Me and My Shadow

Dog Blog Post #254: We actually had another dog class today. Yeah! It's been, what, three weeks since last we met?

Now, you may recall we are awaiting Henry's Hormones to kick in, and steal his brain away...

... and it appears I will remain waiting a bit longer. My baby boy remained sweet and attentive for yet another week.

Nothing like look down at your dog, amidst the commotion of barking dogs, and seeing him looking back up at you lovingly.

Or at least hungrily.

(Heck, I'm not greedy - I'll take that sort attention any way I can get it!)

I was a little worried earlier today, as I had Henry out with me in a place he hadn't been before, and he started huffing at various things (cars, noisy garbage collectors, things flapping in the wind...) and while he settled each time, I had convinced myself tonight was going to be a disaster...

(Not totally unfounded, as it was about this age that Zachary decided the horses near the training grounds were fearsome creatures, as were people moving about in the shadows, and cars, and things that only he could see. Thankfully, it was just a phase, and he grew out of it.)

... but he was fine. He was more than fine. He was splendid. Well, he was a bit of a momma's boy when we did "pass the puppy" - but in the grand scheme of things, I'll take it.

I also started working on another captured trick while Wendy was talking (sorry, Wendy, but I was still paying attention!)

What is it? I'll never tell! At least not until I get it on cue and can use it for Trick of the Week, but it could spice up pictures a bit, if he can figure out what I'm clicking him for.

On to the Daily Shoot assignment:

Make a photograph that features a shadow as your subject today.

Geeez... haven't we done enough shadows??? It seems not that long ago that we did Hard Shadows...

... and Strong Shadows...

... now I don't mind repeats (well, most repeats) but shadows are hard to do with a dog, and they are hard to do without a good source of light.

Thankfully, after a dismal attempt this morning (not enough light) and this afternoon (too many clouds) I at last managed to get dog and sun together in the waning moments of the day (as in, 5 minutes later, the sun ducked behind the houses and was gone!)

This was an embarrassingly easy setup. I took the (white) cardboard backboard, with nothing on it at all, set in front of the evening sunbeam, called the dogs over, and banged off a few shots. Then over to iPhoto, where I changed it to B&W, moved the brightness down and sharpness and contrast up until I had blotted out the carpet and made Zachary (hopefully) less obvious than the shadow.

For kicks, the raw photo is below:

I don't normally do even a fraction of that much to pictures, but I was rather happy with it in the end. :)

First alternate is below:

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