Noooooo!! Not a kid. lol. New pup, Oscar, a new friend to Roxie (my other Boxer doggie) and me!! It’s been a month since suddenly losing Cracker, which I still can’t get over. Roxie was grieving too and I was worried she’d stay depressed and mopey. A couple weeks ago I reached out to the local Boxer rescue www.mtbr.org and was glad I did. I faced the decision of how long to let Roxie grieve and a couple weeks later I decided to actively look for a new buddy for her, especially for when I’m not home she isn’t alone bored. Her and Cracker were together over 7 years and I was concerned about the adjustment. The Boxer rescue was very nice and helpful, and they really do a great thing for these dogs that need good homes! Also they really want you to have the right pet for you, and are honest about the disposition of each dog etc. Plus the dogs are wormed, have vet visit, and have shots, and are neutered / spayed already! Many reasons to go with a rescue!

So they let me know about Oscar, a really beautiful and well mannered male, he’s 2 years old and already almost 80 pounds LOL! I thought that sounded good since Roxie is the alpha and is definitely bossy LOL! So it’s good he’s passive. I introduced them and they seemed to interact well, so I took him home! He’s a really awesome dog, and has come a long way with obedience since his arrival. Roxie is still a little bit snappy and bossy with him but I think it’s going to work out. He’s just young and playful and she wants to play when SHE wants to haahaa! But I can see a difference in Roxie which is good…..now hopefully she continues to warm up to him…..I was not ready for another dog but I felt she was so we went for it. There is no replacement for Cracker, but I can see similar contrast that will make this entertaining Here are pics of the dogs.

Have you ever shot a beautiful photo and gone to either print an 8×10 or other size, either yourself or ordered at the photo store, and then see important parts of the photo so tritely lopped off? Most places, unless you go to a professional camera or print shop, will not crop or advise customers of this, then people get pissed later. Most digital cameras have a 2/3 aspect ratio frame. Meaning a 4×6 or 8×12 will require no cropping to print that size. Do your math with sizes and ratios to match. 5×7 will require a small amount of cropping. 8×10 will require 2 inches be cropped off the long side which is considerable. Some film cameras were 4×5 format, so that size with such a camera would not need cropping. But back to digital……in the event of you printing an 8×10, by default, if the image is uncropped, the printer will usually crop an inch off the top and bottom, which may or not work out for you.

The best thing to do when shooting, is to keep in mind the sizes you will want to print. It’s always better to compose your image accordingly and allow some negative space, in other words shoot a little loose to allow for cropping. And when image is cropped, it still keeps compositional strength. This is where a trained photographer comes in handy! The good thing is that in Photoshop or other photo editing program, you can control crop points, meaning if you want to take it all off one place, or two places evenly, or unevenly, you can have control! This is one very frustrating thing for someone who doesn’t understand why this happens, now they can come here and be educated on that

Are you having issues with colors in your prints not matching what you see on your monitor? First, let me say, haahaa, LOL!! I do admit that was one of the hardest things to learn in my transition to digital so I’m only laughing with you LOL!!! The first place to start is to calibrate your monitor. There are products like Huey, Monaco, Colorvision, etc. that make the software and colorimeter which calibrates your monitor, by creating a color profile to 6500 or so kelvin temp. I use Colorvision Spyder 2, works great! Then your next step is to make sure the color space in your camera matches your color profile in Photoshop and that you are not assigning a different color profile. I use Adobe RGB personally. Mismatched color is due to a mismatched color profile, usually the monitor calibration, native color space and ICC profile etc. at least one doesn’t match up. Each different kind of printing paper uses a different ICC profile, custom downloads available on the web.

Your monitor is calibrated, next assuming you print from Photoshop….you make sure color space matches what you are using in camera. Print profile must be an icc profile for the specific kind of printing paper you are using. Then disable color management in the print settings, otherwise you will have different color profiles fighting each other. You’ve manually entered it rather than have the program guess. That’s what helps us do our job right? Control and knowing what we are doing! The key to this all is matching. It all works together as long as they don’t get in each other’s way. This is put in layman’s terms, so if you want more technical info let me know…..next I will touch on cropping for different print sizes.

Whether shooting every day subjects or models, it is our duty to watch out for the well being of our subjects beyond the photography itself. Besides hair and makeup not holding up well on location shoots in extreme heat, bodies can quickly fade and become dehydrated. I try not to shoot outdoors much this time of year, and if I do, I make it as brief and efficient as possible…..providing water is a great idea. It’s not wise to draw out a shoot in that heat. Fatigue and overheating even shows up in photos…..I know it’s everyones’ responsibility to stay comfortable and safe, but the safety of those you work with, as a photographer and shoot coordinator, is also on your watch and your responsibility. It’s just part of being smart and professional, enjoy Summer responsibly

