This week’s theme for the 52 Week Project is slow down. This is particularly challenging with dogs (esp when zoomies kick in!). My approach was to turn my “hobby” camera (a little Sony mirrorless camera + a vintage 28mm f2.5 manual focus only lens) in the direction of Bender. The Sony definitely is my slow down camera. It doesn’t have a viewfinder, so all focusing is done via screen. This manual focusing particularly tricky esp if the day is bright and sunny.

Bender tolerated me pointing a camera in his face (he typically looks like a bored old man, he did not disappoint today) while I dialed in focus on him. A bit tougher to do when there’s a crunchy treat in hand! Nose shot… then we got a crisp eye!

Ummmm how close do you need to be mom?

You will give me the treat…… What you want more than me looking at you? Ears? Nope don’t have any…

This is the longest I’ve had to wait for a cookie…..

(Bender did get the cookie after a little drool and perked up ears!)

Next up visit Elaine Tweedy with I Got The Shot Photography, Northeast PA Pet Photographer and see how she slowed down for this week’s theme!

This week’s theme for the 52 week project was patience. What better way to incorporate patience than with a dog who’s attention is hard to capture while freelensing?

Luckily for me, Bender’s attention was captured by the people coming and going at the elementary school, so I didn’t need to have a lot of patience waiting for the look from him. The freelensing, that’s a whole other patience! The lenses aren’t attached to the camera body, which means they can be used like a tilt and shift style lens. The toughest part is manually focusing and manipulating the focal plane to keep a moving subject in focus.

First off I used a couple of the 28mm freelenses (I have 4 of them!), though the look wasn’t quite wasn’t what I wanted to achieve.

*Those spiffy white blobs on some of the images are natural light leaks. They happen when the barrel of the freelens (which isn’t attached to the body of the camera) is angled enough to allow light to leak in to the sensor. The dark edges are actually the barrel of the lens coming into the frame. 

Since the backyard is a little cluttered (nice van and some lovely things at the neighbors) I wanted a tighter shot with more of the freelens tilt shift look. So enter in the collection of 50mm freelenses (I’ve got 7 of them!). The results were more what I had been looking for.

And a normal shot of the handsome Mr. Bender.

Next up visit Kim with BARKography based in Charlotte NC while on location in Cannon Beach, Oregon to see how she incorporated patience into her images.

The theme for this week’s 52 Week Project was humorous. The original plan was to acquire a pair of googly eyes (Not sure where my original pair is) and put them upon the dogs and capture them in a manner similar to this image of Axle from 2013.

Unfortunately, googly eyes seem to not be trending these days so I had to settle for a pair of nerd glasses and pair of aviator sunglasses. First up was Bender, who sported the aviators and my Nerf bandolier for a badass look. For the most part….

Icey’s turn for the aviators. She wears them like a pro as she’s had many a pair of sunglasses set upon her face, but to add a humorous element, I had her bark (she’s my only dog who will bark on command). The aviators clung to her face for dear life, and the element of a dog treat in my hand helped create some AMAZING drool!

Bring out the nerd glasses! They were novelty nerd glasses with a complementary swath of athletic bandage tape on the bridge, which I removed. This in turn made them look a little more like hipster glasses vs nerd glasses, but the right face could make them look more one way or another.  Bender rocked them first, and no I didn’t pose his feet, that’s all him.

Icey didn’t want to be left out. The nerd glasses were a smidge small on her noggin but boy did they hang on for her barks!

Next up, visit Kim with BARKography based out of Charlotte NC to see how she captured humorous!

(Did you see me in the aviators?)