Charley the boat dog
On the lakes in Killarney National Park, this dog just loves the boat rides.
On the lakes in Killarney National Park, this dog just loves the boat rides.
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Aug, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken from the shore of Lough Leane, one of the lakes in Killarney National Park Ireland. I was making a 2 week tour of the country, enjoying the wonderful scenery and culture that Ireland has to offer.Time
Taken at 11:00 in the morning. I din't plan specifically for this shot. Especially while traveling abroad I tend to always have my camera out and ready since you never know what might be hiding around the next corner.Lighting
Many times I read about the 'golden hours' of Sunset and Sunrise. But with strong harsh light as I had in this shot, the shadows become quite hard and can add some drama which I think can be beneficial for black and white photography.Equipment
The picture was shot with an Olympus OM-D 5 mark II, Lens: Olympus 12-40 mm f2.8 (shot at 14 mm, f 6.3, 1/600). I also had my polarisation filter attached to play with the water reflections.Inspiration
I was on a tour visiting some ruins, exploring the beautiful countryside and to finish with a hike through the nearby Gap of Dunloe. I finished looking at some ruins and hang out on the shore, awaiting the boat that would take me to the next stop of the tour. Then I saw this boat approaching and the dog (named Charley) sitting on its stern. I already noticed this enthusiastic dog earlier that morning. Now he was just sitting there on his vantage point at the stern enjoying his life on the lakes to the fullest. I just had to take a photo of this charismatic dog.Editing
For me the star of the photo is the dog, so I wanted to see him clearly. As a result of the strong backlighting the dog's face was in heavy shadow. In Lightroom I increased the shadows (lightening them) and did a local exposure adjustment. I always shoot in RAW, thus I could easily tune down the blues to get back some more definition in the clouds and converted to black and white. Finally somewhat more crispy-ness by increasing clarity and contrast. Already early in the process I decided that I wanted to convert to black and white since the colours where not that captivating. I often shoot for black and white, I like it because it forces you more to work with composition, contrast and textures.In my camera bag
I like to travel somewhat light, therefore I opted for a micro-four thirds camera: Olympus OM-D 5 mark II. Thanks to an amazing in-body stabilisation I can shoot nearly everything I want without a tripod so mostly I leave that at home. For lenses I have the Olympus12-40 f 2.8 zoom lens and the Olympus 17 mm 1.8 prime. I use a 32 GB memory card with 1000X speed (to avoid annoying waiting for images to be written away). My camera is somewhat power-hungry so I bring 2 extra batteries. Polarisation filter, small flash and cleaning materials. To enjoy the most accurate colours I use an X-Rite Colorchecker Passport, and shoot a picture of it regularly to enable easy colour calibration and white balance correction. At times I just go out with the camera over my shoulder with only the 17 mm attached and perhaps a spare battery in my pocket. At times I get into a vintage mood and also shoot film. As a kind of extreme opposition for my high tech Olympus with its small sensor I bring my analog 1951 Rolleiflex 2.8A medium format camera (shooting black and white120 film, 12 shots per roll) and with that one I use color filters. The whole complete set when bringing both is still not to heavy to ensure comfortable walking.Feedback
I strongly recommend to shoot RAW and to get a good post-processing program. In that way you can save many photos that you thought were bad. Sure... if you have the time to tweak your settings and set up a flash etc. you might also get it right the first time. But sometimes time is not on your side and you have to deal with what you got. In this way your shots won't go to waste. Also, especially with bright light situations I sometimes purposefully underexpose by a stop or so. Blown out highlights can be more difficult to recover than shadow details. And to conclude, don't keep your camera in your bag! You'll be too late when it happens!
