Karma is my "Hearing Dog", trained for 9 months by NEADS. She goes everywhere with me, including supermarkets, planes, & restaurants. The Herring River Marsh is her favorite place to frolic & gambol. She wears the "uniform" wherever she goes; the zipper pocket holds poop bags. She is, amazingly enough, trained to "do her business" on the command "Better go now!"
She also understands, besides the usual stuff, "Leave it!", "Be nice!", "UH HUH!" (as a warning to desist), "Go under!", "Go through!", and "Jump on!"
The picture was shot with the camera at just above ground level. Black dogs are HARD to shoot...
Dog selected out, sky selected out, sky combined with dog, inverted, made foreground selection; levels and hue/saturation applied to each separately and all featheerd together. Light USM. No neat image.
Statistics
Place: 20 out of 273 Avg (all users): 6.4346 Avg (commenters): 7.6842 Avg (participants): 6.3203 Avg (non-participants): 6.6047 Views since voting: 4164 Views during voting: 344 Votes: 214 Comments: 37 Favorites: 5 (view)
For all those who commented on Karma's "missing ass", she's climbing out of a ditch, and she froze in mid-climb when some birds broke cover. It's by far the best shot I have ever had of her face, so I entered it despite the weird pose.
And by entering her in this 'weird' pose, you made her world-famous.
:-))
Hi Robert. Nice shot, but I'm really commenting to thank you for sharing this part of your life via photography. I always enjoy detailed comments where the photog explains what the shot means to him or her. :)
I just read the thread about your dog and had to take a look! She is so beautiful! I can only imagine what a good friend she is to you. I have never had the opportunity to meet a "working dog" in person, but it always amazes me at the stories of how they take their jobs so seriosly. They are truley amazing animals!
wow - great shot of a black dog - a very special one at that. Dogs are wonderful companions, and will do everything to please their humans.
You're obviously a very good photographer - maybe you could share with me how to take a good shot of a black dog and keep it from looking blue. I sure would appreciate any tips as I do a little pet photography on the side.
You can say that again... I agree with you. But its apparent not to be hard for you.. I really like how your dog stands out in this. I also want to say thank you for leaving your notes to your process of how you accomplished this. I have to say I would be proud to have a dog like that and I am sure you are, so that said your portrait is a honor to her and dogs like her.. Wow a very good and well done!
Fessel, she's not actively climbing, she froze in place and "pointed" the birds basically. Very static pose.
Buddy, she's a rescued shelter animal, an abandoned dog. We assume sone German Shepherd in the mix because of the ears, but she's smallish at 55 lbs. She has an incredible herding instinct; in our local free run area she herds all the other dogs, it's funny to watch. So in that respect she behaves like a cattle dog yes...
What a great shot! It looks as if you captured just how intelligent she is. Do you mind me asking what breed she is? I used to have a dog who was very similar to her, he was an Australian Cattle dog mix.
I do, however, notice some weirdness in this image. The pose is very unnatural, considering that he is "climbing out of a ditch". Also, I notice some editing done (cloning?) below the left leg, by his belly. Kinda weird looking. At first glance, it looks awesome, but then the pose and the entire image appears strange.
I saw you mentioned in a post that you were deaf...I thought you were kidding! I'm not deaf....but I always warn people that I am because I'm hearing impaired....had a hearing aid, but broke it to pieces a few years back and haven't been able to afford the kind I want (the little one that hardly shows) and unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover them.
Anyhow! Great looking dog and photo....I have two black ones (wiener dogs)..and you're right they are hard to photograph....I couldn't figure what I was doing wrong until an instructor explained how the camera works (gray, white, black) and how you change the camera settings to compensate. :)
For all those who commented on Karma's "missing ass", she's climbing out of a ditch, and she froze in mid-climb when some birds broke cover. It's by far the best shot I have ever had of her face, so I entered it despite the weird pose.
There is an odd effect in this picture. The grass in the foreground makes the dog look like he has lost his hind quarters. Maybe that is just me, though. Now I'm not sure. Anyway, good looking dog.
Good environmental portrait. There is a strong sense of presence and pride with the stance and expression. The background grasses contrast nicely with the black of the fur and the orange 'jacket'. Only thing I dont like is the way the rear legs have disappeared in the grass and I dont know if there was a selection involved but there is a strong edge/contrast there that makes it look like the legs have been cut off or missing.
Very nice and honorific composition. That beast knows what its doing! Colours are a little blend (background mostly) but doesn't drag away too much from the shot. Lighting could've been a little bit more dramatic (is this shoot 100% natural light?) Perharps a reflector could've helped some. Not sure i like the frame. It doesn't give the pic any "more". I believe the white is what throws me off. 6
This is one incredibly good photo. How you ever managed to get that beautiful working dog to pose for you like that is beyond belief. The image is clear, crips and a definite eye grabber. THe collar and the NEADS logo are two other factors which draw your eyes to this beautiful animal.
Since I know what NEADS stands for, I have a good idea who took this picture, but that will not detract me from giving you a well deserved 10 :0) hehehehe. Good luck with the challenge.
Nice colors, but she almost appears to have been cut and pasted into the environment. I'm sure she hasn't been, but I can see where people might think that. Beautiful animal.
Wonderful dog, but the whole photo (esp. the grass, both near and far, and other spots) looks wrong somehow... overprocessed, perhaps? A bit too much of the dog is covered by the grass, but I love the posture - very classic and regal.
Great angle, great pet portrait. Composition is wonderful. Detail on the black fur is great and not easy to do. I might have added a touch more saturation to the colors, but really very nice.
The pose is incredible. I like seeing a dog in a scenic setting. He looks very heroic. There is a slight fringing of cyan around the top of his head between the ears that is distracting, but all in all a terriffic photograph.
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
