Tag: canine

Thursday’s Dog Star – vol 13

Beauty perfected

This week, I’m presenting another Cardigan Welsh Corgi portrait, this one from quite a while back.

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Demi

This photo of Demi was from a portrait session I did for a number of Cardigans during the Summer of 2005.  Demi was an incredibly sweet dog, and she was the mother of Ransom our 2nd Cardigan, who is 13 years old at this time.

Unfortunately, Demi crossed the Rainbow Bridge during a Cesarean Section for her second litter.  Demi’s owner and many of us were heartbroken by this tragic occurrence.

Those events still make this image bittersweet for me, as she was gone all too soon after this photo was taken.

Technical Details

This was a Canon EOS 1D Mk II using an EF 28-80mm f/4.5-6.3 lens and Speedlite 430 EX as a fill flash.  The flash was intended purely to produce a catchlight, as I used a gold tone reflector to create the very warm light on Demi.  The exposure settings were 1/1000 second at f/8 at 400 ISO.

Thursday’s Dog Stars – vol 12

We are very good!

Dear Reader, this week I decided to go for pure, unadulterated cuteness with these little stars.

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Aren’t we cute?

On this particular day, I was photographing an in-door agility trial in Manchester, New Hampshire, which was a lot of fun.  During this trial, the owners of these lovely Norfolk Terriers approached me to see, if I wouldn’t mind taking some portrait shots of them.  Of course, I couldn’t say no with this pair!

Taking a quick look around the grounds, I found this little area  that would provide a nice backdrop, particularly with the pink flamingoes!

So, what do you think?  Are they too cute for words?

Technical Details

This was a Canon EOS 5D Mk III using an EF 24-105mm f/4L lens and Speedlite 580 EX II flash.  I metered for the background  and adjusted the flash power accordingly, so that I got exposure settings of 1/100 second at f/5 at 200 ISO.

Dogstar Thursday – vol 10

An evolved dog!

Today, I’m posting a memory tht is close to my heart, as it is our ‘Old Man’ Darwin from 5 years ago, when he was just in his 10th year…

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Focusing on the Target

Darwin clearly focuses with great intensity on the end of the see-saw, as he knows he wants to keep going as fast as possible to the next obstacle!

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Happy Poles!

And he is a master of the weave-poles, which he knows how to enjoy!

Darwin maybe in his 15th year now, but he still runs around like the crazy puppy that he thinks he is, and then sleeps a lot longer than he used to do.

Hope you enjoy this glimpse of our Theory of Evolution!

Dogstar Thursday – vol 8

Pirate eyes…

On this St. Patrick’s day edition, I was looking to post an Irish Setter weaving through the poles in agility competition, but will have to table that one for a bit later, when I retrieve it.

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Pirate Eyed

Looking mighty tough in the pirate collar, this expression was just one that I couldn’t resist photographing and posting today.  I caught this candid moment during an agility competition, which reminds us that dogs of all sizes and breeds compete.

Hope you enjoy this little cutie and have a great Saint Patrick’s Day!

Technical Details

Shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III with an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens.  Exposure settings were 1/80 second at f/3.2 at 640 ISO (light in this building is not stellar).

The Marked Woman

Bette Davis Eyes

I’m sure you’re aware at this point that we have Cardigan Welsh Corgis ruling our house.  In age order, they are Darwin (14.5 y/o), Ransom (13 y/o), Bette (11 y/o) and Dora (2.5 y/o); each have their own personality…

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Intense Bette

Bette, aka The Marked Woman, is affectionally known by my wife and me, as ‘The Bitch’.  If she were to be cast in Monty Python’s Holy Grail, she would be in the role of the harmless little bunny.  Yes, Bette, although she has mellowed quite a bit at this age, is rather intense, which came across in this quick shot that I took of her during a walk.

She has plenty of good characteristics, but a pleasant disposition is not one of them; if she is acting really nice, we usually end up taking her to the veterinarian, as she is sick.  We love her just as much as the other three.

Bette used to be an excellent agility dog, but has been retired from agility for a couple of years to eliminate the wear and tear on her body.  She is deathly afraid of sheep, so herding was not her thing, but she has found a new passion: barn hunt.  In barn hunt, one or more rats (in protective tubes) are hidden among hay or straw bales, which can be stacked; the dog’s job is to find the rats and indicate where they are within a set time limit.  Bette gets excited when she finds a rat, so she is enjoying this game.

Technical Data

This portrait was shot with my Canon EOS 5D Mk III using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens.  Shutter speed was at 1/100 second with f/6.3 at 400 ISO.

Dogstar Thursday – vol 7

Moose can fly

After a couple of weeks of portrait images, I thought it was time for some playful action…

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Moose!

Meet Moose, a dynamic little dachshund whose energy is just infections.  This is a rather old image from around 2007, if memory serves me, at which time Moose was still very active in agility and loved chasing a ball.

With a little help from Moose’s loyal human, and a couple of test shots, we got this photo. A bit of the right radial blur in post, made Moose into the superstar of dachshunds in flight!

Hope you enjoy this proof that legs are never too short!

Technical Details

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 10D using a 70-200mm f/2.8L lens.  At 1/320 second with f/6.3 aperture at ISO 400.

Dogstar Thursday – vol 6

Dog days are never over

Last week I shared an image of our youngest dog, Dora Bean that captured about a year and a half ago.  This week, I’d like to share another image from the same photoshoot…

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Sweet Pea

Meet Sweet Pea, the Pea of Peas, Dog of Dogs.  Sweet Pea owned one of our friends, as humans never truly own a dog. At the time of this photo, she was a very old dog.  Sweet Pea’s human asked that I do a photoshoot of her, as she didn’t have much time before crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

We found this great spot at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds, where Sweet Pea could stretch out comfortably and pose with those looks that only she knew how to throw.  What resulted was a touching reportage of Sweet Pea being her essential self, filled with the zen of doggitude.

Sweet Pea crossed the Rainbow Bridge about a month after this image was captured, leaving us richer for having been in her presence.

Technical Details

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III using a 70-200mm f/2.8L lens.  At 1/400 second with f/4.5 aperture at ISO 400.