Portal to the Unknown

Dog Blog Post #796

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge "305. Once In A Blue Moon"…

… I decide to try to get a shot of the boys catching cookies.

It never goes well, which is probably why I don't try very often.

Our Daily Challenge - Aug 31, 2012 - "Portal to the Unknown"

It won't be unknown for long for that cookie.

Before and After

Scavenge Challenge September 2012 - "25. Post-processing - a single photo represented in two ways ("before" and "after"). Paired images must be posted as a side-by-side diptych so that the comparison may be easily seen, using graphics tools only to improve an image (the operative word in that sentence is "improve," as opposed to "go to extremes"). Enriching color, increasing or decreasing contrast, pulling up heavy shadows or reducing overblown highlights..."

The top half of the diptych, above, is straight out of the camera, shot RAW. The bottom is the same as the picture at the top of this post.

The biggest issue I deal with on a daily basis is drool, and cloning it away takes more time than any other activity. There is definitely a knack to it, as you can't always find fur just the right color, length, and direction for a straight clone and have to know when to switch to a semi-transparent clone to try to blend in the slobbers.

In addition to that, this photo also been cropped, run through the auto Levels and Curves that Aperture provides, selectively highlighted on Henry's muzzle and chin, cloned out the white of the pillow by his ear (right) and lamp stand (above it), blended slightly in that area with the polarizer, draped in a heavy vignette to try to separate him from a background that is pretty much the same color as he is, and finally sharpened.

Whew!

And no, I don't normally do that much, but then I usually shoot against backdrops so I don't have to find the dog in the picture!

Also Rans

The Solution

Don't try this assignment again until the next blue moon?

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Silliness

Dog Blog Post #795

I took exactly one picture today. Well, two, if you count the first one where I forgot to turn on the Speedlight and the picture came out pure black. :)

Photography Assignment

Can there be any more…

Daily Dog Challenge "304. Silliness"

… than a pair of goofy goldens playing bitey-face...

Our Daily Challenge - Aug 30, 2012 - "Inside"

…?

I think not!

End of the Month

I typically don't post each Scavenge Challenge shot here unless the boys are in it, but how about the Mosaic for the month? If anything trips your trigger the links are below the picture, and below that is the description of each challenge.



1. Instruments, 2. Works of Art, 3. The Boys and a Friend, 4. No Dumping, 5. Stay, 6. Rings on her Fingers

7. Masquerade, 8. Downtown, 9. Honey, 10. Henry's Tail, 11. Now?, 12. Stop Light

13. Martha Stewart, 14. Cup of Tea, 15. Rose Leaf, 16. Time, 17. Time for Banana Bread, 18. Mars Curiosity Coin

19. Putto, 20. DIY Dog Tuxedo - Part 1/6, 21. DIY Dog Tuxedo - Part 2/6, 22. DIY Dog Tuxedo - Part 3/6, 23. DIY Dog Tuxedo - Part 4/6, 24. DIY Dog Tuxedo - Part 5/6,

25. DIY Dog Tuxedo - Part 6/6, 26. Sharp Dressed Dogs, 27. Fruit of the Agapanthus, 28. Cup of Tea, 29. Sit Henry Sit, 30. Crayons

Note: 27-30 are "spares"

Challenges

1. Instrument panels may be found in your car (too easy), planes, radio/tv stations, etc.
2. Photograph colored pencils or crayons in a creative way. No pens or markers, please.
3. Cute Critter of the Month: marine mammals (whales, dolphins, porpoises)
4. The theme is protecting wildlife. Show an example of wildlife conservation in your area.
5. Capture someone (even yourself) seated outdoors on a bench, chair, log or rock.
6. A huge ice cream cone, an enormous cow, a gigantic boot - find something "larger than life!"
7. Find or manufacture a mask (be artistic!) and pose yourself or a friend wearing it.
8. "Downtown" may signify skyscrapers or the local country store. Show us a downtown scene.
9. From cheese to beer, soaps to vinegars, feature an artisanal product from your region.
10. Tails are the subject (absolutely NO vulgarity or crude humour here, please!)
11. Create an image which provides the viewer with a sense of anticipation or anxiety.
12. Make a signal light (stoplight, train crossing, etc.) the main subject of a photo.
14. Think of someone (living or dead) whom you admire but have not met in real life. Without using an image of that person as a major prop, create a photograph which relates to them and why you hold them in esteem.
13. It's time to take a coffee/tea break! Make us feel comfortable with a hot beverage.
15. Closeup - A leaf, using black and white
16. Closeup - A piece of jewelry
17. Closeup - A vegetable or fruit
18. Closeup - Coins
19. Closeup - Detail in a sculpture or carving of a human face
20-23 (or 25). Your mission for August is to create a series of FOUR TO SIX (4-6) instructional photographs, a "how-to" explanation of the steps involved in a skill. The subject matter must be covered in a thorough manner so that someone unacquainted with the technique could learn the process from the images.



