Great Salt Lake Marina Revisited

Today was a GORGEOUS day in Salt Lake City; 58 degrees, and very little wind.  So Gary and I went out to the Great Salt Lake for a bicycle ride.  Early season we ride down by the Salt Lake because it is flat and much warmer than Park City.  Today it had the added bonus of being less windy, too.  Gorgeous day for an almost 15-mile bike ride; the first official ride of the season, over a month earlier than usual.

This time I actually remembered to bring my camera, but I hadn't given much thought as to what I was going to photograph (something to remember for future 'destination photography') and after the ride I didn't have much time to get photos before it was time to get on the road to beat rush-hour traffic.

This one didn't really work out as well as I was hoping for, but the lake really does 'melt' into the mountains.

Day 83/365.

More Photos of the Mutts

I was a little under the weather today, so I didn't get a ton of photos of the girls today.  Of course, I did get more photos than if I had actually had the energy to give them haircuts today.  And besides, I like Abby's 'Rod Stewart' look - shaggy blond hair.

For some reason, Blogger lightened this photo, the 

For some reason, Blogger lightened this photo.  Here's the link to the 'original' on Flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/liz_d/13367639565/

Day 82/365.

Doggie Class

After a long winter hiatus, Fi and Abby and I started up with doggie classes again.  At this point we are working on Not Being Doofuses Out In Public, and today was a nice day to get out and see how much we had forgotten over the winter.

The girls actually did very well, and it was fun to get some different shots - something other than frisbees or exercises in lighting.  Because I wasn't really sure what we were going to do in the doggie class, I just brought along my little point-and-shoot, and today was just about having fun.

Which we did.

It was quite bright out, and I had to spend a little of time trying not to get over-exposed photos.  I wasn't always successful.

The "fluorescent" light setting on my little camera doesn't seem to do much...

Not really in focus, but Abby looks quite cute!

Heehee!  Fi rocking the spring hats!

Both girls rocking the spring hats!

 Day 81/365.

Stem Cell Research

Today is one of those wildly long days at work (who, other than a doctor who is on call all weekend, would schedule a 4pm meeting on a Friday?), so I brought the P520 to work, figuring I'd need a mental health break and go out and take some pictures.  I was walking around and got a few shots, but nothing that really 'grabbed' me; I just wasn't 'seeing' today.  Which may have something to do with just taking pictures of the dogs - I need to broaden my 'vision', which is actually what these long days at work force me today.

As I walked past the Health Sciences bookstore, I saw that they had Giant Microbes on sale.  I LOVE Giant Microbes.   And I remembered seeing a photo exercise where someone had a stuffed animal and they used it for the 'focus' of a whole bunch of different photos in different settings.  So I thought, "Gee, why don't I get a Giant Microbe and see what I can do with it?"  I ended up choosing a stem cell (because they can go anywhere! Heehee... Little joke there...) and decided to get it started in research.

Stem cell involved with bench science!

More bench science with stem cells.

Stem cells can't escape statistical analysis!

Yeah, so, I amused myself.  And I've got a fun prop for when I need to be a little silly.

The photos I took that just didn't grab me?  Here are a couple...

Heavily tweaked and I'm still not 100% happy with it. As a piece of trivia, that stone was placed on the university campus in 1919 to identify the first building on campus devoted entirely to medicine.  

One of the buildings in Fort Douglas.  Just not wildly exciting.

Tree just starting to bud.

Given those last three photos, you can maybe see why I went with the giant stem cell!

Day 80/365.

Slight Change of Venue

For some reason, I decided to take the camera and the dogs out on the front porch for some pictures. Because in the shade it was a little too dark to get decent shots (well, I guess I could have changed lenses, or upped the ISO or something), and I'm so enamored with the off-camera flash stuff, I brought out one of the trusty speedlights and a small softbox to see what I could get.

Among other things, I got 'Terminator' shots of both girls (if you've seen the poster for Terminator 3, you'll know what I mean - one bright eye, one eye in shadow).

I don't know why I like these so much, but I do.

And a couple of 'pretty girl' photos (as in, "You're a pretty girl!").

Nothing earth-shatteringly unique, but I'm having a little better luck in getting pictures of Fi's eyes (or eye, as she's in need of a haircut), so I'll call it a good day.

Day 79/365.

The Eyes Have It

Both girls have absolutely gorgeous eyes, but for some reason, Abby's eyes are more frequently 'striking' than Fi's.  I don't know if it is because Fi often has her eyes half-closed (even when flashes aren't pointed in her face), or she doesn't gaze upward as often as Abby, or maybe her eyes are just a bit darker than Abby's. Or maybe Fi just has hair over her eyes more often than Abby does.

Abby's eyes are easy.

 

So today's mission was to get some pictures where Fi's eyes were also 'striking'.

Okay, maybe you can't really see her eyes in this one, but I really liked the shadows and low light.

Day 78/365.

