Homework Assignment Submissions and a Few More Photos

First, the submissions for the final week of my pet photography class:

1) Rosie - how could I not include a photo of Rosie?  Radar ears, Corgi guile and fluffy cuteness all in one photos.  Yep, Rosie has enslaved another servant!

1/640s, f/5, ISO 200, 35mm

2) Abby the Contemplative - I actually dithered over this one quite a bit; I like the angle of the shot and the perked ears and her focus on whatever it is she's looking at, but I was a little uncertain about the frame of the sliding glass door running through her head.  However, after much thinking (and testing out of photoshopped versions) it looked weird to remove the frame, and when I took another version of the photo without the frame running through her head, it wasn't very interesting.  Besides, the frame from the top of the picture does draw your eyes right to her eye....

1/125, f/2.8, ISO 200, 26mm

3) Fi and Abby - I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get the colors right on this image.  I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I finally gave up and went with it.    I like the stylized look of the photo - it's something different.
 

1/125s, f/4, ISO 200, 35mm  (For reasons that are still unclear, Blogger is making this even redder than it looks on Flickr)

I have to admit, I'm bummed that my class is essentially over.  I feel like I've learned a lot from the class assignments and the feedback I received.    What did I learn?   It is getting late, so I'll save it for another post, but in short, I've learned to look at light and how to use to create the effect I'm looking for by purposely using light to highlight/shadow faces and bodies.   I've learned that I need to broaden my horizons with photographing other dogs, and I've learned that I need to continue to develop my skills.  More on this later.

On to today's photos.  It was a snowy(ish) cloudy day, and while we didn't get measurable snow, there were flurries on and off and I had to try using a plastic grocery bag and rubber bands in an attempt to protect my camera and lens from the snow.  Needless to say, I have ordered a $15 cover for my camera, as the plastic bag and rubber bands was a bit unwieldy.   But the girls had fun in the cold and damp.

Day 307/365.