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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

You Want Us To Do What???

Dog Blog Post #794

Photography Assignment

Daily Dog Challenge "303. How's The Weather - Show us the weather where you and your dog live today or how your dog feels about it."

I told the boys we were going to go outside and show the world our weather.

They let me know in no uncertain terms what I could do with that idea, and went back to their favorite form of indoor…

Our Daily Challenge - Aug 29, 2012 - "Entertainment"

… bitey-face.

We're all hoping tomorrow is a cooler day!

Finished up my Scavenge Challenge pictures tonight (still need to make the Mosaic of them) - the last shot was for...

Scavenge Challenge August 2012 - 14. Think of someone (living or dead) whom you admire but have not met in real life. Without using an image of that person as a major prop, create a photograph which relates to them and why you hold them in esteem.

Laugh if you must, but I am in total awe of Martha Stewart.

It's not so much any one particular thing that she does, but that she does so many different things.

I went to the library to pick up some books for this shot and discovered my modest sized library has over 50 titles by Martha Stewart and her empire - and a good number of them were checked out.

There were books on gardening, cooking, crafting, sewing, painting, decorating, decluttering,… the list went on and on.

Does the woman ever sleep?

Henry was clearly impressed, as he stared at the pictures for the entire (if brief) shoot. Perhaps he's hoping I'll make him a dog sock puppet.

Or maybe his own fire hydrant. :)

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Dog Tag

Dog Blog Post #793

Daily Dog Challenge "302. You've Been Tagged"

Our Daily Challenge - Aug 28, 2012 - "Metal"

From the AKC:

"The Golden Retriever originated in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1800s and was used predominantly for hunting. The breed was developed by Lord Tweedmouth, whose goal was to create a superb retriever suited to the Scottish climate, terrain and available game. He crossed his original "Yellow Retriever" with the Tweed Water Spaniel (now extinct) found on his estate. Later integrations of Irish Setter, Bloodhound, and more Tweed Water Spaniel produced the retriever we know today."

The Golden Retriever is shown in the Sporting Group, and was recognized as a breed by the AKC in 1925.

True to his roots, Zachary (above) is a wonderful retriever of thrown balls, and will bring them back for as long you will throw them. His sire is a Champion, with multiple Best in Show and Best in Specialty Shows, as well as being an Outstanding Sire and in the Show Dog Hall of Fame.

And Henry? His parents are Champions as are his Grandparents, and his sire is an Outstanding Sire.

Both dogs come from the same breeder, and their grandmothers were half-sisters.

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Random Acts with Cookies

"Oh, Heeeeennnnnrrry!"
"Yes, Momma?"

"I don't suppose you would be a good boy and sit here for a moment with a cookie on your nose?"

"Do I get to eat the cookie?"

"Of course, sweetie!"

"I'm your dog!"

Zachary: "How pointless is that. Has anyone seen a ball around here?"

Dog Blog Post #792

Photography Assignment

• Our Daily Challenge - Aug. 27, 2012 - "A Song"
• Daily Dog Challenge "301. Hidden Talent - Our dogs all have things they can do that surprise us."
• Scavenge Challenge Aug 2012 - "5. Capture someone (even yourself) seated outdoors on a bench, chair, log or rock."

The Plan

Although I had subjected Henry to the indignity of sitting on a cold hard rock Sunday...

