Friday, June 7, 2013

P52 - Blur

This week the theme for P52 is Blur.
"As pet photographers, two of the most important things we strive for is sharp focus of our subjects and overall clarity of the image. Therefore we sometimes forget that blur can be beautiful. Blur adds expression and artistry to our images. So let's experiment with blur this week! Whether in the foreground, in the background or all throughout image, let's unfocus ourselves from sharpness."

It seemed to me to be a good time to experiment with the Brenizer Method, which uses multiple images stitched together in Photoshop to simulate a wider aperture than the camera lens actually has. In other words, it allows for more blur in the image than would usually occur. There was a learning curve for me - this was not my first attempt - but I ironed out the worst of the problems. This isn't something I expect to use often but I am glad that I tried it out.

Portrait of a brown dog in front of yellow flowers

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Barking Lab Studio, NJ dog photography, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

creativeLIVE workshop in Seattle

The week before last I was in Seattle for 4 nights. Two of the days I participated in Arica Dorff's Pet Photography Workshop at creativeLIVE, and the third day I played tourist.

This was my second time at creativeLIVE. I enjoyed myself greatly both times. There is something special about spending such a concentrated period of time with people who share my enthusiasms. My fellow students at the workshops and I will stay in touch and continue to encourage and support one another.

Here we all are after the second day. This photo was taken with Karen's camera.

Group photo taken with Karen's camera

From left to right: Me, Darcy, Melissa, Rebecca, Paula, Arica, Christiana, Karen, and Heidi.

On the sightseeing day we managed to fit in many of Seattle's tourist landmarks including the Space Needle, Pike's Market, and a view of downtown from the hillside. My absolute favourite part was the Chihuly glass exhibit at the base of the Space Needle. I would happily go again - it was easily the best $19 I spent that day. My photos don't show the scale of the work. These pieces are enormous.

Photograph of glass art
Photograph of glass art
Photograph of glass art
Photograph of glass art

Friday, May 17, 2013

Project 52 - Something New

This was my week to pick the theme for Project 52. I picked Something New.

I had grand plans, but life got in the way, and so far this is what I have. Background is a neutral beige, coloured with a gelled flash. The pink gel is a new toy that I got several weeks ago and hadn't taken out of the package before this.

I had imagined this shot as a classic head-and-shoulders portrait, but Caiman won't sit for me anymore. I think it hurts his back, so when he made it clear that he was going to lie down instead I went with the flow.

Photo of a brown dog against a pink background

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Raleigh pet photographer, Tara Lynn, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Pet photography workshop at CreativeLIVE!

Next week I will be heading down to Seattle for a two day workshop on Pet Photography with Arica Dorff. You will be able to watch it live for free on CreativeLIVE. The workshop runs on May 23rd & 24th. I can't wait!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Project 52 - Street Art ~ BC Pet Photography

This week the theme for Project 52 was Street Art.

This guy is painted on the wall of a building near the beach and this first photo was taken last spring. We call him Faceless Graffiti Guy, even though we have since learned that he does have a face - he is looking up into the sky and that mass is a beard.
3/12 Faceless graffiti guy

Recently I discovered that he is also painted on an outhouse in a nearby park. You have to walk in on a path, not on a street, and he is almost hidden in away in the trees. Street art, without the street...

Photograph of a dog sitting in front of a painting on an outhouse

I have been planning to use this particular painting all week, but for some reason I didn't end up taking the photo until the very last minute.

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Lina Tay, Petlense Photography, Wichita Kansas, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.

Monday, May 6, 2013

A Violin (Not Pets)

I haven't been sharing the non-pet related P52 I am participating in, because few of my photos have pets in them, but that is going to change. I've been getting some photos that I am really pleased with, and so I will be putting them up here from time to time. If you feel strongly one way or another about that feel free to tell me so in the comments.

This assignment was to create a (fictional) CD cover for a string quartet performing a piece of music titled String Quartet. I have access to a violin, and violins (conveniently) have four strings. At first I wanted to play on those words, and then I remembered a photo technique I've used before that I call "whirled". This is what I came up with:

Whirled close-up photograph of violin

And this was a second choice, in case the (fictional) clients felt the other was too abstract:

Whirled close-up photograph of violin

Friday, May 3, 2013

Project 52 - April Showers Bring May Flowers

April Showers Bring May Flowers. That's the theme for Project 52 this week. We were free to interpret it any way we wanted, but I have to tell you that it didn't take me long before I was imagining another photo in my Dogs With Flowers On Their Heads series. I was worried that this was too ambitious, but in the end it turned out better than I hoped.

Small yellow daisies rain down on cute brown dog

Project 52 is a group project. Please visit all the other talented pet photographers, starting with Petlense Photography , Wichita, Kansas, by following the links at the bottom of our posts.

Tracy Sutherland Photography specializes in timeless classic representations of the pets that enrich our lives. Tracy lives in Sea to Sky country north of Vancouver, BC, Canada, and works in Whistler, Squamish, and Vancouver.