Thanks, Rob.  I'll crop it like you suggested and post it as well.  I'm
hoping to get a few other suggestions and then ask for a vote on the various
croppings.

As for the pic itself, is there anything else that needs attention?  Too
busy?  Bad pose?  Other?

Take Care,
Dudley

Not coming from a portrait photography background, this is one thing I keep
forgetting.  I think to myself, "I want trees for a backdrop," so I position
myself with the branches scraping my neck and get Dima to hit the ground in
front of me.  Then I sneek in front of her and snap the shot.  I've got to
alter this methodology and take a couple of steps to ensure sufficient room
gets inserted.

However, I'm shooting with a Canon Powershot A720, so depth-of-field is
fairly deep, even at f/2.8;  I'm not sure I'll be able to put enough
distance in to get the effect I want.  I may have to change locations
entirely.

get down

I think I need to couple this suggestion with others I've received to crop
tighter.  Up till now, I've been simply content to get my subject in the
frame, not too far away from my target zone.

I'm getting more used to the way my camera captures and processes an area,
so I can start paying more attention to getting closer and cropping out
extrenuous areas such as the grassy area in front.  Thanks for pointing that
one out.

I'm making a list of all the suggestions I receive, and I'll be reviewing it
prior to each shoot in the future.

This should help a lot.

Take Care,
Dudley

Yep, I did something very similar. Still ample proportion of woods in
the background. I cropped to remove all the white sky but it could work
with some sky on one side. I also agree about cloning out the bright
spots in the background near her ear.

Fantastic shot of obviously a great friend.

Thanks, Tony, I appreciate the feedback.

Concert photography was what I loved doing in the past, so action, drama
energy were what I strove for.  With my present current shift to more still
life type shots, it's taking a bit of experimentation to achieve the effect
I want.  So, I am grateful you pointed out the overall static atmosphere.

As for my intention, I am not so much into doing a portrait of Dima;
rather, I want a composition which tells a bit of her story.  When we
graduated, GDB brought in a pro shooter to do a grad portrait of the two of
us, so I have a shot of her in harness by my side which looks very nice.

With my first guide, Bonner, he loved to lay around on the beach.  When we
were on holidays, when we frequented the beach areas of Vancouver, Canada,
and the Sunshine Coast (a bit north of Vancouver), Bonner was in his glory
just lazing around, lying on the sand and trying to dig holes (when I wasn't
looking).  So, I took a good shot of him in that setting, a very low-angle
shot taken from just in front of a fore-paw, his head lifted, mouth open in
a smile like expression and his eyes gazing out over the water.  The shot
was low enough that his head was surrounded by sky, and the light -- nearly
white -- sand adding contrast to his darker fur.

When people think of guide dogs, they have this stereotypical view of guides
which excludes the dog's real nature.  What people miss is that guides have
a life out of harness as well.  I don't want just another shot of my guide,
in harness, on the job, playing a supportive role.  I want the shot to say
something about my guide's soul.

In Dima's case, she loves the great outdoors.  When we go camping, she
relishes in chasing squirrles, birds and little things that hop, scurry or
slither across the ground.  She would run off into the trees and find a big
stick and bring it back.  Then, we would play tug with it, and she would
chew it to pieces.  She would wait for wasps, bees, dragon-flys and other
flying insects to get close.  Then, she would whip out her muzzle and snag
them in mid-flight.  She got stung a few times, but it never slowed her
down.  one time, when she was in harness and we were at a busy bus stop,
waiting for a bus to take us home at the end of a busy day, she forgot
herself and leaped about four feet into the air from a sitting position,
snagging something that got too close.  She snapped her jaws about 3 or four
times in mid-air before she got it, but she got it.  At least, that is what
one of the totally shocked bystanders told me, after regaining her
composure.  I think they thought Dima was a rogue guide who was about to go
for their throats -- sort of a Cujo in harness.

This is why I want something in the picture to symbolize the woods -- and
her spirit.

