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My beautiful Julyan, a husky-chow-wolf mix breed.

My beautiful Julyan, a husky-chow-wolf mix breed.
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9343

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Awards

Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in My Favorite Pet Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Animal Faces In Black And White Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Pets With Character Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Animals Are Beautiful Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Pet Friendly Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Dogs vs Cats Photo Contest
Runner Up in 1000 Dogs Photo Contest
People's Choice in Its A Pets Life Photo Contest
Great Shot
  View more
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
myrielleutinske meghan_kisner JayneBug Reedcalhoun00 gysbritz_9508 timothydejesus michaelgadberry +86
Outstanding Creativity
tayamacintosh flowernicoleashley Abir_Taheer aldrinmasayon nicoleburnett maddyforma sophiepowell +35
Magnificent Capture
markmassdell NotYourAverageMonet Hood MartinaD Snowflake07 davidbasson steveyancey +16
All Star
Carolyn_Angus PeterEvans23 THiSt3ch schrammy elainegill4 SettingSky mswizard8 +11
Superior Skill
diegoscaglione KEvanson Anjys Foto_amore ConceptArtists TroyWheatley Bart +6
Genius
Confalonieri sabrinajoseph Tommyshot VHiggins NFDI hotpixel
Exceptional Contrast
jennert cpdoogan lokeshaeri DeniseChelpka carlotaandrade
Jaw Dropping
mhilbers oldtrafford hilbersl59 jessicaabramczyk
Love it
Jrcphotoz PeggyAnn1953 suzannecole_9485
Virtuoso
mcEE mcampi
Great Find
timguyking

Emotions

Impressed
davidbladen Olav ninaininiwiiskwew ljubicalucida karenpphotography edraubenheimer JMEStudios +2
Happy
conniewinner

Top Ranks

My Favorite Pet Photo ContestTop 10 rank
My Favorite Pet Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Friendly Pets Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Friendly Pets Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Friendly Pets Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Friendly Pets Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Everything In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Everything In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
A World In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Everything Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Everything Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Only Pets Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Only Pets Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Our Natural World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Our Natural World Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Compositions 101 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Compositions 101 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Animal Faces In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Animal Faces In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank month 1
Animal Faces In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Animal Faces In Black And White Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 2
Animal Faces In Black And White Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
Pets With Character Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Pets With Character Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Pet Me Please Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Pet Me Please Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Animals Are Beautiful Photo Contest Top 10 rank
Animals Are Beautiful Photo Contest Top 10 rank week 2
Animals Are Beautiful Photo Contest Top 10 rank week 1
Pet Friendly Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Pet Friendly Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 6
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 5
Monthly Pro Vol 5 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank month 1
Monthly Pro Vol 5 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
dogs vs cats Photo ContestTop 10 rank
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Monthly Pro Vol 5 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Monthly Pro Vol 5 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
1000 Dogs Photo ContestTop 10 rank
1000 Dogs Photo ContestTop 10 rank month 1
1000 Dogs Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
1000 Dogs Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
1000 Dogs Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1

Categories


51 Comments | Report
tonysarg
 
tonysarg March 16, 2013
Gorgeous! Love how soft the fur on his face looks in contrast to his body.
Tim_Haynes
 
Tim_Haynes April 10, 2013
Great work, love the eyes!
PhotozFR
 
PhotozFR April 11, 2013
Wow love this shot !!!
carlotaandrade
 
carlotaandrade May 06, 2013
What a nice monochrome! Superb! o.o
hotpixel PRO+
 
hotpixel July 19, 2013
A spectacular image, Jess... one of my all time favorites (:
mistyvkirsch
 
mistyvkirsch July 27, 2013
Great Black and white
ArtQ
 
ArtQ September 11, 2013
Congrats on your Peoples Choice Award in Pets Life Contest.
rmr731 Platinum
 
rmr731 September 11, 2013
Awesome capture! Congrats!
SherranAndersen
 
SherranAndersen September 11, 2013
Congrats.
jessicaeik PRO+
 
jessicaeik September 12, 2013
Thank you all very much!
DianeCArtography
 
DianeCArtography September 16, 2013
Love the b/w - congrats!
toddmatthewarbini
 
toddmatthewarbini September 16, 2013
Stunning!
PhilipCarnevale
 
PhilipCarnevale September 16, 2013
Congratulations! Beautiful texture!
hotpixel PRO+
 
hotpixel September 16, 2013
This is so awesome Jess... Congratulations !!
Venny
 
Venny September 16, 2013
Congrats!!!
AlanJakarta
 
AlanJakarta September 17, 2013
Superb mono portrait of Julyan. Congratulations on your win.
Marian
 
Marian September 17, 2013
Beautiful!!!! Great shot!!! Congrats!!
maureenlight
 
maureenlight September 17, 2013
Congratulations, well deserved! Love the expression and clarity!
patriciabiggstaylor
 
patriciabiggstaylor September 19, 2013
love it congrats
Longshot
 
Longshot September 20, 2013
Congratulations on the People's Choice award Jess - you know I love this shot ~ Karen
Jeanne713
 
Jeanne713 September 21, 2013
Cute dog. Congrats!!
jessicaeik PRO+
 
jessicaeik September 23, 2013
Thanks very much!!!
tsambaproductions
 
tsambaproductions September 27, 2013
congrats
Verthosand
 
Verthosand November 15, 2013
Brilliant and beautiful capture! Bravo!
oldtrafford
 
oldtrafford December 08, 2013
I just want to cuddle him. Beautiful shot. Roy
AnthonyAlpha Platinum
 
