dog – Page 21

Black in White

I knew it was asking a bit much of my camera to meter a black dog in white snow, especially since I’d be changing how large Ellie would appear in the picture, so I set the exposure mode to manual and set the exposure itself when I left the house. I frequently shoot in manual mode so there was nothing unusual in that. Unfortunately I forgot to check if the exposure was still valid a few minutes later when we arrived at Irving Park. Looking through the optical viewfinder of my SLR everything looked fine as you don’t see how the image will be exposed, but the open scene was slightly brighter than at my house and these images ended up a bit overexposed. Not tragically so, and the hot exposure did help preserve detail in Ellie’s dark fur, but my mistake would have been obvious with the electronic viewfinder of a mirrorless camera.

I need cameras that make mistakes obvious, because even after all these years I make them frequently. The more excited I am by a picture, the more likely I am to mess it up. I am far better at this than I used to be but there’s a part of me that will never learn. Sometimes it doesn’t matter but in cases like this, I’ll never get a second chance.

I almost bought into Sony’s full frame line a year and a half ago but chickened out at the last minute due to the high cost and lack of reviews, and to this day I can’t tell you if it was the right decision or not. Sony has updated their smaller sensor camera and I’m leaning in that direction, although there are a couple of other options I’m considering. There’s much to love about my Canon and I’ll still be using it for my telephoto work and I took a bunch of pictures with it on this snowy day, but I found myself fighting the camera off and on throughout the day as I walked around the neighborhood. It doesn’t help that it’s bigger and heavier than I want in a walk-around camera.

One thing I am cognizant of is that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and I have to be aware of what I’m giving up in order to gain something else. The Canon has great weather sealing (although the lens I was using had none) and it is a speedy little thing, and the Sigma 17-50mm 2.8 lens I bought to hold me over back when I couldn’t decide on the full frame Sony has proven to be a charming little lens despite its shortcomings. Even without weather sealing, since it didn’t cost me much to purchase it and I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it I didn’t think twice about shooting in the snow all morning, I did my best to keep it wiped clear of water drops and it did just fine. Sadly nothing like it is available in the options I’m considering, although those options are more portable.

And goodness have we come a long way since I first got started in digital photography, something I’m aware of whenever I edit old pictures. I’ll always remember this day with my pup and I’m as thankful for these pictures of Ellie as she is for the treats she got for posing for them. The off-leash dog park we visit is just up the hill to the right, I took her leash off for the pictures.

Winter at the Door of Hope

When we got an unusually heavy snowfall earlier in the month, I wanted a picture of the Door of Hope church in the snow. The church sits at the edge of Irving Park and Ellie and I used to pass it as we walked around the path that circles the park, but these days after a quick visit to the dog park she wants to head out into the neighborhood instead of going further into the park.

I had thoughts of making her go up to the church as the snow continued to fall, it isn’t much farther than the dog park, but I just couldn’t do it. This theme continued as we walked, on the one hand I knew this was a historic storm and it was not something I’d have the chance to photograph again, but on the other hand this was also going to be my only chance to enjoy this much snow with the pup, and I chose the pup. I did take pictures on our walk, some of her and some of the neighborhood, but only on streets she chose to go down. An hour and a half later I dropped off an exhausted Ellie at the house and went back out alone for more pictures. The snow was still falling as I reached the Door of Hope and took this picture.

A few days later I bribed Ellie with treats to get her up to the church on our morning walk, now bathed in the morning light, every inch of snow trampled underfoot by families enjoying the unusual snow. I had thoughts about making her sit in front of the little utility building from the previous post, it’s just a little further up the path to the left of this picture, but she wanted to go and I couldn’t say no.

The Happiest Dog in the World

The snow was still coming down as a tired but happy Ellie waited to go inside after a long walk through the deep snow. Despite my best intentions I didn’t take too many pictures over the hour and a half we walked as it often felt like it would intrude on the fun we were having. So after getting her settled inside I went back outside for more pictures.

The Saddest Dog in the World

After an unusually heavy snowfall hit Portland one night, Ellie and I were working our way back home on our morning walk when I noticed a massive snowman in front of one of the houses, the kind you see in the movies but never here since we rarely get much snow, so I wanted a quick picture. Ellie was starting to tire after our long and joyful walk through the tall snow so I left her on what I presumed was the sidewalk and told her to stay and walked a few feet over and got my picture of the snowman.

I had to laugh when I turned around and saw the saddest dog in the world, all alone in this desolate landscape, looking for someone to love. Her droopy jowls when she sits still make her look so sad, but I knew the mental calculation she was making. She gets a treat if she sits still when we’re near a street and I give her the stay command, and she gets a treat if she sits still while I take a picture, so what she really wanted to know was, “Am I getting one treat or two?”

She got two.

You do make me laugh, pup, you do make me laugh.

Ellie & the Dragon After Sunset

When a moon hits your eye and Ellie’s by your side,
that’s amore.

Goodbye Sun, Goodbye Snow

Ellie watches the last rays of the setting sun from a snow-covered hill in Irving Park. I thought this Sunday afternoon walk was going to be our last walk together in the snow after a week of walking in the white as I was back at work on Monday, but I stayed home on Tuesday when temperatures didn’t warm as quickly as predicted and a possible ice storm was approaching. Thankfully the ice just missed us but Ellie and I had one more long walk in the snow that morning before the great thaw started in the evening.

I treasure every moment with this sweet pup.

Red Five Prepares for the Trench Run

A week ago we got an unusually heavy snow (5th heaviest snowfall on record for Portland) and work was canceled. This was the snow I had been hoping Ellie would get to play in (plenty more than I had hoped for), not only because she enjoys it but because it reminds me of the snowstorm that led to us adopting her, so we went out for a long walk in the morning. On some streets we were the first to be out and had to blaze a trail through the deep snow, in the early going she was happy to plunge along in the lead but an hour and a half later she was happy to follow in my footsteps.

She went on another long walk in the afternoon around sunset, I took this picture of her on our shoveled sidewalk after we got back so you can see that with the snow up to her belly it was a lot of work for our elderly pup to get through the snow, she got more than her share of exercise that day. Normally snow melts pretty quickly here in Portland but a cold snap kept the snow around for a week, it started warming last night and the snow is rapidly melting (and the water now seeping into our basement).

We had a great time in the snow, the pup and I, but now I’m ready for spring. When does that start, next week?

Here Comes the Sun

While it may seem like Ellie is awaiting the rising of the sun, she’s really awaiting the giving of the treats, her reward for sitting still when I take pictures on our walks.

Nobody Bothers You When Your Best Friend is a Dragon

St. George may have killed a dragon, but Ellie charmed one. As Obi-wan teaches, “You can’t win. But there are alternatives to fighting.”

Silver Linings

I took some time off in November and December but didn’t get out hiking as much as I hoped as my stomach was a bit unsettled in the early going, plus we had some bad weather that I didn’t want to venture out in. The benefit was that I could take Ellie on long walks in the mornings during the week instead of just on the weekends. Sometimes I record our walks in my GPS app, with several overlaid on top of each other you can see how much of the neighborhood we canvas. We always go to the dog park first (upper left corner) and then south towards Broadway before winding our way back, mostly based on where she chooses to go and how much energy she has. Our walks are ringed in by the busy streets that I won’t let her cross, our neighborhood is relatively pedestrian-friendly but there are limits. She’s 13 years old but in pretty good shape all things considered, she typically can go for an hour to an hour and a half on these walks.

I’m off on Monday as well but then it’s back to the normal work, and walk, routine.