"My agent says Precious Puppies NEVER sit on cold hard rocks..."

... to satisfy the Scavenge Challenge item listed above, I found out today that a human must be in the shot.

Grrrrrr

The Problems

Sooo... with time running short to finish the month's challenges, I decided to concentrate on my sitting in a chair with a dog in the shot, and let the rest of the challenges take care of themselves...

... somehow.

The Solution

As I was sitting in that chair, with the camera on the tripod at the ready and remote in hand, it was clear Zachary was going to be no help at all. He was in full Ball Brain mode, and nothing existed for him but that bright orange orb.

However, Henry really is quite good at balancing a cookie on his nose.

What I did NOT know was that he must have been practicing flipping the cookie up into the air and catching it before he lands.

Just started doing it out of the blue this afternoon, and was successful twice!

Back in the house, looking at the shots, typing in random relevant words plus "lyrics" into google turned up:

"Stay" by Sugarland

I declared shot #2 (above) the winner and called it a night.

Ta-Da!

"I love you, Momma."
"I love you, too, Henry."

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Woo Hoo!

Dog Blog Post #791

Photography Assignment

At times my boys are as opposite as can be.

Red hot Zachary thinks retrieving is cause for…

Our Daily Challenge - Aug 26, 2012 - "Celebration"

… while cool blue Henry prefers to have a more restrained sniffing…

Daily Dog Challenge "300. Adventure - Show us your dog's idea of an adventure - anything from a grand trip to something exciting in your own backyard."

The Plan

My plan was to take the shot pictured above, but without the... uh... enhancements.

The Problems

And here we hit Mischief Monday...

This is how that shot actually turned out - shot RAW, shown with absolutely NOTHING done to it:

... and that was the BEST of the bunch.

The biggest problem was the big umbrella, creating that enormous shadow in front. The fact I was using the 50mm lens instead of the zoom didn't help.

That makes Inanimate Objects the root of mischief this week.

Grrrrr....

The Solution

Crop big and push sliders. I'd love to say I'd planned Zachary to be red and Henry to be blue and was able to make it so.

And that would be a lie.

It just worked out that way.

Ok... it was a lot of work to make it work out that way, requiring much slider shoving, lightening, darkening, contrasting, and a bunch of other fiddly things that were more luck than skill. :)

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Young at Heart

Dog Blog Post #790

Photography Assignment

Henry is, and will probably always be, …

Daily Dog Challenge "299. Young At Heart"

… a perpetual puppy with zero interest in growing up.

He delights in soft toys, soft places, snuggling and being cuddled.

And that suits me just fine.

As with most life forms on this Earth, he is quite…

Our Daily Challenge - Aug 25, 2012 - "Organic"

:)

The Plan

My plan was to snap a quick shot of one dog or the other for my 365 (a picture of one of the boys per day for a year) and wait until tomorrow in hopes inspiration would strike.

The Problems

Biggest problem was that the boys were at the day spa, making taking their picture a bit hard. And while they do return in plenty of time for picture taking, they are usually pretty tired - more interesting in snuggling and sleeping than being photography models.

The Solution

So I grabbed Henry's woolly man and tossed it a couple times, taking Happy-Snappy shots when he returned.

Ta-Da!

Done.

Next!

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Oh Cookies, Where Are You?

"Who turned off the lights?"

"Oh Cookies, where are you?"

"Cookies?"

Dog Blog Post #789

Photography Assignment

• Daily Dog Challenge "298. From Above"
• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 24, 2012 - "Sinful"

The Plan

1 nearly empty dog treat bag + 1 dog = a sinfully good time.

Thankfully, I started with Henry, who was more than happy to shove his entire head into the bag to try to get the cookies in the bottom.

And when he couldn't reach, he just stayed like that until I pulled the bag off his head and handed him his price.

Silly puppy!

The Problems

There was no way that Zachary was going to stick his head in that bag, no matter how many cookies I tossed inside.

Does that make him my little angel?

Nope.

The Solution

He was more than happy to try and rip the bag open, instead!

"Open Bag... Open Bag..."

"Open Open Open..."

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

We're Ready!

