It's week 31 of the dog photography 52 week project and our theme is wood. I really wish I knew of an old, cool barn or a shed with all the paint chipping off that would add some neat texture to my photos but I don't so what did I do? I grabbed Moose and took a stroll through my neighborhood to see who might have a shed or something I could use.  I live in a neighborhood of about 30 houses. Everybody knows everybody. I knew if I spotted something, I could definitely ask to borrow whatever it was I found. If this plan didn't work, I was going to use the picket fence in our backyard but I was hoping to find something with more character.

One of my neighbors has a good bit of land behind his house and as I walked past it, I spotted a gazebo made of wood. I immediately knew that'd be my spot. I texted Dave my neighbor and asked for permission to use it and of course he said yes. I also got a bit of commentary back about his wife and the gazebo but what he said isn't approved for a PG-13 blog post so I'll leave that to your imagination. Dave is a character and is always good for a story.

The gazebo is surrounded by trees (they are frickin' everywhere I swear) so I planned to take my speedlight and give it a shot. This was only my 2nd attempt with my light outside. I had Tiffany my other neighbor corralling Moose. Let me tell you before we even got started, Moose provided the highlight of the night. My dog is a nut job. He is a constant source of entertainment and I love him and I know what he should get for his birthday. Watch this:

I really wish I could've let him off leash (I'm sure Tiffany wished that as well!) She was a good sport for letting Moose have some fun. 

This is another one of those themes I'm going to want to try again because I am less than thrilled with these results. The gazebo was beautiful but I just didn't get my lighting down and of course when I had my wide angle lens on and backed up to get the full gazebo in the shot, I totally forgot I was set for back button focusing so none of those shots are sharp. My model also got bored and decided he didn't want to be in the gazebo anymore so many of the shots are beside it.

Most of the images I took aren't tack sharp and they really need to be taken into photoshop to try and correct that a little bit at least. However with the exception of the first image at the top of this post, I'm not going to edit the others in photoshop. I won't use the photos anywhere else so it's not worth the effort when I know I can take better shots.

I definitely need a ton more practice with ocf. I can't break my old habits of adjust the exposure for the dog. These photos include the leash, eye boogies and Moose's wrangler Tiffany. The first shot below is the same shot as the opening photo - that railing took a bit of fixing once I removed his leash.

Week 31 Wood: Part 2

This week, July 31 - Aug 3 in Charlotte NC has actually been tolerable to be outside. The humidity has been lower as have the temperatures. Several days have been overcast. I grabbed my camera wondering if I'd have any dog walking clients with wood in their yard that I could use. Enter Brady, the westie I get to see very single week, sitting on wood chips in front of a wooden painted fence. Now I feel better... I'd still like to find an old barn though. I hope one of the other photographers did. :)

To see what the other photographers wrote about in week 31 for our topic wood, follow the links at the bottom of each post. Next up is I Got The Shot Photography, Northeast PA Pet Photographer.