This week’s theme was eyes.

My parents cats were happy to help (Snuggles is a camera snob, while Lilly is a camera hog and little bit of a creeper… and Toostie is just a big kitten).

Pretty sure Lilly never blinks… she has a knack for staring at cameras without much of a blink or break in focus. She may be waiting for reflections (she chases light reflections) but she is just a bit of a creeper with that stare hahaha! (She does it when I’m sitting at the table eating too!)

Attempted Snuggles, who gave me her a little bit of a snub. She is famous for not looking in a direction you want her to no matter the method for attention getting. Her ears listen, her eyes look elsewhere.

She sure is a cute kitty though… even if she doesn’t look at the camera!

 

Miss moose Tootsie was the next subject I directed my lens to. She’s a mover and a shaker and likes to be thisclose to me for pets or playing, which makes using the 135mm a little tricky. Luckily there was a random toy nearby that I used to catch her split second attention.

And because it’s hilarious, one last picture of Lilly…

Next visit Linda of DogShotz Photography serving the Indianapolis IN area to see the eyes she captured.

---

 

Night was the theme for the 52 Week Project this week.

Darkness has started to creep its way earlier into the day, settling in on a very solid 8 pm. Bender was chosen for his lighter coloring and my wonderful boyfriend agreed to handle him. We meandered downtown to the area from the Street theme, and the streets were even more quiet in the darkness.

Next up visit Kim with BARKography in Charlotte NC to see how she captured night. Remember click through each blog until you get back here to About A Dog.

---

 

Details was the theme for the 52 Week Project. I don’t own a macro lens, though I do have a plethora of 50mm lenses (one is autofocus, the rest are freelenses) and one of things that can be done with a 50mm lens is called reverse macro. This involves unmounting and reversing the lens on a camera to capture an image. Because the optics are reversed they magnify what they see.

In the realm of focal lengths 50mm seems to be the sweet spot – though it can be very challenging to focus with a paper thin depth of field at f1.8 and a minimum focusing distance that nearly puts you on top of your subject. (I’ve also used a 35mm, 28mm and 85mm as reverse macros – 85mm doesn’t work as a macro, just makes things look… wonky… while 35mm & 28mm require you do be dang near touching the object you are photographing!)

First up, the Nikon 50mm f1.8 D.

Below is the difference of using the 50mm reversed and mounted normally. First can you guess what the detail part is?

[twenty20 img1=”8804″ img2=”8809″ offset=”.95″]

[twenty20 img1=”8803″ img2=”8810″ offset=”.95″]

If you guessed a knee/elbow and a tail you win!

(Random fun fact: The Nikon 50mm f1.8 D used normally has a minimum focusing distance of 1.5 feet! So you have to be at least that far away from your subject to get the lens to focus!)

---

The Nikon 50mm was followed by the vintage Canon FL 50mm f1.8 freelens (this lens with a FL mount was produced from 1964 to 1971). Originally a regular old lens, my version has been converted into a freelens – which means the rear mount has been completely removed to allow the lens to be unmounted and freely tilted and shifted to focus and capture an image.

---

As a curiosity, I snagged my Sigma 135mm f1.8 and captured a few detail type shots (I haven’t tried reversing it yet haha!). Minimum focusing distance is 2.87 feet but being a telephoto lens 2.87 feet is crazy close. Pretty much good for details and tight shots!

(I think Bender looks like Gizmo the Gremlin in the first of this set…)

---

Earlier in the morning I had brought Bender out for a potty break (he tends to like to pee on the flowers) and he kicked up a ton of butterflies! After getting the detail images I needed with Bender, I strolled outside to capture some of the butterflies in the morning light. Turns out the butterflies are Painted Lady butterflies and they migrate north in the fall!

---

Next up visit Pet Love Photography, author of “Rescue Dogs: Portraits and Stories,” serving the Greater Cincinnati and San Francisco Bay Area to see the details she photographed!

Street was the theme for the 52 Week Project.

Did you know:
Street = a paved public road that only appears in a developed area such as city or town, not in rural areas.
Road = a route or way to travel between two points, usually other towns or distant places.

So a road can be a street, but a street can’t be a road!

Mr. Pouty Derpasaurus Axle and I walked to the very small downtown of the town I live. The streets are very quiet in the evenings (most traffic was at the lone bar) so I wasn’t worried about getting run over by standing/walking in the middle of the street. There were only two cars that came our direction and Axle and I swiftly moved to the sidewalk then resumed our positions in the street and crosswalks.

Greetings from the streets in a small town in Minnesota.

 

Next up visit Darlene with Pant the Town Pet Photography serving MA and NH to see her interpretation of Street.

---

 

The theme for the 52 Week Project was reflection. Not being super certain what to do, I almost passed on this week’s theme. But Minnesota is the land of lakes, and I’ve got new lenses and a new bag to break in, plus a battery grip I need to train myself to use (come on muscle memory!), so Bender and I headed out to the lake in search of reflections.

Bender isn’t a huge fan of water, but the docks gave him a solid dry spot to stand. We found no calm water on either side of the lake, just different angles of light and squiggly reflections.

Next up visit I Got The Shot Photography, Northeast PA Pet Photographer Elaine Tweedy to see how she captured reflection.

---