I am a dog lover first.
A photographer second.
By some random chance of fate, I was able to combine the two loves into the coolest job ever: A Dog Photographer
I grew up in a family where dogs were always an integral part of our lives and most importantly, members of the family. Most of my childhood was spent with various Basset Hounds of the lovable but extremely stubborn variety. We never had less than 2 at any given time, sometimes 3, and the occasional stray that one of us would bring home for a visit.
After a short stint doing portrait work, which I still love, I realized my true calling is capturing the essence and personality of dogs. Upon reflection, I feel that my time doing portrait work was not wasted. Because of it, my experience with portrait work flows beautifully into working with people and their dogs.
My husband and I are owned by the fabulous Miss Gracie, a 5 year old Great Dane who brings energy and life into our house. You’ll see her around here a lot, she loves having her portrait taken (at least I like to think so). She is a complete Diva and if you stick around long enough, you'll know what I'm talking about!
What an amazing adventure this has been so far. I’m so glad you are here experiencing it with me.
While on the ferry a few days ago, I decided to do a small personal project.
I walked around the ferry with my 50 1.4 and forced myself to stay at an aperture of 1.4 (Manually, of course).
It was a really fun project. All these happened in just 15 minutes. Here’s what I saw.
- Love these! I need to start doing this more often. Do you mind posting what the project is about or is it a secret?
- wonderful little project. the colors are great! I really love the fact that you stayed at 1.4
- David: I shoot manually because if I stayed on Aperture Priority, I'm allowing the camera to make exposure assumptions that may not necessarily be what I want creatively. Also, if you shoot RAW, then manual is really the only way to go, because if you are on the same settings, then you can adjust one photo in ACR Bridge and then apply the changes to the rest. This is why I can edit a session in lighting speed! Jaime: I don't find the auto focus to be slow at all. But this could be because I have also shot with the 85 1.2 and that puppy is PAINFULLY slow (for me). I have really enjoyed the 1.4, it is a beautiful lens, especially for the price.
- Love them! You are amazing! The 50 1.4 is my next big purchase but I was reading some reviews and many of them said the autofocus was very slow, have you noticed this? Or do always shoot in manual focus? Thanks!
- They are all incredible! But my favourite is the shot of the feet.
- I love this project! I live in Denver, but have a lot of fond memories of the ferry from Seattle to Vashon Island, so these photos are like seeing an old friend... only better because they're artistic, too. Thanks!
- I love the challenges you give yourself Erin! I think this helps us all to remember to shoot for ourselves and not our clients! I think I like the last one the best. Something about the bench. It's inviting you to sit and enjoy the ride!
- what a great project! I love the idea of pushing yourself, and seeing where you can go with it.
- Amazing that you could create such great compositions within such limited parameters. But, then again maybe placing such limitations actually aids the creative process. Just curious as to why you insist on manual instead of aperture priority?
- Wow, nice job. I like the one with the tennis shoes... :-)
by Erin
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