Me

Dog Blog Post #301: Ugh - this is one of those Daily Shoot's that I dread:

Make a photograph that features you in some way.

Some people are really comfortable in front of the camera, some are indifferent, some loath it, and I (not surprising, perhaps, giving my opening word) loath it.

Funny thing is, I don't mind making or appearing in the videos - perhaps because they are not very distinct, and I'm always just a bit actor. :)

Anyway, my first thought for this one was to go out back, Zachary in a stay, set the camera on the tripod behind him a few feet, 10 second timer, push the button, hurry forward 8 seconds, turn, and look down at my watch (as if I was timing Zachary's stay).

It might have worked, had I tried it, but I never go there, because I liked my second thought much better. :)

Second thought was to set up like I was doing a normal "posed" shot, only leave off the ex-pen and backdrop, replace with my camera on the big tripod, put the older camera on the little tripod, and take a picture of me "taking a picture" of the boys.

And it actually worked. Henry even stayed, despite me running from in front him of him (getting them set) to behind him (to start the timer on the camera) to back in front of him (to get in my pose) and then lastly to look up at my hand (with cookie) as they always do.

Whew!

(I now better appreciate what dad went through to get the family Christmas picture each year!)

Editor's Note #1: Not to worry houndstooth, the Daily Shoot has not done technology four times since I joined. However, since I joined, I have taken pictures of technology four times (actually, if you count the watch, five times!) From memory, the iPod shot was for "plugs", the computer shot was indeed for "technology", the camera shot as for "preparedness" (as in... what I do to prepare for something - like taking pictures of the dogs!) and TV was something about creating a picture for a news story (and the weather was really bad at the time.)

The upshot is, I had already shown dogs with iPods, computers, cameras, and tvs - and now that I had to do technology, I was... struggling... to think of something new!

Editor's Note #2: Still thinking about those black background shots - the other two dog pictures in this post were taking in my usual "sofa" location, only before the sun reached the point where it was coming through the window. Henry is actually Henry colored, a plus, but the background is a dull and dingy brown instead of that rich black I like, a real minus. Not sure if you can have the best of both worlds inside the house using early morning/late afternoon sun (the only kind that can make it into the house) or not.

Editor's Note #3: And since greygirl25 asked, the Scavenger Object yesterday was was my "tacky knick-knack shot "low key" from the side. I moved him (as you seem in here, camo snuggie and all, still sitting on chair) to the darkest part of the room, set the camera on a tripod, set the ISO to 100, turned him sideways, and snapped the picture.

Then I went into iPhoto and turned the brightness down still further, turned the contrast up, and sharpened it quite a bit to bring out what light I had left.

A cool exercise - but not too applicable with the dogs since at ISO 100, I believe the camera took one full second to take the picture, and there's no way they would stay still that long like my little friend here.

There might be a way to do that with a dSLR, I'm just not sure I have enough manual control to accomplish it with my little point-n-shoot.

And finally, the (non-dog) Scavenge Challenge pictures of the day. One is for "Get down! Shoot from a low angle at a high object", and the other "Tied in a knot - literally or figuratively"...





... both using my son's 6' D-Pole Lacrosse the stick.

And just to show you can that you can Black Background more than just dogs :) here it is again with me standing in the doorway, door open, with the afternoon striking it directly and the inside of the house providing the "black" due to the way the camera deals with exposure...





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