22/52 Bea at the River

Bea loves the water.  I shot this right before she leaped into the river.  She will stand on the bank then suddenly launch herself into the air and splash in the water.  She swims around, climbs back up and does it again and again.  It is the funniest thing I have seen in a long while. 

Click Here for LINK TO EXIF DATA

I was happy with this shot, but I wish I could have gotten it without the grass stem in front of her face.  Oh well....

Earlier in the week I got some sweet shots of Bea swimming in the pond. 

I have found the trick to getting the reflection is the angle of light.  This was shot in the late afternoon with an overcast sky, the sun had dipped below the cloud cover on its way down to the horizon - casting a lovely glow, lighting up the eyes. 

The bright light also lights up the splash, but the reflection of the clouds in the water keeps it from being overblown and washed out - providing a nice contrast.

The only post processing I did on these shots were quick crops.  That is the lovely thing about this type of lighting....perfection.

It helps when you have a perfectly adorable subject too. 

21/52 Buttercup Bea

May 28, 2011

Bea racing across a field of buttercups. 

Click here for LINK TO EXIF DATA

This week was a big turning point for Bea. She became a 'woman' if you know what I mean. She entered her first heat cycle. She has actually been quite lovely behaving, just a bit clingy. Gone are the days of puppyhood...she is so quickly growing up. I hope one day she will grow into that massive tongue. 

 

This was shot in our normal play field, which has sprouted oodles of buttercups. It was a challenge to shoot this, keeping the focus on Bea while she raced through these tall grasses and buttercups which was driving my autofocus nuts. The end result makes me smile. It is pretty much SOOC, just a quick crop and cross process.

Here are a few more of my favorites.  

Buttercup bokeh in front and behind. 

By far my favorite shot of Bea in the buttercups.  I almost wish I would have gone with this one as my selection, but I did not get it processed in time for the Sunday night deadline.  

20/52 Bea an Angel....NOT!

22 May, 2011 

For those of you who think Bea is a careful, cautious, worried little angel, I submit for your consideration this photo. 

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/800

ISO: 320

Brynn would tell you that Bea is decidedly NOT an angel.  Particularly when Bea is hanging off of poor Brynn's neck as they are running. 

Have no fear, Brynn does correct Bea from time to time.  Brynn is Bea's obsession.  She follows her everywhere, she is fixated on anything and everything that Brynn is doing.  Lately I have been going out of my way to separate the two of them - to give Brynn a break from Bea's constant 'stalking' also to help Bea break that dependence on Brynn. 

I loved this shot because it captured Bea in her element - pre-grip.  The spit was flying and Brynn knows the grip is coming - but is still smiling. 

Here Bea is sneaking up the hill behind Brynn...

Ahhhh....border collies.  So typical..

But so darn cute.  

19/52 Bea with Bokeh Beth

Bea resting in the field with her pack mate Beth behind her during one of the very few nice days we have had this week.   I chose this one for my 52 weeks because for once Bea does not look intense, rather relaxed, yet alert.

I just started processing pictures in Photoshop Elements.  I have no idea what I did to strip all the EXIF Data off this picture, but I must have done something...apparently 'Save for Web' strips everything off your photo? 

I shot with my Canon EOS 7D on 5/12/11 - have no idea what the settings were. I am sorry....  but given the lens I was shooting with (100-400mm) it is doubtful it was below f5.6.  I would guess f7.1 and 1/1250 if I stayed true to typical form for this lighting. 

18/52 Bubble Bea

Camera:  Canon EOS 7D

Lens: Canon EF 135mm f/2L

Aperture: f5.0

Shutter/Exposure: 1/500

ISO: 2500

Bea is chasing a bubble in the yard.  My husband took one look at this and said Bea looked like a corgi because her legs were so small, yet her ears were so big.  Looking at it now I think he may be right. 

The technical stuff: the sun had fallen below the horizon, and it was getting dark in the backyard.  I shot this with an ISO 2500, which made it quite noisy - more than I am comfortable with.  Oh well...still a cute shot. 

A runner up selection for this week below. 

Because of the low lighting conditions (sunset) and the way I had to shoot in particular sections of my back yard (the sun needs to be at a certain angle to light up the bubbles the best way) it required I use a lower shutter speed than normal.  Most of the shots were not as crisp and sharp as I like - but they are still adorable.  

Bea really looks like a puppy in this shot

I think we will try this again, earlier in the evening for better lighting conditions.  The light will still be low, but with less cloud cover it will brighten up the colors so much more and I can use a better aperture setting so I am able to get deeper depth of field.   I also want to see how it looks when the vegetation has covered the fence in the back yard for a little more aesthetic appeal in the background.

Bea is intent on whatever she is doing...even killing a bubble.  

"So many bubbles, so little time!"

Bubble Bea to the rescue! 

17/52 Splashing Bea

Bea runs through the water, right at my camera - the light was perfectly bright in her eyes.  She loves the water.  You can't keep her out of it. 

