Walking The Dog

Since May -- when Sadie came to live with us -- I have walked her twice a day just about every day. Some times if I am not going to be home for the morning or evening walk -- someone else will do it -- but most of the time it is me.

Last Sunday it was rainy and I did not think we would get in the evening walk -- but we did during a little bit of a sprinkle. This dog -- the one howling when she gets a bath -- likes to walk in a tiny bit of rain. After a hard rain and the sides of the road have a bit of water rushing by -- she will run in the water splashing like a little kid.

When we headed out last weekend -- I took the camera with us -- so I am walking, holding a leash in one hand, the camera in the other hand and up to my eye. What was funny is when I wanted to get a shot of her running in the puddles -- she would not do it!

I put these two together in Photoshop Elements and put a black line around them. The shots were taken with the 50mm lens on the Rebel XTi.

Sadie

OK -- at this point we have figured out the coonhound is a pointer (maybe?).  The ears were bothering me -- they did not look like the ears of a coonhound.  The coloring was perfect for the coonhound -- but not the ears (or really the face).

Some how, and I can't remember how, we found a photo, or two, or a hundred of pointers on the internet.  (The internet is such an excellent resource!)  Some of these pointers -- up for sale for hundreds and more ($6500 for a bird dog!) -- look just like Sadie.  And I realize that the cost of the dog is more for the training the dog has already been through.  But still...

Sadie is so good -- she appears to be housebroken.  We are thinking she is about 8 months old.  Her disposition is unbelievable for a dog who has spent the past month at the pound.  She is friendly to everyone.

Now a brief public service announcement -- there are many wonderful dogs out there at local pounds and shelters waiting for someone to give them a nice home.  Sadie and her brother were found as strays on April 16.  She came home to live with us on May 13.  She may be a little on the large side when full grown but she is a great dog.  The cost to adopt a dog from the Henry County Animal Shelter is $85.  This fee includes a spay and rabies shot certificate.  The people at the shelter are very nice.  A vet hospital in the county where we adopted her has already taken care of Sadie's spaying and shots.  

It is very soon after Rosebud.  I really missed having a dog in the house.  It seemed too quiet and I like a dog to greet me when I come home.  Rosebud's passing was not a surprise.  We found out about her illness last September.  Thinking back on it now, I think we kept her around a little bit longer than we should have.  The last couple months, she was not really happy and we had to practically do everything for her.   Once I looked on the Petfinder website for dogs/puppies at local shelters and saw Sadie -- I had to go get her.  She had such a cute face.  Note to anyone -- don't start looking unless you are ready to go pick one up.  You will see one you have to have.

I took this photo of Sadie with my wonderful 50mm lens.  The stats are 1/250, f/1.8, ISO 400.  The ISO is a little higher than I usually like to set it -- but that was due to a little lower light and I was hand holding.  I really love the way the color of the flooring matched the dog!  (of course I planned it that way)  Right now Sadie is snoozing on a fluffy bed and dreaming of what is for dinner.  

Vintage Photo Friday Aunt Anna

This week we adopted a dog from a local pound.  The dog is a coonhound mix.  When I was looking through my old photos, I came across this one with my great aunt and her dog.  I believe by what I have learned recently about coonhounds -- this is one.  So in honor of the new dog (photos and blog post to come very soon) this is the photo for Vintage Photo Friday!

This is my Aunt Anna.  I remember her well.  She was a character!  She was born in 1888.  Her sister was my grandmother's mother.  Her husband was my grandmother's father's brother.  Follow that?  She and her sister married brothers.  This is such the way it was in older times and in the rural areas.  You did not know many people and it seems that sibling often did fix up other siblings.

When I was very little I remember her coming to my grandmother's house to visit and spend some time.  She would sit outside with me while I played under a tree.  I remember one day that she and I sat in my Uncle John's yard under a tree eating sugar cookies that I had made that morning with my grandmother.  

I always liked going to her house.  Her yard was filled with Lilly of the Valley and other flowers. There was an old stone walk up to her front porch.  She had so many cats -- they lived under her house.  She would fix pans of milk and bread for them and they would come running from all directions.    On the wall in her living room was a portrait of John Kennedy.  There was an upholstered stool in the room that I always chose for my seat when we visited.  I have that stool at my house now.  Also in the middle of the living room was a wood stove.