While I didn't plan the big arrow pointing to the sky, I like what it stands
for, and I want to thank you for pointing that compositional element out as
well.  I have been thinking about doing a reshoot in a different area to see
what I get, but the composition you describe almost sounds poetic,
definitely prophetic.

Today, Dima is having a bit of an off day.  I have been getting used to her
nearly back to normal demeanor, but she was a bit quieter and calmer today
than she usually is.  I wouldn't say she has been lethargic, but definitely
more subdued.

I'll need to monitor her closely tonight, I think.

Thanks for the suggestions, Tony.

Take Care,
Dudley

But, Dima isn't a typical shepherd;  she is a guide dog, and she is dying of
cancer.  She has devoted her life to guiding me through a crazy world that
cares little about the safety or convenience of blind persons, and she has
done it gracefully, eagerly, and vivaciously.  To capture her as a closely
cropped shepehrd where her teeth would probably be the most noticeable
characteristic, would convey the wrong image.

Her doamain was the world, and she occupied a unique position halfway
between the animal kingdom and the realm of human affairs.  I want her
picture to be a tribute, not just a portrait.

I used two flashes for this shot, perhaps the image reduction obviates the
twinkle in her eye, but I'm sure it will be visible in the final print, if I
decide to mount this one on my wall.

Unfortunately, I have enough trouble viewing my own images where I know what
I've shot;  viewing someone elses work, where I have no idea of what is in
the frame, is all but impossible for me.  But, thanks, anyway.

Now, Douglas, is that really called for?  Isn't the copyright notice on your
site sufficient protection on its own?

Besides, I don't at present derive any photographically generated income,
and, if I did, only images I have shot myself would be worth anything,
either to me or my customers.  Moreover, given that I have only about 2%
vision, wouldn't it be a bit obvious I've stolen someone else's work if I
were to present a technically perfect photograph as part of my collection?

Take Care,
Dudley

On 4/26/08 7:44 AM, in article msFQj.266$lc6.180@trnddc04, "PinkFloyd43"
<pinkFloyd43@hotmail.com> wrote:

The above "sentence" was posted by a typical product of United States Public
Education System. Thank your local politicians for this phenomena.

Getting back to photography,
Like many rules, that one can and should be broken, judiciously.

I think the "rule" against centering is really designed to say a centered
composition may result in a static composition. However, some images look
far more dynamic when centered. think spiral.

Similarly, the "rule" of  thirds is merely a compositional aid, not
necessarily one to be slavishly followed.

When you shoot a picture with only 2% of normal vision, you are just happy
to get the subject in the shot.  Trust me, I've had many images much worse
than this one.

Besides, with programs like photoshop out there, a lot can be done with an
image like this.

One of the photographers who frequents this group asked me if he could use
the original to play with, and he sent me a niceley cropped portrait he
coaxed out of about a third of the image.  He up-sized it, sharpened it up a
bit, did a bit of other magic, and I've got a beautiful portrait to hang on
my wall.  He truly did a masterful job.

I'm hoping he won't mind if I post his finished work, but I don't want to do
it without his permission.

On the flip side, if I post the cropping, I'll have to apologize to Douglas,
Paul and a couple others who told me the shot would look better tightly
cropped, but to whom I wouldn't listen.  I had wanted the trees in as a
symbol of Dima's love of the outdoors, but, when my wife saw the
Photoshopped, tightly cropped portrait oriented shot of Dima, she fell in
love with it.  I trust her taste, so, when she says it will match the shot I
have of my first guide, Bonner on the beach, I'll have to bow to the
overwhelming tide of opinion.

Take Care,
Dudley

As an all but blind photographer, this is the most useful piece of advice \i
can extract from your comments.  It tells me that the camera slightly
over-metered the lighting setup I used.  Given a similar setup in the
future, I'll set my exposure compensation to under-expose by 2/3 stop -- I
used -1/3 stop for the pic.

That bit of info is quite valuable to me.

To all of Dimaa's fans out there, I regretfully write that she passed away
on Saturday.  She held her head high till the end.\\Thanks for all your
support.

Take Care,
Dudley\