Dog Blog Post #788

When the boys heard today was the day Son headed off to college, they grabbed their favorite t-shirts and were ready to go.

Alas, while Zachary was looking quite fine in his "24/7 365 Lx" (Lacrosse) shirt, and Henry in his "Wanted Marmot" shirt, it was not meant to be.

No Dogs Allowed.

Photography Assignment

• Daily Dog Challenge "297. Alphabet Soup - Take a photo of your dog with something that has letters or numbers on it."
• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 23, 2012 - "Letters"

The Plan

Something easy after a very busy day hauling Son and Son's Stuff to college.

The Problems

The biggest problems were the knobs on the kitchen drawers creating dark shiny circles all in a row near the top of the picture.

What door knobs, you ask?

The Solution

The ones I cloned out of the picture!

There's actually one knob still visible, as Henry's fur was going to make it a bit of work to remove.

Editor's Note:

Boy, does the house seem quiet.

And I keep feeling like I forgot something - like I went somewhere and left something really really important behind.

But I had such a great time in college, and as we were dropping Son off so many wonderful memories came back. It's hard to be sad when I know he has his own wonderful experiences ahead of him, just waiting to be had.

Plus is a really nice college.

Plus it's not that far away so we'll be seeing him again in a few days...

... delivering more Stuff. :)

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Telling Tales

Zachary: "... and then the cat... (hehehe) the cat... (hehe SNORT) the cat..." (whisper whisper whisper)

"Hehehehehehe SNORT hehehehehehe SNORT hehehehehe!"

I'm SURE I don't want to know...

Dog Blog Post #787

Photography Assignment

• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 22, 2012 - "Stress"

Yup, just one. The Daily Dog Challenge was "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", which obviously wasn't happening here!

The Plan

If all else fails, take pictures of the boys playing. :)

No problems, so no need for solutions. It was a happy shoot for a very busy day.

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Oops

Dog Blog Post #786

Henry may be Precious, but he's not quite Perfect.

Photography Assignment

• Daily Dog Challenge "295. Peccadilloes - Our dogs all have quirks and odd habits that we find either endearing or maddening. Take a picture of one of your dog's peccadilloes."
• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 21, 2012 - "Begins with R"

The Plan

Hubby supplied the Idea Seed for the day, by suggesting "Ripped" as the answer to the riddle of how to combine the two challenges.

He (that is Henry, not Hubby) has the occasional inclination to chew himself to sleep on the corner of a pillow. In this case, it was his own big fluffy pillow, which no longer zippers closed because he ate (or at least removed) the end of it.

So far he's gone through at least... 9... sofa pillows, but who's counting. :)

While being weaned too early can cause that behavior, I happen to know he was not, so I guess he's still just a pup at heart.

The Problems

There were none.

I plopped Henry's fluffy pillow up onto the sofa, and he was on it.

Literally.

Zachary was feeling a bit left out, and showed signs of photobombing, but...

The Solution

... tossing a few treats in the opposite direction every time Henry got his was enough to keep Zachary at bay.

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

500 Poses

Dog Blog Post #785

Editor's Note: I once saw a book that touted 500 poses for high school seniors.

500!

I'm pretty sure that number included very similar poses with very dissimilar props, but it's still an impressive number.

Just thinking about it, and seeing today's pictures, makes we wonder yet again just how many poses - attractive poses - you can get your dog into.

I'm betting it's an even big number, and I'm also thinking I've come no where close to reaching it in all the thousands of pictures I've shot.

How sad.

Must work harder on that one.

Photography Assignment

• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 20, 2012 - "Ethereal"
• Daily Dog Challenge "294. In Black and White"

The Plan

I was thinking something light and airy and Henry, as he's my go-to guy for that sort of thing.

The Problems

None to speak of.

Even the polar bear was cooperative.

The only oddity was when I looked at the shots I realized that Zachary was clearly the star of the shoot. No knock on Henry, who was looking as soft as ever, but Zachary had that special sparkle in his eyes.

The Solution

Well, Duh.

I choose a Zachary picture, and then spent way more time fiddling with sliders than I spent on shooting,  and while I like what I got, I actually like the full color versions better...

