#17: Meet my model

divamum

Beau, the 12 year old Bearded Collie. He's hard to shoot these days because he's an aging couch potato , but I figure he's kind of made for this particular assignment :rofl

Here's a first effort. I was shooting at 2.8 on this which was silly once I added flash (duh) - should probably try for something with more DOF.

Thoughts on possible ways to go with this? Reshoots absolutely possible (and it's prompting me to make sure he gets a couple of really good grooming sessions this week, too!)



Annnddddd... ETA another one (I got him on the grooming table today)

Kwarta

I like #1 the best. To me it shows alot more detail, just alittle dark on the right side.

Tango

what a striking chap, i see you will have a great entery this go around.

ilbcnu

divamum,
I got alot of help in this thread from John and pathfinder.. http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=116682 for last challenge and I was working with dog hair/fur.
Great model!

Travis

I like the first comp the best as draws focus to the hair. You definitely have the right model.

pyry

The first is good, but I think it would improve a bit if the image extended left just far enough to not cut the dog.

Very hairy, good work!

divamum

Thanks all - this is, to say the least, at the very preliminary stages! He's a dear, sweet animal (really - you don't find a breed friendlier than Beardies), but he's getting old, crotchety and tricky to shoot these days especially since he is not liking flash (I think his eyes are going, so it probably bugs him) - every time I get him juussst where he needs to be... he moves. We'll see what kind of Hairy Mayhem we can get up to during the next two weeks.

Great fringe benefit was that I got his tail properly combed out for the first time in way too long - sheesh this animal has a load o' hair!

MrsCue

.
The only hairy beast I have is my hubby

I like the first pic best.

richtersl

You're going to have a lot of fun with this guy, I can tell.

Will he let you take a close up of him with one eye peeking through all that hair?

divamum

richtersl wrote:

You're going to have a lot of fun with this guy, I can tell.

Will he let you take a close up of him with one eye peeking through all that hair?

Linda, that is EXACTLY what i"m trying to get, but he's just not cooperating - every time I get the hair out of his eyes, he then looks at me with this, "Uh, no WAY are you doing that On Demand Lightning thing to me again" and gets up and moves. It's pretty funny - for most of his life, he couldn't care less about pictures, cameras, noise, sudden movements, sudden sounds - nada. Absolutely bombproof to all things. In the last 6 months or so he's definitely demonstrated that he's aging since his hearing and sight are both declining and he's just got that crotchety thing going on (he's not sick or anything, just aging - anybody who's lived with an older dog will know what I mean). He kind of reminds me of Waldorf and Statler in the muppets - not nasty, just... crotchety and much less tolerant of things he doesn't really like!

I'll press on. And who knows... maybe I'll see something else across the challenge period to pique my interest - as always, the themes get me looking around me in different ways, which is the best part of it all (can you tell I'm relieved to have a specific assignment again?! lol)

richtersl

Get someone to assist you. You work the camera while the assistant bribes your dog with treats. I'm sure he'll sit long enough for you to take a picture if he knows there's a goodie in store for him. And, you may even catch a winner of an expression from him. It may take a few tries, so be patient.

If you do this enough with him, he's going to really enjoy having his picture taken.

Cats, on the other hand, are a different matter entirely.

divamum

richtersl wrote:

Get someone to assist you. You work the camera while the assistant bribes your dog with treats. I'm sure he'll sit long enough for you to take a picture if he knows there's a goodie in store for him. And, you may even catch a winner of an expression from him. It may take a few tries, so be patient.

If you do this enough with him, he's going to really enjoy having his picture taken.

Cats, on the other hand, are a different matter entirely.

Oh yeah. We have our bribing methods down to a science! He's an odd one though - he was a rescue, so he has some quirks since we didn't raise him from a pup and he had some really bad months before he came to us in 2000: while he's a TOTAL foodie, when he gets stressed in any way no treat in the world will catch his attention. It's like he shuts down. It's weird how he finds this stressful; definitely changing behaviours on his part. I'm pretty sure it's because he can't see or hear properly so he can't tell what I'm doing and thus he gets nervous and feel threatened by The Great Unknown.

Anyway, here's today's messing about - I'm really digging the processing one can do in lightroom! Thoughts and all C&C of course welcomed.



Now what I really need is apicture of him and my DH - they look surprisingly alike.... rofl

divamum

Annnnddd.... a completely different idea (I clearly have WAY too much time on my hands at the moment!!!!)

I'm not sure this is a serious idea, but it was kind of fun (I'm getting loads o' mileage out of that STE2 transmitter and the home made softbox!). Thoughts and cc definitely welcomed



And because I was feeling artsy...

Lorri Freedman

I really like this one the best out of all three. He's a beautiful dog, and this image definitely conveys the "hair" theme.

divamum wrote:

Oh yeah. We have our bribing methods down to a science! He's an odd one though - he was a rescue, so he has some quirks since we didn't raise him from a pup and he had some really bad months before he came to us in 2000: while he's a TOTAL foodie, when he gets stressed in any way no treat in the world will catch his attention. It's like he shuts down. It's weird how he finds this stressful; definitely changing behaviours on his part. I'm pretty sure it's because he can't see or hear properly so he can't tell what I'm doing and thus he gets nervous and feel threatened by The Great Unknown.

Anyway, here's today's messing about - I'm really digging the processing one can do in lightroom! Thoughts and all C&C of course welcomed.

Now what I really need is apicture of him and my DH - they look surprisingly alike.... rofl

divamum

Lorri Freedman wrote:

I really like this one the best out of all three. He's a beautiful dog, and this image definitely conveys the "hair" theme.

Thanks Lorri - I went ahead and submitted that one of Beau as a marker for the time being at least (seems many of us have big black noses and hairy faces to shoot!). I keep having all sorts of exotic ideas for this one, none of which are remotely practical with my equipment and skillset, but my imagination is certainly running riot!

Kwarta

divamum wrote:

I keep having all sorts of exotic ideas for this one, none of which are remotely practical with my equipment and skillset, but my imagination is certainly running riot!

I'm right there with ya.