AnthonyAlpha January 21, 2014
Fatanstic! Well deserved awards.
MarcoPoveda
 
MarcoPoveda May 04, 2014
Muy linda, felicitaciones
Dacemac PRO+
 
Dacemac May 19, 2014
An amazing story-telling portrait! Congratulations!
MaryAnne306 PRO+
 
MaryAnne306 May 19, 2014
We all know that look! Great capture and wonderful detail. Congratulations!
ArtQ
 
ArtQ May 20, 2014
Congrats on your Runner-up Award.
ReneeBlake
 
ReneeBlake May 20, 2014
Congrats ! This is stunning !
jessicaeik PRO+
 
jessicaeik May 20, 2014
So thrilled! Thank you!
michelbissonnette
 
michelbissonnette May 20, 2014
Great shoot,love the composition.
drakkardarkblade
 
drakkardarkblade June 06, 2014
awesome
claudiovaz
 
claudiovaz November 16, 2014
Perfect light, perfect contrast, perfect shot! Congrats!
jennert
 
jennert December 11, 2014
Congrats Jessica! I've always loved this shot! = )
DonnaHoffmanPhotography
 
DonnaHoffmanPhotography December 11, 2014
Love this!
danielmartin
 
danielmartin December 12, 2014
The eyes..... Wow! VOTED!!!!!! ♫
darlenenicholson
 
darlenenicholson December 13, 2014
I could reach right in that photo and pet him.
blueberrydragon
 
blueberrydragon December 24, 2014
Love this in black & white great picture!Congrats on being a finalist!
RobinV
 
RobinV May 05, 2015
Those eyes really stand out beautifully
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 June 23, 2015
Awesome shot,Jess..Congrats! (:
jessicaeik PRO+
 
jessicaeik June 23, 2015
Thank you all. She passed away this May 24 at age 14, so this finalist win is bittersweet but appreciated very much. RIP Chulyin.
VHiggins
 
VHiggins June 24, 2015
a ...beautiful Julyan! I know this one is very special to you! congratulations!
hotpixel PRO+
 
hotpixel August 27, 2015
WTG Jess !! Congrats !! I LOVE this photo of Julyan :)
JDLifeshots
 
JDLifeshots August 30, 2015
Great shot! Congrats.
foxx17
 
foxx17 August 31, 2015
So beautiful, love how the paws help to frame the face.
bunnyturner
 
bunnyturner January 17, 2016
Love.
SettingSky PRO+
 
SettingSky June 09, 2016
Perfect!
Dreamcatcer
 
Dreamcatcer October 03, 2017
Brilliant image
Hood PRO+
 
Hood March 24, 2020
Beautiful!!
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

For 12 years, we lived in our log cabin 5000 feet up on Blizzard Ridge, an area running along Plott Balsam mountain, which lies in between Maggie Valley and Cherokee, NC. This shot was taken on our front deck overlooking the beautiful Southern Appalachian mountains of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Time

One foggy morning, I found my camera-shy wolf-dog under the frosted glass topped table on our deck. She was backed up against the railing and I instinctively knew I had a great photo op of her (at long last).

Lighting

The combination of an overcast day and the frosted glass of the table provided beautiful filtered, even lighting, even at 11 a.m. It was a fortuitous discovery that I took advantage of many times thereafter.

Equipment

I used my then-new D300 with the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. I wanted as much detail of her as possible, so set myself and my camera on the floor of the deck and used settings of 90 mm, f/16 and 1/30. I managed to get off several shots before she grew bored and moved.

Inspiration

We love all our pets, but Julyan was special to me. We had bred her mother to another wolf-dog mix, so I was there with her from the very beginning and for the following 14 years, until she passed. She was very camera-shy her whole life, always ducking her head and her strikingly beautiful blue eyes away from the lens. As she grew older (she was 6 when I shot this), I got pretty persistent about getting a really good shot of her, and then when I did, it seemed the black and white conversion with a bit of a blue filter really showed her true self.

Editing

Lightroom is my go-to standard now, but at the time I used Corel to convert to black and white.

In my camera bag

I'm still loyal to my Nikon D300 and the Nikkor lenses. Mostly frequently I use the AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED. I find it a versatile lens for intimate landscapes, small wildlife and bird in flight captures, macros and of course, portraits. I even got some wonderful skateboarding pics with it! For walking around town, I use prime lenses, either the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens or Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S Nikkor FX Lens. I still find the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR a very handy lens to use for travel. I also like my Manfrotto 494RC2 mini ball head tripod head on the Manfrotto MT293A3 tripod for its lightness, versatility and durability. For off camera flash, I use the Nikon SB600. Lately, I've been experimenting with the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 for underwater shots, trying to decide if I want to invest in DSLR underwater housing.

Feedback

Get on the same level as your subject so you are square to it. If you have a camera-shy model and good lighting, I suggest turning off the AF-assist light, which might be making it run off or bother its eyes. Study and respect your subject. Don't force a shot. Always look for the light. Keep your camera close. Last but not least, remain open to experimentation with post processing. Don't be afraid to change your mind and learn. Initially, I wanted to capture her beautiful blue eyes and multi-colored coat, but those very things turned out to be but a disguise of her true half-wild nature that only black and white revealed.

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