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Jun, 2021Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this photo in my backyard, in Torrance CA… the photo is of our pug, Kozmo.Time
I caught this image of Kozmo in the afternoon. I had been in my front yard with my camera and was walking back when Koz stuck his head through the slats of our deck. He stared at me long enough that gave me an opportunity to bring up my camera and quick capture the shot.Lighting
Since it was afternoon there was plenty of light available. I generally keep my cameras set on aperture priority and I knew right away that I wanted to blur the background to emphasize Kozmo's face. I was lucky there were no harsh shadows on that side of my house.Equipment
In 2007, I was shooting with an Olympus E-300. Hand held and probably whatever kit lens came with the camera.Inspiration
I am involved with pug rescue, here in Los Angeles and at time there have been ten pugs running around my home. Kozmo was one of the pugs we had rescued and he was small in size, but big in spirit. Koz had especially expressive face. When I looked and found him looking at me, I considered myself fortunate to have my camera with me at the ready.Editing
All my post-processing occurs in Photoshop Lightroom. My typical workflow is minor adjustments to saturation, vibrance and lighting. If you look carefully at the photo, you’ll note a hair sticking out of Kozmo's face. I have resisted the urge to take the image into Photoshop and use the healing brush to remove that hair - I try to keep my photos as natural as possible.In my camera bag
I have graduated from the Olympus E-3000 a couple of times since 2007. I currently shoot with either a Sony a6000 with a 50mm lens or the Sony a7ii with the 28-70mm lens.Feedback
My best advice is to keep your eyes open whenever you have a camera in your hand. Sometimes life presents you with a photo you weren’t planning on taking, but when you see that unexpected image flash in front of you, and you are familiar with your equipment, you will be rewarded - like I was with little Kozmo that afternoon.