Stupid Human Tricks

I was reading an article on a photography website today that had some Lighting 101 exercises, and I thought it would be a good learning experience to work through the exercises.  The first exercise was really simple: recruit a model (or use a still life), and with the model always facing forward, start off with the flash and the camera both in front of the model, then keep the camera in front of the model while moving the light source 90 degrees.  Then, move the light source back to the original position and move the camera 90 degrees (where the flash was).  Really basic, but the concept is to get an understanding of how moving the light source and the camera around the model affects the composition.

I thought this would be something even I could handle.  And I had two perfectly willing models, so how tough could it be?

<insert diabolical laughter here>

Actually, it started off just fine.  Fi was a little reluctant to be part of the photo shoot (I spent $5 on a painting drop cloth, and Fi doesn't immediately warm up to new things - especially when they smell different, and they are hanging on the wall); which is okay - I don't want to burn her out, so I just let her wander.  Abby, on the other hand, can be convinced to do just about anything if you have the right treats.  I had pretty good treats, and I was able to get the initial shot, with her mostly looking at the camera, even if her nose was in focus and her eyes not so much....

Easy peasy.  Next, I just had to move the light source... And it all went downhill from there.  Fi smelled the tasty treats and decided that the treats might be worth getting near the drop cloth, so she started circling.  But I thought I might be able to at least get a shot with the light at a 90 degree angle.

Except that my model is not a still life. And she's got a variable length attention span that ranges from a nano-second to only slightly longer than a nano-second.  So looking in the same direction for any amount of time might have been asking a bit much....

And then Fi decided that the treats really were good, and that maybe she'd like to get in on the action.

And at this point, I learned the most important lesson about photographing dogs: plans for getting specific shots should probably be discarded the minute you actually see the dog(s).

So, I tossed out my plan, and was happy any time I could manage to actually get a dog (either dog, both dogs) to sit somewhere in the range of flash.

Or somedoggies decided lying down was okay, too....

Not that all the photos exactly worked out; somedoggie was a spotlight hog...

So even though my great plan to put a simple lesson didn't exactly work out, many treats were distributed, photos were taken, and fun was had.  And it was yet more proof that my dogs have me very well trained.  And I'm good with that!

Day 77//365.

Lighting and Some Snow

I took a bunch of photos today but I'm tired, so here is a brief selection without much explanation.  Other than that when we were inside, the girls really wanted to be RightNext to each other.  so I had to zoom in to get individual shots.  I have to admit, I didn't have any 'unique' ideas for photos today, so I just spent more time playing with lighting.

I love Abby's eyes in this photo.

Sisters!  (This is where a portable backdrop could be handy - something else to add to my 'when I win the lottery' list!)

Fi is a little shaggy right now, but she is still so pretty.  And is slowly getting more comfortable with the lighting setup!

So pretty!

And the snow; the storm didn't last long and it didn't leave much snow, but the girls had fun.

Abby, doing what she does best!

Tug-o-war!  (Abby won.)

Day 76/365.

A Little of This, A Little of That

I think it is safe to say that all my photos fall into one of two categories: Dogs and Everything Else.  Today I managed to actually get some 'everything else' in addition to photos of the girls.

We went out to the Great Salt Lake State Marina today for a bike ride (this time of year, Salt Lake can be pleasant while it is cool and windy in Park City -it's also nice to start off the season someplace flat, and pretty much the only completely flat roads can be found out by the Great Salt Lake), and while I thought maybe I *should* bring my camera along, I ultimately didn't.  

I did have my phone, however, which has a surprisingly good camera in it (part of why I got the phone, actually), so all was not lost.   But it would be nice to go out there again with a good camera and get some shots of the marina, and the lake, and the boats, and stuff that I just don't see in Park City.  But here is one of the shots I managed to get today.

Had I had the time, it would have been fun to play around with the reflections in the water.  Next time!

The morning in Park City was mostly sunny (and our remaining snow pack is quickly vanishing) and the girls and I got in some Quality Frisbee Time.  When it is this bright out, it's a challenge to not get the photos over-exposed; even at 1/4000 shutter speed, the shutter priority setting leaves the photos pretty bright.  I think I might have to go back to the manual setting for conditions like this!

And finally, with St. Patrick's Day almost upon us, I got a couple of cheap props from Walmart (looking at photos of seriously crazy dog lady photographers, my 'seasonal wear for dogs' is a bit thin....).   From the following photos, I think it is safe to assume that that girls have 1) never heard of St. Patrick, 2) don't care whether there are snakes in Ireland or not, and 3) really aren't in the holiday spirit (it's a good thing we don't live in Boston!)

"Where is the pot of bacon we've been promised?"

"Fi, doesn't Mom get that we really aren't into this whole wearing of the green thing?"  "Look more pathetic and maybe she'll get the hint."

"How much longer must I remain patient?"

Fi, is this pathetic enough?  *sigh*

Ah well.  It gave me a chance to continue to work on using two flashes, and the girls WERE well-rewarded for their time and humiliation.

So this is where Mom has the bribes!  She won't notice if I 'sample' a few more....

Day 75/365.