I will become more comfortable with this idea but right now it isn't comfortable for me at all.  I think this concept is particularly difficult when dealing with dogs or perhaps I am just not extremely creative (and that could be it too!)  I can't wait to see what the others do with this assignment and perhaps I'll get some inspiration from them. Our instructions were to spend a day getting over our need for sharp focus.  I can without a doubt say I've spent every moment behind the camera trying to capture sharp focus.  TACK.  SHARP.  FOCUS.

We were instructed to create a body of art and post several images.  Here is the reason why I'm not doing that: As a new photographer, I am trying to attract new customers.  If a potential new client were to scroll through images on my blog and see a post of extremely blurry photos without reading the intention of the exercise, they would certainly get the wrong message.  I'm afraid my attempts at using focus to abstract didn't result in images I loved.  So, while I really appreciate the intention of this exercise and I love doing these each week, below is the one photo I'm posting.

I used curves in photoshop to draw your eye even more to my dog Willow's tongue.  (Let me tell you, that was trial and error.  I don't really get 'curves.')  With curves I was able to blur the majority of her white fur so you loose the outline of the top of her head but her eyes and pink tongue are still distinguishable.

And yay to Willow for being my model this week.  She is 10 years old, 11 in May and she has always been afraid of certain sounds.  The sound of a train is her biggest fear which took us awhile to figure out when we adopted her 4 years ago.  Over the past year, she has developed a dislike for the clicking sound my camera makes so she isn't my model very often.  (Even with the beep turned off when the camera focuses, she still doesn't like the clicking of the shutter release.)  Such a shame too because she has beautiful eyes.

I seriously can't wait to see what Northeast PA pet photographer, I Got The Shot Photography  does with this assignment.  Be sure to click the link to find out and then click the link at the bottom of each post to see what each photographer does!

Moose and his tennis ball

Over this Easter weekend, I've had the chance to do something I love to do in my spare time: watch Moose play with a tennis ball.  There's not much better in this world in my opinion than watching a dog play and run around.  It's that look on their face and in their eyes.  I can just tell how happy Moose is in the images and that makes me happy. I love his long ears.  The first image catches his right ear with a little flip and the 2nd they are flapping as he is running towards me.   In the 3rd photo, he has a tennis ball in his mouth and then another tennis ball is tossed in his direction.  I'd LOVE to know what he was thinking when he saw the blue tennis ball.  I wish the next couple of photos after that one had turned out - he was trying to put on the brakes and stop for the blue tennis ball but his 90lbs of momentum wasn't able to stop on a dime.  As you can tell also, he was coming my direction so I'm sure the reason the photos didn't turn out was because I moved to get out of his way.  I did not want to be run over by a Moose!  I love this dog and his playful, curious temperament.

I love this boy!