Monday, November 30, 2015

Rim Lighting

Shadowy Henry
Fluffy Henry



Shadowy Zachary
Elegant Zachary



Shadowy Zachary
Still Elegant Zachary



Dog Blog Post #1981



As pretty much all of my pictures are taken at Night Using Flash, I changed things up a bit by putting the flash on the floor with a small softbox.

For most shots the flash is behind and to the right, creating a Shadowy figure and rim lighting.

While I preferred Zachary's more elegant profile and poses, Henry's bristly whiskers and fluffy ruff won me over in the end.

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 25, 2015 - "Night Using Flash"

Daily Dog Challenge 1491. "Shadowy"


Shadowy Zachary
Zachary: "That is so not fair."



Shadowy Henry
Henry: (blink blink blink)



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© 2015 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Golden Fluffs

Flickr (the host for my images) has an automated tagging "feature", that uses image recognition software to guess the contents of the image.

Usually, it does a reasonably good job.

Usually.

Today was not one of its better days.

For your viewing pleasure, I have included each image's autotags as the caption.

Golden Fluff
texture, landsape, wood, dune, macro, abstract



Golden Fluff
texture, food, people, plant, grass, wood, field, abstract, landscape 



Golden Fluff
people, texture, abstract, field, landscape, tangle



Golden Fluff
people, texture, landscape, field, food



Golden Fluff
texture, people, abstract



Golden Fluff
texture, abstract, wood, people, sand, depth of field, minimalism, field, landscape, pastel




Dog Blog Post #1980


Soft and fluffy :)

Photography Assignment


An assortment of Golden Fluffs - the more unruly generally being from Henry and the more disciplined from Zachary.


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 25, 2015 - "Fill The Frame"

Daily Dog Challenge 1490. "Square"

Golden Fluff
texture, wood, wood laminate


Wood laminate?

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© 2015 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Wilting

Ready?

Sleepy Model
Henry: "Sleepy."


No, no.

Not sleepy.

Happy, perky...

Sleepy Model
Henry: "Drooping."


Drooping?

You haven't done a thing all day.

How can you be...

Sleepy Model
Henry: "Sinking."



Wilted
Henry: "Slumping"



Wilted
Henry: "Wilted"



(sigh)

Models.

Dog Blog Post #1979



Poor Henry's Wilted Head.

This is what happens if you leave your models sitting too long under the lights.

Photography Assignment



Our Daily Challenge - Nov 25, 2015 - "Wilted"

Daily Dog Challenge 1489. "Head"


Faux Wilt


Wilted
Zachary: "Wilted. I can do wilted. See me wilt?"



Editor's Note: No, of course they aren't REALLY wilting.

The only light on, other than the flash, is a cool florescent behind an umbrella.

They have a "head down" cue, which Henry (obviously) excels at, being a natural behavior of his that I reinforced and put on cue when he was in puppy class.

Zachary picked it up on his own after seeing Henry get Cookies for it, although (being Zachary) he tries just a bit too hard for it to ring true.


-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2015 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Friday, November 27, 2015

Paws Crossed

Mr. Zachary
Mr. Zachary



Mr. Zachary
Mr. Henry



Crossed Paws
Best Friends Forever




Dog Blog Post #1978


That last shot (above) is Looking Down on Zachary and Henry's crossed paws masked atop a Black and gold Frax HD backdrop.

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 25, 2015 - "Looking Down"

Daily Dog Challenge 1488. "Black"


The Making Of...



Crossed Paws
Original Paws Crossed Shot


Black and Gold
Original Frax HD image



Frax HD is an iPad app that creates Fractals.

It has many, many options to tailer the size, shape, density, color, texting, lighting... etc... and it's easy to use, too.

I keep meaning to upload some just for the heck of it but never quite get around it.

A real shame, actually, as I have hundreds (500? More?) of favorites saved on my iPad.

They are really fast to generate, and with a few small changes you can get wildly different images.

You can also import features (colors, textures, lighting...) of one into another.

Standard Disclaimer: Just a happy user, not reimbursed or coerced in any way. :)


-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2015 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving

Believe it or not, the shots below - all iPhone shots - have something in common for today's challenges...

Long Eyelashes
Zachary's long eyelashes



Long Eyelashes
Henry's long eyelashes



Pearly Whites
Henry's Fearsome Weaponry (with a bit of help from me)



Guard Hairs
Henry's guard hairs, with Zachary behind.


Any guesses what it is?

Dog Blog Post #1977



Merriam-Webster defines Fence as "a barrier intended to prevent escape or intrusion", which would technically make the boy's long eyelashes, fearsome teeth, and guard hairs a fence... of sorts.

