Two of my Favorite Fishing Friends
Back in 2008 Monty was a 3 year old Labradoodle who loves the water and going fishing. In this shot he and Mike shared a spontaneous moment, perhaps with Monty ...
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Back in 2008 Monty was a 3 year old Labradoodle who loves the water and going fishing. In this shot he and Mike shared a spontaneous moment, perhaps with Monty offering advice about which fly to try.
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Mar, 2016Views
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Awards
Spring Selection Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
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jimbillups
May 26, 2016
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
jimbillups
May 26, 2016
Fantastic image. I get the sense Mike can read the dogs mind just as the dog can read his.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at Lake Fontal, in the Seattle Washington area. My friend Mike and I had ridden in on our mountain bikes with my 3 year old Labradoodle Monty trotting along beside on the gated off 2 mile long old logging road.Time
The shot was taken about 10am on a late September morning. The sun had just broken out through morning clouds over my right shoulder, highlighting the trees on the far side of the lake which were reflected in the lake surface.Lighting
The daylight was mix of direct sunlight on the far shore but filtered through low clouds on Mike and Monty giving them a soft, even illumination.Equipment
This was shot as a RAW file using my then-new Canon 40D and Canon EF 70-200 ƒ4.0 L zoom lens.Inspiration
While Mike and I were donning our waders and stringing up our rods before fishing, Monty had walked out on the partly-submerged log. As Mike walked out in the water beside him, Monty was curious about what Mike was doing (and whether any food might be involved!) I took several shots in burst mode as Monty was watching Mike casting. Once Mike had laid his cast out, he looked over at Monty and Monty returned the gaze. It almost seemed as if Monty had been crashing Mike on his fly selection and offering comments on his casting style!Editing
I previewed a dozen or RAW files from the day after returning home and realized that this was easily the best shot of the day. I reduced the contrast and lightened the exposure a bit and dodged Mike's face before cropping to a 5x4 aspect ratio. Otherwise, processing was minimal.In my camera bag
My bag has changed a lot in the 15 years since this image was taken. My Canon 40D is long gone and my bag now holds a 5D MkIII body. I still have the 70-200 ƒ4.0 L IS, but my current kit includes a 24-105mm ƒ4 IS, a 11-24mm ƒ4.0 L, a 50mm ƒ1.2 L, and a 24mm ƒ3.5 TS-E. These get swapped out depending on the occasion with a 45mm 2.8 TS-E, 85mm ƒ1.2 L, 100mm ƒ2.8 L Macro, or 300mm ƒ4.0 L. I also carry 12mm and 24mm extension tubes and a 1.4x teleconverter. I'm not big on filters so the only other things in my bag are a spare battery and charger, remote shutter release, right angle eyepiece viewer and Godox remote flash trigger. I bought a Canon EOS M6 last year. At just 2 pounds with the 11-22mm lens, it's much lighter and more portable than my Canon 5D MkIII. I now use it to shoot most of my day-to-day and walking around images.Feedback
Always have your camera handy since you never know when a spontaneous moment will provide a chance to take a memorable picture. I think there's a huge difference between my phone camera and a real camera that lets me control the exposure triangle. I almost never use my phone and always making it a habit to have my camera handy.