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Sharp Dressed Dogs

"Gee, Uncle Zachary, what should we do tonight?"

Zachary: "How about a fancy ball - you could try out your new tux!"

Henry: "Only if you wear that mask Momma just made."

Hehehehehe

Dog Blog Post #784

Oops... somehow yesterday just slipped by me, and by the time I realized that, it was today.

Photography Assignment

• Daily Dog Challenge "292. With A Friend"
• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 18, 2012 - "Group"
• Scavenge Challenge Aug 2012 - "7. Find or manufacture a mask (be artistic!) and pose yourself or a friend wearing it."

The Plan

The Big Idea was to use these prompts to get my mask shot for Scavenge Challenge. Since I knew it was going to take me a while to make, I wanted to do it over the weekend.

The idea for the mask itself came from a Martha Stewart Halloween ideas book that I checked out from the library.

The Problems

Good grief, this was a ridiculously hard picture to get.

I had to hold the mask, take the picture, and still manage to get the boys to look respectable.

The Solution

So what's Zachary looking at? Me, lying flat on my back on the floor between the boys and the camera, holding up the mask, hoping I'm getting it in roughly the right spot as I click the remote to fire the camera.

The big question is, what the heck was Henry looking at? There's nothing over there but cabinets and one of the light stands!

And of that wasn't enough mischief...

Sniff sniff sniff

Snuffle snuffle SNORT!

Look quick...

"Cookie? What cookie?"

Note to self: Replace batteries in Speedlight before using again. (sigh)

Speaking of batteries - I did a bit of research, and just ordered Sanyo's Eneloop AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries for said Nikon Speedlight.

Hopefully, this will put and end to my battery wasting ways. And boy, do I go through a LOT of batteries!


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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

Goofy Goldens

Dog Blog Post #783

Photography Assignment

• Daily Dog Challenge "291. I've Got Personality"
• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 17, 2012 - "Object describing your personality"

The Plan

My plan was to have Zachary showing off his obsessive side by throwing trash into a can. Do you see that picture on this page? Nope. But not because it was a problem. Rather, the boys decided to start a rousing game of Bitey-Face.

With the Lacrosse Ball.

How cool is that?

The Problems

But do you see a Lacrosse Ball up top?

Well, actually two shots do have one, and one is pretty easy to spot, but it certainly isn't the highlight of either and is completely absent from the remaining shot.

I did get shots of the Lacrosse Ball, down below, where it was the highlight so it wasn't even a problem.

The problem was that I simply liked the shots up top better.

Oh dear, what to do?

The Solution

Come up with a reason why they would work without a Lacrosse Ball, of course:

As they throw themselves wholeheartedly into play, so I hope to do the same with my photography.

Sounds good to me!

Speaking of photography...

Photography

I must say that I've been really surprised at what a different fiddling with the "AF [Auto Focus] Fine Tuning" option on my Nikon d7000 made, at least the 50mm f/1.4 prime lens. What appeared to be the camera making some questionable judgement calls on which focus point to use, now seems to be it focusing a bit behind what it was looking at - we're taking a few inches here - but at close range those inches are important.

I'll try to post some comparison shots, if only to convince myself that there really is a difference. If so, then how cool is it that the camera lets you tweak it, and that you can set different values for different lens and it will remember them!

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

What Have We Here?

Zachary: "What have we here?"

Zachary: "There, nice and tidy."
Henry: "What have we here?"

Henry: "Coooookies!"

Dog Blog Post #782

Photography Assignment

• Daily Dog Challenge "290. In My Sights"
• Our Daily Challenge - Aug 17, 2012 - "Tabletop"
• The Monthly Scavenger Hunt August 2012 - "15. Dozen (Challenge Photo taken in August)."

Not much to say about this one. It's a simple idea and the boys performed brilliantly. :)

Hmm... what else?

Oh yes...

Editor's Note

So I paired instructions with pictures for my DIY - Dog Tuxedo (no sew!) over on BZ Dogs Journal. I considered reproducing them here, but wasn't sure it was necessary since I put them there.

If somebody would like me to reproduce them here, just drop me a comment and I'll happily to oblige.

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© 2012 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved