Retriever
A retriever doing what retrievers do!
A retriever doing what retrievers do!
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Aug, 2020Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This image, titled "Retriever," was shot at Buffalo Pound Lake, Saskatchewan, CanadaTime
We have a golden retriever, Soelle (like 'sunshine'}, who likes nothing better than to retrieve sticks or floaties in the lake in front of our home. We find it difficult to swim out into the lake ourselves, because, if she has nothing else to retrieve, she will try to save US. She will grab anything she can, our snorkel mask or even our swim suits and haul us back to shore. It is serious business for her! Most summer days, we go to the lake with Soelle in the afternoon. This picture was taken about mid-afternoon. I took several shots as she was coming in with her stick. This one, at a focal length of 220mm, f/5 and shutter speed 1/1600, ended up being the best, showing her concentration of completing the task. And I love how it captured the ripple of the water in front of her.Lighting
I take many pictures of our golden but have to be aware of the direction of the sunlight and the reflection of it on the lake. If the site line is too much toward the sun, her face/head will be much too dark with too many shadows. Earlier in the day will cause the lighting to be too harsh. This image, taken just after 3:00, already had the sun moving toward the 'golden hour' and coming from the side, adding a rich tone to the image.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon Rebel EOS T1i, with a 400 zoom lens at 200mm and no other equipment.Inspiration
I always carry my camera to the beach, because there is always something there to photograph. Soelle is very photogenic and the light was good, so when we started to throw sticks into the water for her, I could see that she would present a positive image for me to photograph. I knew that the lighting would produce a fine picture for me on this day.Editing
I almost always do a minute amount of sharpening first thing with most images I am processing and I did so with this one. I upped the contrast and vibrancy and did balance the shadows and highlights slightly. Overall, not a lot of post-processing.In my camera bag
I have two bags, one small go-to bag, which I can carry like a purse and can take anywhere. It consists of my camera with my EF-S 18-55 standard lens on it, my EFS 55-250 lens and extra disks and a spare battery with charger. My second full-size camera bag is a back pack that carries everything else, my EF 100-400 zoom and SD 11-16 landscape lens as well as a Canon Speedlight 430EXII, a flash diffuser, go-pod and monopod, and cleaning and rain gear.Feedback
Lighting from the sun is a factor that is needed to be evaluated for taking pictures on the water. If there are clouds, you will only see the surface of the water and no reflections from beneath it. They may also produce deep shadows on your subject. On the other hand, if the light is too bright, the contrast will suffer. This makes the time of day also important. Taking the pictures mid-afternoon, or a little later, will produce the beautiful 'golden hour' warmth.
