Friends Play REALLY Rough

[Jim Kenny]

My dog Tosca (black) and the next door neighbors dog Heidi (brown) are good friends ...
Heidi ALWAYS initiates this kind of play when the two get together. Heidi is 6 months and Tosca is about 8 years ... rough play and the pics make it look even rougher than it is ... they really do have fun together ... six pics in all ... If Heidi was in focus on the last shot that would be my favorite !

http://www.basecampphotos.com/play1.jpg

Jim

[Jim Kenny]

# 2 of 6

http://www.basecampphotos.com/play2.jpg

Jim

[Jim Kenny]

3 of 6

http://www.basecampphotos.com/play3.jpg

Jim

[Jim Kenny]

4 of 6

http://www.basecampphotos.com/play4.jpg

Jim

[Jim Kenny]

5 of 6

http://www.basecampphotos.com/play5.jpg

jim

[Jim Kenny]

6 of 6

http://www.basecampphotos.com/play6.jpg

again, I only wish I had a wider DOF on this shot... missed the focus on Heidi. I do like the natural leaf background ... with the black and brown contrast of Tosca and the leaves and then Heidi is infront of the Black of Tosca.

It has ALWAYS been a challange to get the exposure correct with Tosca the Black fur has been tough ... but this time, in the direct sun, it worked !

#2 and #4 really show the "Play" that is going on ... espically when Tosca lays on her back to fight Heidi ... I guess in dog language that is like taking your opponent on with one hand tied behind your back

Thoughts ?

Jim

[Asher Kelman]

The first shot is exceptional. It's balanced and interesting and the dog's make us nervous about what's happening next!

But how do you know that one of them not going to say to himself "Hmm, now I can finish him off with one big chomp!"?

Asher

BTW, is that first image cropped?

[Jim Kenny]

Asher thank for the kind words ...

Yes the image is cropped.... In the interesting of sharing ... posted below is the uncropped and un processed orginial.

You can see how much of a challenge I have trying to nail the exposure... in the back yard we have partical shade and you can see the dogs have moved into the shade.... I used the shadow/highlight adjustment to help bring out the shadow details.

As for the crop the orginal pic is no where near as dramitic with Tosca simply standing still.

http://www.basecampphotos.com/op.jpg

this shot was taken using Aperture Priority f4.0 iso 1000 1/2000sec and focal lenght 240 mm ... (70-200 with 1.4 extender) now that I look at the settings I see I could have managed my settings better - oh well ... next time