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Barnaby the Labradoodle puppy 'in flight'!!



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This was taken in Banstead Woods in Surrey, England......We had a lot of fun on this walk and the lighting that day was an absolute gift!...
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This was taken in Banstead Woods in Surrey, England......We had a lot of fun on this walk and the lighting that day was an absolute gift!
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17 Comments | Report
terrysigns13
 
terrysigns13 June 19, 2016
Perfect "Mid-air" shot and Barnaby is just so darn HAPPY!
Great color and action.
Congratulations on being a Finalist in the"Bright and Colorful photo contest! Well deserved!
[there' nothing quite like having a model who loves you]
andrewverdie
andrewverdie June 19, 2016
Thank you for your comments......he is a bit bigger now but still smiles whenever we go out and when he plays with other dogs he just beams!!
TravelBugDove
 
TravelBugDove June 19, 2016
So precious! Congratulations!
andrewverdie
andrewverdie June 19, 2016
Thank you for your comments Cheryl.....He is SO precious to me!
MLundberg1
 
MLundberg1 June 19, 2016
That is a great shot!!
kiwidragonfly Platinum
 
kiwidragonfly June 19, 2016
Hahaha he looks like a teddy bear !
frenchiepooh
 
frenchiepooh June 20, 2016
run run... sublime shot and cute dog
cindiwalters_7260 PRO+
 
cindiwalters_7260 October 22, 2016
I love this shot, it is perfect and Barnaby is wonderful
MzLin
 
MzLin November 10, 2016
Now this photo is full of motion and colir-it emotes a happy ho lucky feeling amd who wouldn't want to frolick in the meadow with Barnaby! Great shot!
anitaselvog
 
anitaselvog November 11, 2016
This shot just brings an automatic smile to your face! Awesome Capture!
Pamelabole PRO
 
Pamelabole May 24, 2017
Awwwwwww ....so adorable!!! Beautiful capture and great timing!!! Love Labradoodles!!! : )
Uvongo
 
Uvongo May 24, 2017
Stunning shot!
Jack_EJ
 
Jack_EJ May 26, 2017
Great timing! Plz can u follow me as I am new and don't have many followers
emilyrose02
 
emilyrose02 June 06, 2017
Love this picture!
dawnvandoorn
 
dawnvandoorn June 06, 2017
The cuteness is overwhelming lol! This photo made me smile!
Ventrosus
 
Ventrosus January 29, 2018
Lovely capture!
elfridoX
 
elfridoX February 09, 2018
Happiness is so evident in this picture
aspsimon
 
aspsimon August 16, 2018
Gorgeous!
keepclicking
 
keepclicking October 15, 2018
Perfect photo in a perfect setting. You should be very happy!
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

The photo was taken in Banstead Woods in Surrey England. A well known spot for the most spectacular bluebell woods with a combination of the most glorious thick woods and dappled clearings with bluebells and wonderful walking paths through out the woods. I grew up in Banstead and used to walk these woods a s a child with my parents and now I walk them with my children and of course Barnaby our dog. He was six months old when I took the photo and a very cute Labradoodle puppy, a real teddy bear looking dog with an almost animated expression captured in the picture.

Time

This shot was taken in April 2016 when the bluebells are at their best. It was a beautiful clear crisp morning and the sun was still quite low in the sky. I remember thinking at the time ' Is it really gonna be worth lugging my camera equipment with me on this walk ' I was with my wife Karen and so often she is left holding my camera bag while run around trying to get the best shot! Fortunately it was well worth the effort.

Lighting

I needed to capture the speed of Barnaby my labradoodle puppy and ensure that he was in focus and the image was sharp. For this I needed a very fast shutter speed and excellent lighting and this particular morning was just perfect. All natural lighting making the most of the low sun in the sky and the natural filter of the woods. I ensured Barnaby was running towards me and towards where the most light was coming from or this shot just would not have worked as well. His little face is well lit so you can see his wide eyes and expression of shere joy on his face. That also gave me a small shadow underneath him when he jumped over the log on the ground helping the 'mid air' theme!

Equipment

I was bought my first digital SLR camera for my 40th birthday from my mother, it was a Canon and now aged 50 I have progressed to a Canon 5D mkiii which took this photo on along with a fantastic lens, the Canon 70-200mm F2.8 mkii. Its very fast, quiet and sharp...just what I needed for this shot, the only negative about this lens is the weight wow there is a lot of glass in there and it is heavy so you can see why I did not really want to carry it all around the woods if I did not get any good shots. No tripod, I needed the freedom to move and get Barnaby in the focus cross-hair as he was running towards me, this also required a very steady hand which is not easy with a heavy lens. All natural lighting for this shot as explained earlier and it was an absolute gift, I could tell straight away even from the small image on the camera screen that the lighting was just perfect.....so lucky.

Inspiration

I am a self taught amateur photographer and have been taking photos for about ten years so I class myself as still learning the trade which is very straight forward and very complicated at the same time. Barnaby my Australian Labradoodle puppy has been my main focus of attention since we got him in December 2015 and he makes a great subject to photograph. I wanted to capture as many puppy pictures as possible while he was young and my inspiration for this particular picture was from the great dog and animal photographer Tim Flach. His imagery is just amazing and different and if I can get close then I will be very happy.

Editing

I brightened up the image to make the bluebells and the grass a little more vibrant and sharpened slightly using Lightroom, the natural shadows in the woods did most of the work for me. I am a strong believer that if you have to adjust an image too much then you should have taken a better photo to start with! That and the fact that I am not very well practiced in Photoshop. When it comes to colours I have terrible colour vision so if you let me loose on adjusting too much I will not work in my favor as I have found out with a Bermuda sunset photo which was met with hilarity from my family.

In my camera bag

I work with a Canon 5D mkii camera and three lenses and keep things fairly simple but try and cover everything I need. I have a 24-105mm L lense which is what I class as my everyday lens and is great for portrait work as well as everyday shots. My best buy ever is a second hand Canon 50mm F1,8 which I use for close up detailed photography, this lens cost me about £40 and gives stunning results with a tiny depth of field. My third lens is the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 mkii which is what I used for this photo. Its not cheap but you get a serious bit of glass in it as well and great speed and super sharp focusing, perfect for any action shots. I also have a fairly basic Canon flash unit and a diffuser and that's me ready to go. The only lens I would love to have is a good quality wide angle lense for London scenes and buildings as I work in London and love the sights there.

Feedback

For this type of shot lighting is key.....then work off that. Get as much light as you can (I know in the middle of the woods is not the best for lighting) but pick a bright day which will give you enough natural light to ensure you have enough speed in the photo to freeze the movement and still have a well lit image. Make sure there are no other dog walkers or anything which might detract from the subject in the shot and take the picture from several different angles using different locations so you get the lighting just right. On this particular walk this was probably my fourth or fifth area in the woods to get it just right and remember to capture movement like this you will probably need to take lots of pictures for that perfect shot.....If I can do it then so can you. All the best with your photography.....Andrew Verdie.

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