Not Quite Professional

It's official. I found out I have just sold my first photo.  I won't quite call myself a professional yet.  Maybe when I quit my job because I am making oodles of cash from my photo's I'll think about doing that.  I wish the photo was dog related since that is what I have been focusing on but I'll take what I can get.  Here is the photo for anyone who is interested.

I do like this picture because it makes Chicago feel like a vibrant and active city.  I even planned for the woman coming past.  It wasn't luck....promise.

Montrose Dog Beach II

The weather has been so good in Chicago these past few days that I had time to head down to the beach for round number two. Have to take advantage of it right?  Especially when you just quit your job and have the whole day at your disposal.  After running for about a mile, trying to get the dog at least a little exercise we headed on to the beach.  I would really like to say that Vaughn takes full advantage of the beach but he absolutely does not.  He immediately headed for the water, dipped his toes in and then proceeded to not leave my side the entire time I was taking photographs.  Dare I say that this does not bode well for if kids come along!!  With that said I have decided that Vaughn does not make a very good beach photography dog.  No matter, he does well lying on the couch and there are plenty of other dogs at the beach which are more than happy to take his place.  From a photography perspective this time there was a fair bit of light that allowed me to really up the shutter speed quite dramatically without having to reduce the aperture or raise the ISO which was great.  It's so much easier when you have that much flexibility.

This first photo does not have a super fast shutter speed but adequately does the job of keeping things crisp and clear.  Crisp and clear is my new mantra.  I think I'll create another post soon on why I am trying to take clarity to the next level.  Anyway, I like this one because of the dogs intent.  He seems focused on just one thing and nothing is going to stop him.

 I have also been getting some interesting shots of the dogs while they are shaking out after getting back from retrieving things.  What I love about these shots is that they show things that a person just does not see with the naked eye.  With this shot below I like the way the water is being sprayed out.  I also love being able to see his one eyelash sticking out like it is.  Maybe its not visible on the blog but zooming in on it shows the eyelash quite clearly.

Montrose Dog Beach

I have lived in Chicago for almost a year and had never gone to the Montrose dog beach until Friday.  The weather was not the greatest but it wasn't that bad either.  The wind was up a little but not enough that it was chilly.  The waves were lapping gently and the sun was out but nicely diffused by some very welcome clouds.  Unfortunately, the wind meant that getting shots of Vaughn was almost impossible.  He gets this weird wind blown effect which does not look very attractive at all.  Maybe on another day.  But, I managed to get some pretty decent ones of other pooches having a great time frolicking around on the beach.

Montrose dog beach is really awesome.  The beach itself must be 400 yards long that the dogs can use and the way it is setup is perfect.  There is a high wall on one side which tapers in towards the lake which the dogs cannot get over.  The other side has a fence, although the fence is broken and the dogs could theoretically get through.  But they don't bother since there is so much space and they want to hang out with the other dogs anyway.

Making the best of a bad situation.....and loving it!!

Unfortunately I never got this little guys name but he was having a whale of a time wheeling around the beach.  He had no trouble walking up to other much bigger pooches and letting him know that this was his beach!  

At the Dog Park

Yesterday was a great day.  The sun was shining but the clouds were out so the light was being diffused nicely.  When walking the dog I decided to take the camera and see what I could get.  I took the zoom lens as there would be dogs running around everywhere and I wanted to get some closer shots rather than a landscape with a dog somewhere in the middle!!

Fortunately there were tons of dogs around and I got some ok shots.  I am finding out just how hard it is to get these little beasties into a situation where the shot looks good.  I find that the shots are usually better when the dog is looking right at the camera.  My collie Vaughn hardly ever looks at the camera so its really hard to get some interesting shots of him.

Jazz

But, I did get some great shots of other dogs.  This is Jazz.  His owners say he notices when cameras are on him and loves to perk up and enjoy the attention.  I like this shot because he's looking right at the camera, tail is perky, ears are perky and he stands out in the grass.  Unfortunately at the dog park all the dogs have their collars on which is a shame as it takes a little away from the picture.  Jazz doesn't seem to mind about all that stuff too much and is ready for someone to chase him and his ball!!

Just For Fun

We went to Indiana for the weekend and stayed at a cute bed and breakfast which allowed dogs.  It's really tough finding places that the dog can stay at.  The place is called Tryon Farm Guest House.  It's in a really interesting community that is focused on sustainability and having minimal impact to the environment.  In the area there is the Indiana Dunes National Park which has a bunch of really great beaches.  On the Saturday it was very windy and so we were not able to head down to the beach.  But, Vaughn was able to get a great run on the Sunday.  He loves the beach as do most dogs I am sure.  He also loves sticking his head out the window and watching the world go by!!

Vaughn looking out the back window

A Good Lesson

I am busy reading a couple of excellent photography books which I would really recommend any amateur photographer take a look at.  The books are called "On Being A Photographer" and "On Looking At Photographs" by Bill Jay and David Hurn.

In the first book these two world renowned photographers discuss their lives as photographers and what they think being a photographer even means.  They discuss how they got into photography as well as what they think others should do if they seriously want to become photographers.  The book is very readable with the style being commentary.  The reason I started this blog was because I read this book and realized what I really needed to do to even think about taking good photographs.

For me, the key to it all was deciding what things I was going to photograph.  I was going out with my camera with no real purpose snapping away at anything I thought could be a fun photo.  I was pressing the button on my camera and coming home with a bunch of photographs to look at.  While reading the first book I realized I needed a purpose, something to focus my attention on.  I needed to choose a topic or theme that I could get fully involved in, that was accessible to me and that I really enjoyed.  What better than to focus on the furry little scoundrels that cross my path every day.  Having a beautiful scoundrel myself of course makes it that much easier to want to go out and practice.

So, lesson number one to all those amateur photographers: Find something that interests you, that is not too broad a topic and start focusing on that....rather than on anything that comes into your path.

I think this lesson has already helped my photography by allowing me to hone in and focus on specific skills for shooting dogs rather than shooting my camera like a machine gun on anything I see.  Of course this does not mean I won't be trying to get some great shots when I go to Ireland this summer!

Oh, and one other thing, Bill Jay shoots about 3600 shots for each photograph he considers exhibition worthy.