Memories

Dog Blog Post #407: Editor's Note: Yup, that was Zachary obsessing about the Lacrosse Ball in yesterday's shot, and yup, that was Zachary in the B&W shot. For the promised reprise of it, check out the bottom of the blog.

The Daily Shoot for today?

Make a photograph that illustrates a memory from your childhood.

Ugh. Had a hard time with this one. I didn't even have a dog as a child!

Hubby suggested switching it to a memory from the dog's puppyhood, and if this assignment pops up again I just might do that.

Sometime around mid-morning, after spending enough time walking around chanting, "memory, memory, memory," the thought of a Teddy Bear Tea Party popped into my head.

Had the season been anything other than summer I might have set up the set, but it isn't, so I swallowed my photographic pride, raised my ISO, put the camera on the tripod to get the exposure time as long as I dared, and hoped the dimness of the light and the "graininess" of the shot would be considered "atmospheric".

BTW: It seems I have been misusing the term "shutter speed". Shutters always move at exactly the same speed, no matter what you dial into your camera. What varies is how long between the front shutter slamming open and the back shutter slamming closed, controlling how long the sensor is exposed to light. So, what I should be saying is "exposure time", and will endeavor to remember to do so in the future.

(Yes, I'm reading Yet Another Book. This one by Tom Ang. The title escapes me at the moment and I'm too rushed to go get it from the other room, but it's the "Masterclass" one.)

Where was I? Ah yes, childhood memories.

Pictured above is Bear. Like many young girls, I had my share of tea parties, and Bear (yes, THAT bear) was at some of the later ones.

My favorite shot of this bunch is the one above. It's a crop of the shot above it (which itself was taken as just a test shot as I was finding the right spot for the tripod) but after uploading the first shot to flickr I realize I should have cropped it. That said, while I like the cropped shot as I think it might be more "artistic" (perhaps?), I think the wider shot (the one I posted) matches the assignment better.

Henry is obviously becoming quite comfortable in hats. I set dogs in their spots, put hats on their heads, set the cookies on the tray, took a dozen or so shots, and nobody even moved.

When I was done, I split the cookies on the plate between them (3 each) and called it day.

Good boys!

And some (non-dog) Scavenger Challenge shots. We have...

#4) "What are you preserving? Jams and jellies? Newspaper articles? Nature? Show us."

US State Quarters... finding those "P" Quarters on the Left Coast is hard!

#22) "Pitch" can refer to music, a carny spiel, throwing, a cricket field, tree sap, etc. Pitch in!

Tree Sap - Don't look at me, I didn't dream up the topic!

... and finally, the promised experiment with Curves...

I think I did a better job bumping up the lights and eliminating most the greys this time - at least I'm happier with it. :)

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