Many Saturdays my mother would take me to the beauty shop in town to meet up with my grandmother and Aunt Anna.  I had plans to go home with them to spend the night at my grandmother's.  Aunt Anna would have her hair done for church on Sunday.  Her hair was stark white and very striking.  

I like these older photos of her.  I never knew her without that bright white hair.  And I certainly never knew her to have a dog -- only cats.  This photo was taken at her house by the side porch.  Her washing machine used to sit out on that porch.  Her dryer was a clothesline.

Photographing Animals

How can you take a photograph of an animal and have it really look great? How to make that 'pet portrait?' The big difference in a photo of an animal is getting that eye contact. If you catch the eye contact -- you have a great portrait.

Last March National Geographic had a cover story on animal minds. The photography that accompanied the article was wonderful -- great examples of animal portraits. Along with the story is a photo gallery and a video. The video is very interesting. Photographer Vince Musi talks about the animals and making the photos for the magazine. From what I heard him say about a marmoset -- I don't want to get too close to one. Also, if I ever need to calm down a prairie dog -- now I know how. After watching the video and listening to what Mr. Musi went through to get those magnificent photos -- I think taking photos of my dog Rosebud is a piece of cake!

The photo on this post is my mother's cat, Rora. She is kind of easy to photograph. Of all the pet photos I have taken in the past couple of years, hers usually turn out better. She will freeze and she will make eye contact with the camera.

The lens I used for this photo is the 50mm. I believe for portraits you can't beat that lens. The aperture was very shallow (1.4). The low aperture is the selling feature of this lens -- it makes it extra fast -- and in animal situations you need fast. I wish I had bumped it up a little on this one to secure more depth of field -- but all in all I am happy with the portrait of Rora.

Another tidbit about animals....I have a goldfish pond in my yard. I really like the fish. In the pond are goldfish, shubunkins, and a couple koi (and frogs, snails, an occasional turtle and snake). The little gadget on the blog called feed the fish -- well -- when I saw it I had to add it. This reminds me of my fish so much! I hope you like it.

The Nifty Fifty

A few weeks ago a friend asked about a good low-light lens. My reply was the Canon 50mm 1.4. I knew she had a Canon camera like mine and I also knew how I loved using that lens in a low light situation. That was the lens I took to the aquarium with me and got excellent shots – even in the very dimly lit areas.

Since I recommended the lens to her – I was reminded how little I have used it lately. I have been busy with the Lensbaby and with my good all-round Tamron zoom. But that little 50mm had been neglected and left in the bag for a long time.

Purposely when I drove to Zebulon last week I put that lens on the camera and took with me no other. I loved the shots I got at that cemetery. As I was looking at the shots on the computer I thought, “Why don’t I use this lens more often?”

I think the reason why is that it is known as a ‘portrait lens.’ It is good to take great portrait shots – but it can take great shots of anything. Last night, at 7pm, I took Rosebud outside. She acted like she needed to go out – but all she did was sit in the grass, looking around the yard, enjoying the cool evening. As soon as I saw her sitting there, I ran in to get the camera – it still had the 50 on it from last week.

As I sat there in the grass with her – I was loving the shots I got. Rosebud is a reluctant subject. She will rarely, if ever, make eye contact with the lens. I have an old photo I took of her about 5 years ago that I love. I had not been able to get another I like as much as that one until last night.

Around 7pm – the light is going fast, especially on a cloudy day. The lens was great – no flash – no tripod needed. The depth of field for Rosebud’s portraits was great.

I plan to keep using this lens a lot in the coming weeks. If you have small kids or pets that are hard to catch and you need a fast lens for them or for mood shots in certain light – look at the 50mm 1.4. I know they came out with a 1.2 – but oh my gosh at the price on that one! I never used the 1.8 – so I don’t know the comparison with mine – but the price on the 1.8 is very tempting. A couple days ago when one of my regular photo magazines came in the mail, as I flipped through it I noticed a Sigma version of this lens available for Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony.