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Baltic Adventure

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
I am just back from a few weeks of crusing Europe on the Baltic Sea, North Sea and Kiel Canal. I have 1800 photos to work on. During the adventure I had the pleasure of meeting Bart Van der Wolf and Cem in Amsterdam and Bruges. What a special few days. We were in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Amsterdam and Bruges before flying home via the UK.

Those of you who know me know that I have a Cairn Terrier - A Toto type from the Wizard of Oz. So imagine my excitement at seeing this - West highland White Terriers - a breed originating from the Skye Terrier and the White Versions of Cairn Terriers - in St. Petersburg outside the Church on the Spilled Blood. I am amazed that the dogwalker was not wrapped like a Maypole. These little dogs can think for themselves and are quite stubborn and can be hard to train...


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Copyright 2008 - Kathy Rappaport - C&C Welcome - Please do not copy without permission
 
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Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
What a great meet it was!

The pleasure of meeting you and Frank was all ours Kathy!
It was a great couple of days I've spent with you.

We are looking forward to seeing you, Asher and some others from OPF in a few weeks in LA :)

Cheers,
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
...Those of you who know me know that I have a Cairn Terrier - A Toto type from the Wizard of Oz. So imagine my excitement at seeing this - West highland White Terriers - a breed originating from the Skye Terrier and the White Versions of Cairn Terriers - in St. Petersburg outside the Church on the Spilled Blood. ...
I guess they were not in Kansas anymore (LOL)
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
No dog lovers around here?

I don't have dogs myself but I still liked this picture. Your timing was quite good Kathy, to have this composed like this in the very short time the opportunity has presented itself. I assume it was your travel Tamron lens with which you've taken this? Look at the tails of all dogs pointing in the same direction, it is such a funny sight :).

Cheers,
 

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
Yes, I was happy with the capture

That was a definite grab shot. I was really happy to get that with the tails all like that. Notice the dogwalker has a tail too (ponytail!). I only got three shots and two of them only show 5 dogs. I cropped out someone else in the alleyway.

I think that what makes shots like that possible sometimes is keeping the lenscap off, camera on, and I have the camera harness so my camera is hands free. I was walking towards the opposite direction when I saw the dogs out of the corner of my eye and almost missed this.
 
Kathy,
don't forget - it's Russia!
Tolerance never been a modus operandi in Motherland :)
US public probably can't fathom what a few "good" beatings (or some other drastically harsh measures) can do to "improve" a discipline and obedience:-/.
This goes to: dogs, children, school students, drafted soldiers, etc.
 

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
Good thing...after I took some photos, shooting from the hip...realized it was forbidden where I was shooting , it dawned on me that I could create a huge problem for myself....we needed to buy "photo permits" in several places and display stickers on our cameras. It really made me grateful that I have so many freedoms that would be easy to take for granted.

Editing to add, that those beatings would actually break the spirit of these little dogs and I am sure has done that to many of the people we encountered. As a whole, we almost never saw anyone just walking the streets without a purpose and for that matter a happy smile.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
First, Kathy, I love the red leashes of the dog-walker!

This business of licenses is new to me. How much do they cost and what does it allow you to do, beyond getting tracked?

Asher
 

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
No tracking...just paying

We did not have to be "tracked". We just had to display our stickers on our cameras. They were issued by the museums and such. Otherwise, no photography was allowed. It was just a way to make extra money off of the tourists. We paid fees to The Hermitage, Catherine's Palace (Pushkin), Church on the Spilled Blood (My photo of the purple haired warden of Camera Stickers did not come out) and Yusupov's Palace to use our cameras inside. In the Hermitage, several rooms forbid camera use - like the Amber Room - most did not allow any flash.
 
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