Thanks for bearing with me during personal time needed. I thought this would be a useful Summer time topic, shooting at night time on location, less studio lights or flash. If requested, I can cover studio lighting setups on location at night time as well, but I thought this would be good for those who want to travel lightly. As always, use a body that has good clean high ISO preferably……you can improvise there if you have to, but you always need a fast focusing lens, f2.8 or faster. If you plan on doing any painting with light or dragging of the shutter, bring a tripod and  / or monopod. Always bring a reflector. Also a spotlight style flashlight and coffee filter for diffusion is handy if you want to paint with light. That means when you drag the shutter, the subject stays still but a helper moves the light around and the camera captures the light in motion, like in the photo below.I used 1.5 second exposure (she has to be very still). Traffic going by was moving slowly behind her. When dragging the shutter and blurring motion, the best way to calculate your shutter speed is to calculate how long it takes for the moving object to pass through the viewfinder when you are composing your shot. A helper used a spotlight with a coffee filter to diffuse, and waved it around high and low between his fingers, to spread light and provide the needed fill light to expose her front, without her frontal body being underexposed and the background being blown out. That is painting with light. I of course used a tripod. Release cables or remote triggers are a bit more stable when using a tripod.

To expose in low light, or available light with street lights or headlights etc. you need to either bump up ISO, (film speed) and / or use slow shutter speed. Anything slower than 1/60 sec. – 1/30 sec requires the use of a tripod. Use of a reflector to reflect light from any available source helps as well. It also helps to know approximate kelvin temperature of your light source. Most street lights are between 1000 and 3200 kelvin, 3200 is tungsten temp. It pays to get close so you don’t become one of those monkeys who rely on Photoshop to fix your mistakes. Custom white balance is also an option. If need be, don’t be afraid to bump up ISO, most modern DSLR bodies have clean ISO up to at least 800-1600, some way higher as they are introduced to the market. My 1D Mark II does well up to 1600 in almost any setting,  and if exposed properly, I can get away with 3200 if there’s not a large amount of light falloff. If you don’t want to blur motion, you want faster shutter speed, to freeze action……but to drag it, you now have the tools. Take several as they are higher risk, especially with human subjects. Enjoy!

It’s been a very difficult week, but I am very thankful for getting a lot of support from friends, family, as well as Roxie, my other Boxer. I’m trying to get back into my routine, and it’s weird how everything’s one minute to the next. Roxie is definitely missing the companionship of her friend as well! I know we did everything we could to save her, and even though it didn’t work, there’s a lot of peace knowing we did everything possible! Now it’s a matter of making the choice to develop good memories of places we’ve been and things we’ve done, rather than feel haunted by it or not want to be reminded of it. I’m working on images as we speak, and am working with a designer to develop a logo for my business, as well as new business cards employing that, so baby steps are always good! Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, wishes and even help. Soon we’ll be back on topic

I had the intention last week of advancing to a great Summertime topic of night shooting and dragging the shutter / how to’s, which I plan to cover as soon as I can, but my head just isn’t there yet. Life has taken a very unexpected and sudden turn very early Saturday morning, shortly after laying down to go to sleep Friday night. I have had 2 Boxers, Roxie is a almost 9 year old fawn colored female who is sweet but demanding and dominant, a great mix of personality. Cracker was my 8 year old white Boxer who was sweet and licky, and just “special” overall. Any friends and clients I have that have been here know exactly.

Friday night I took them for a walk, all seemed fine, we got home and watched a little tv together, I dozed off, usually the dogs doze off with me but they seemed a tad restless and I was telling them chill guys, it’s time to sleep. I let them out to go potty, then let them back in and we went to bed. I heard Cracker take shallow breaths which was unusual and every so often she whimpered, which she’s never done in that setting…..I was aggravated because I went to the kitchen to look at her and didn’t see anything. We went back to bed and she whimpered again, I reached down to pet her and felt bloat / gas buildup in her stomach, so I put my shoes on and loaded her in the car to the emergency vet in Rivergate. It’s usually a 12 minute drive or so, but I got there in maybe 7 minutes. They told me her stomach twisted, and she either needs surgery NOW or euthanize her NOW. I had a hard time keeping it together and wasn’t ready for this, as it was all so sudden! The vet explained this was a risky and not usually successful surgery but I ordered them to proceed now!

The operation was successful, but the worst is ahead with the recovery and IV’s and risk of cardiac arrest. I picked her up and brought her to the regular vet until they closed at noon. She was heavily medicated and scared but recognized me. Then had to bring her back to emergency vet and they hospitalize her hoping to bring her home by Sunday night, or this morning. Saturday afternoon around 5 PM they called and told me she lost her heart beat and pulse and tried CPR with no success. My dogs and friends are my family here, and I don’t need to explain how this feels. I am grateful for the support of my friends who helped me get through the night, and dig the hole to lay her to rest, my other dog Roxie has been a part of this as well and got to say her goodbyes to her friend.

I’m running on little sleep and feel sick. But am slowly getting back to my routine. My concern now is Roxie, and not rushing into another friend for her, but when the time comes, she may do better with that, just trying to see how it all goes and watch her mood etc. I guess we’ll know when it’s time to get her a pal or not. Any comments or thoughts on that are welcome. This has been about a $4,000.00 gamble but was worth taking. I couldn’t imagine giving up or letting her suffer when otherwise she seemed ok! Work will come, money will come, dignity you lose because you took a shortcut, will not come back. I miss Cracker a ton, but am thankful Roxie is here with me, as I slowly get back to business. Here is the most recent photo of her my friend James shot.