Happy-go-lucky
Who says dog's don't smile?
Who says dog's don't smile?
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May, 2016Views
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Winner in Creature Purrfects Photo Challenge
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joycealicesmith
June 12, 2016
Gorgeous fur baby! What a magnificent capture! Congratulations on winning the Challenge!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo has special meaning for me. It was taken at the first birthday for my friend's daughter. Her birthday was especially special, as her heart condition was detected before she was even born, and the entire pregnancy was touch and go if she would survive. Her first birthday was a massive sigh of relief to see her make that milestone, surviving the pregnancy and later open heart surgery.Time
As you can see, her wonderful dog was super excited with over 100 guests for the 1st birthday party. There was children running around, jumping castles, very 'merry' adults, all in high spirits. Her dog was feeding off this excitement, running back and forth, putting her head through the fence, desperate to be part of the fun. The shot was taken just after lunch, around 2pm.Lighting
This is truthfully taken fully in natural light, in the middle of the day, with no modifiers. The beautiful catchlight in her eyes is just overhead clouds at the time.Equipment
I always keep my old Canon 450D in the car, with a 'nifty fifty' 50mm, 1.8 prime lens in place. It was shot at 1/1000th at ISO 400. I probably took about a hundred shots trying to catch the exact moment when she was putting her her head through the fence, with a super excited look on her face.Inspiration
I had been watching her running back and forth the entire party, getting more and more excited as the day went on, desperate to be part of the fun. I wanted to catch a lovely shot of her to give my friend a special momento of the day.Editing
I'm known for often doing a lot of post-processing, but this shot didn't require much. Really just some basic colour correction, and adding some clarity to her fur to bring our her shine. The beautiful catch light in her eyes has just had some minimal boosts to the exposure and saturation to highlight them.In my camera bag
I normally shoot with an old Canon 50D, often with 50mm or 85mm prime lens if the situation allows it. I also often shoot with a monopod these days to give me extra stability and reduce the risk of losing sharpness through any camera shake. As we all know there is nothing worse than a glorious capture, only to realise later the focus is off or there is camera shake. In formal shoots, I will use a variety of softboxes, beauty dishes and shoot through umbrellas to create a combination of soft and hard light. Given I shoot mostly with speed lights, I have found great results shooting at ISO 400 on the Canon 50D, finding a good balance between quality, recycle time of the flashes, and their inherent power limitations.Feedback
They key to this shot was noticing the energy of the dog, noticing her excitement and how that her behaviour reflected the massive excitement and energy of the day for everyone there. I had watched her putting her head through the fence, but then running back and forth along the fence line. In the end it was patience, persistence and some good luck to eventually catch her framed with her head through the fence which I had been aiming for. As best of possible, having a mental image of the shot of the image I am trying to capture works best, and then seizing that moment when everything comes together.
