Tuesday, March 29, 2011

That Thing About Taking A Somewhat Decent Picture. . .

I always admired people who seemed to be capable of taking these stunning pictures of everything. Be it dogs, people, landscapes, horses...........it was always breathtaking to look at them and the quality seemed perfect. Down to the last pixel. As you may have noticed,  I am desperately trying  to turn into a photo-achiever myself. Yeah ! The best hubby of all got me an Olympus E-620 with three different lenses as birthday-easter-christmas-and-whatever-day-you-could-give-a-gift present and it's been the BEST present EVER. Granted - I haven't figured out yet how to transport this exquisite piece of machinery around while walking the dogs, but the day will come, when I manage three dogs in the left hand, a backpack and a tripod all at once. Just kidding. I'm afraid I'll have to separate my photo outings from my doggy outings. I will still haul the pocket size camera around with me to do, what Rui calls "walk-by-photography". The definition of which is as follows: You see the object of desire, pull the cam with one hand, flick the switch to turn it on and .....fire ! That easy ! Granted, on occasion you may want to get a close-up of a wild flower, and that will actually make you stop, put the dogs in a sit-stay and start fumbling with the camera settings. The furgang is used to sudden stop-and-shoots and they all take it in stride. Unless, of course, just the moment I'm getting down on my knees to get that once in a lifetime flower portrait, an unsuspecting passer by with dog attached will show up in the distance and destroy the equilibrium of flower, photographer and ........you guessed it ........ mad Rodmeister.  He's always been kind of resistant to any form of dog training and the little bit he knows flies out the window, once he decides it's time to let it fly. Therefore: Any dog, that's closer than half a mile to the flower I had set my heart on taking a picture of, is toast !
This picture pretty much gives you an idea on how little Mr. Eagle-Eyes is surveying the landscape. Now imagine the whole scenario from above with this equipment in hand:


I know, I know.........There's just no way. Picture I'm in the middle of changing lenses when out of nowhere a person with his dog, a bunny, a deer or something else he can't stand, appears.  I got different options. Let go of Monster.........drop the expensive camera with the equally as expensive lens in the dirt.........send Tessa out to be my canine ambassador......... tie all of them to a tree and hope the roots will withstand the force !

You see there's just one option, when out with three dogs: Walk by photography, shot from the hip ! Stay tuned for some pictures taken with the new equipment. I am slowly, slowly getting the hang of it.  When it comes to technical things I am not the brightest. I'm the type of person who would rather paint a picture, than read a manual or tutorial. So bear with me. We'll get there.........some day. With lots of pioneer spirit to figure this thing out. :-))

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