Work with me here, it's Thanksgiving and I'm way too full of Turkey and the fixings to do anything more energetic than watch Football and pet the dogs, whose congenial presence on this happy day I am most Thankful for!


Photography Assignment



Our Daily Challenge - Nov 25, 2015 - "Fence"

Daily Dog Challenge 1487. "Thankful"

Peace in Happy Valley



Sleepy Henry
Sleepy Henry - with Zachary photo bombing behind



Sleepy Henry
Henry asleep



-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2015 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

When We Grow Up

When We Grow Up
The Boys


Dog Blog Post #1976


The boys are still trying to decide what they want to be when they grow up.

So many things to choose from!

-- That would be Zacharys on the left and Henrys on the right - all taken today.

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 25, 2015 - "When I Grow Up"

Daily Dog Challenge 1486. "Layers"

Layers upon layers of Goldens!


Happy Thanksgiving!


-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2015 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

High Five

Ready!
Zachary: "What's the plan?"

High-Five!

High Five
"Smack!"


Very nice!

One more?

High Five
"Thwack!"



Good job!


Dog Blog Post #1975



High-Five is one of Zachary's favorite tricks.

It's quick, it's easy, and he's very good at it.

Easy Cookies, you might say, as his paw smacks your hand with a satisfying, "Thwack".

Usually.

Although not so easy when I'm focused more on getting the shot using the remote than making sure my hand and his paw are going to connect.

Thankfully, Zachary is up to the challenge of my hand as a Moving Target.


Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 14, 2015 - "Moving Target"


Daily Dog Challenge 1485. "Tag"

... you're it!


Gentle Henry


Henry's High Five's are like being kissed by butterfly wings...


High Five
"Tap"



High Five
"Touch"



... Soft, slow, and very gentle.

Blooper


Whiff
"Whiff"


Oops... my bad.


-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football
Zachary: "Score?"
Henry: "Same."



Time Passes...



Monday Night Football
"Zzzzzz"




Dog Blog Post #1974



By the glow of Monday Night Football, taken with my iPhone.

No filters tonight, just some basic slider pushing to knock down the worst of the digital noise.

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 23, 2015 - "Night Using Available Light"

Daily Dog Challenge 1484. "Low"


Monday Night Football
Henry's Profile



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© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Fall Dreams

Fall Dreams
Fall Dreams



Dog Blog Post #1973



The Chinese Pistache trees on our street are in full color right now, something that was probably lost on the dogs when they were out on their walk today.

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 22, 2015 - "Look What I Saw Today"

Daily Dog Challenge 1483. "Show Me"

This is a pair of iPhone shots (below) - filtered, masked, and smushed together - as I (once again) spent way too much time watching Football.

My Teams Losing football.

In fact, all three teams I follow lost today, making their records for year 3-7, 4-6, and 2-8.

Ouch.

The Parts


Sleepy Zachary

I used Lightroom's adjustment brush to "paint" max-dark exposure over the parts of original image that I will ultimately mask out in Photoshop Elements.

Yes, I could use Photoshop's selection tools on the original image and save a step, but I actually find it faster to do it this way when the edges are poorly defined - as they were in this low-light iPhone shot.


Chinese Pistache
Chinese Pistache




Chinese Pistache
Grungy Chinese Pistache 


I used an iPad photo app to apply a "grunge" filter.

A finally "artsy" filter was added in Photoshop Elements to blend the edges of the two images together a bit better.

-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Sleepy Puppy

Snuggly Puppy
Zachary - getting snuggly



Night Night
Henry - getting comfy



Sleepy Puppy
Henry - feeling sleepy



Sleepy Puppy
Henry: "Zzzzzz"




Dog Blog Post #1972



Curling up under your favorite blanket, with it Falling all around you, is one of The Little Things that makes life more enjoyable.

Especially after a long day at the Day Spa.


Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 21, 2015 - "Falling"

Daily Dog Challenge 1482. "The Little Things"


Sleepy Puppy
Zachary: "Zzzzzz"


-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved

Friday, November 20, 2015

On The Edge

Exploring edges...

Catching Cookies
Zachary - with a Cookie on the edge of this mouth



Cookie Me
Henry - with Cookies on the edge of the jar



Catching Cookies
Zachary... clearly over the edge




Dog Blog Post #1971


Yay! The weekend is here!

Photography Assignment


Our Daily Challenge - Nov 20, 2015 - "On The Edge"

Daily Dog Challenge 1481. "Expressive"


Cookie Me
Henry... no where near an edge



Mr Zachary
Zachary at attention - ready for any edges that might appear



Mr Zachary
Zachary - showing the edge of his tongue... or possibly his patience!




-- Like the idea of a daily dog photography prompt? Click on Daily Dog Challenge and join us!

© 2013 BZ Dogs - All Rights Reserved