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/800

ISO: 200

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Of course I had some other favorites and found it hard to choose once again.  I chose the one I did because of the perfect focus on her eyes.  The detail captured in her whiskers, the splash/water and the expression on her face. 

This picture was a close second  (all the pictures below were shot with the same camera settings)

This one made me giggle because of the expression on her face, watching Brynn.  

Weeeeeee she loves the water!

With Brynn and Ranger

Buried in the splash!

As the weather warms I am sure we will see many more weeks with water pictures. 

16/52 Working Bea

April 23, 2001

This weekend was spent working sheep all day, every day on a large (1500 head) sheep ranch.  Dianne Deal came over from Idaho to teach lessons and hold a handlers clinic.  She put Bea on sheep again this week and she showed a glimpse of what she will be as she grows. 

Bea is not ready for training yet, as she is too young.   Right now the focus is just to get Bea engaged and having fun, letting her feel successful and happy working - a positive experience which helps build her confidence.

I was very happy with this shot although I struggled with the composition a wee bit.  It is always lovely to shoot action in the bright sunlight - which we see so rarely here in the Pacific Northwest of late. 

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 500

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Here is this week's runner up.  It was hard to choose.  I liked her expression in this shot, and the sheep looked cool, but what won me over with the shot above was the action and I really liked all four feet off the ground. 

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 400

Same camera and lens.

Another one of this week's favorites, this one is back lit.  If you look at it in the original size you can see all the bugs flying around in the frame.  In the end I didn't care for the detail lost in the under exposed parts of the shot.  

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/1000

ISO: 800

Same lens and Camera. 

15/52 Look Back Bea

Looking over her shoulder at me.  

Aperture: f7.1

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 1600

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

This week I wanted to show the happy-go-lucky side of Bea.  Here she is tired after running with the other dogs.  A tired border collie is a happy border collie.  I got her attention while she was watching at the dogs, snapping this shot just as she turned to look at me.

All in all I am happy with her expression, which was my goal to capture this week - her smile. 

Here are a few action shots from this week showing Bea's less serious side.

Running with a smile

Stretched out

Turbo Bea! 

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 800

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

I love this pup...

14/52 Swimming Bea

April 8, 2011

Hi mom!  Look at me I am swimming! 

Aperture: f5.6

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/800

ISO: 400

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Another very tough week deciding which shot to use.  I ended up choosing the one above because it is something I want to remember.  This was the first time Bea submerged herself completely into the river, over her head and actually swam on her own, braving the current.  She was rather unsure at first, but grew more confident as she followed Brynn into the water to fetch the ball.  I also liked the hint of a reflection in the water, the lighting in her eyes and expression on her face.

As usual I had a couple of runner ups.

The concentration and light in her eyes, the splashing and the detail of the water attracted me to this shot - but she looked scared to me.  

This shot sends me into fits of giggles every time I see it. 

One very determined puppy. 

13/52 Bathtub Bea

March 30, 2011

Awwww look at that face, she has mastered the art of looking pathetic.   Although Camera Face has NO PITY!  Bea was a very dirty girl and needed to be cleaned.

Bea is not a dainty, feminine little girl.  She is rough & tumble messy little piggie who relishes being covered in mud, rolling in stink and eating disgusting rubbish.   She has recently adopted the hobby of digging up and eating earthworms.

The bath will be a frequent occurrence for as long as she keeps roto-tilling our back yard in search of her wormy delicacies.

As I have come to expect from myself I had another hard time selecting this weeks shot.  Technically this one is not the best.  Her eyes are not as sharp as I would like - but her expression makes up for it.  In the comments below (3rd down) you can see how Bea started out and the bathtub shot I almost chose.

Blog post about Bea's Worm Digging Adventures

Aperture: f3.5

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/60

ISO: 2000

Lens: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Digging and eating worms is a very dirty job

She was none too pleased...

Oh well, Bea.  Another day, another worm.

12/52 Bea - Workin' It

March 26, 2011

Bea is showing off her stylish moves once again.  A new appearance this week is her massive tongue - which seems to be hanging out of her mouth more and more often as the weather warms up.  Another new feature - GREEN GRASS!  Yeah!  Thank Heaven's spring has arrived.

This stance is pretty much standard for Bea whenever she is outside, she takes everything seriously and feels even potted plants need to be stalked.  She does settle nicely in the house...but not much goes by unnoticed.

Aperture: f5.6

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 1000

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

I almost went with this shot, because she was just so goofy and it is completely different than anything else I have in her set - alas the colors were too bright for me. What do you think?

Aperture: f2.0

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/80

ISO: 3200

Lens: Canon EF 135mm f/2L

11/52 Happy to Bea

March 17, 2011

This is the Bea I see when I look at her.  Happy, smiling, yet still focused on what she is doing.

Her ears are fully up.  One of them still leans a bit over her head when she relaxes, but in time it will be fully upright all the time.

Teething has been fun.  I can tell when Bea has lost another tooth, because Brynn will have a big streak of blood on her neck where Bea hangs off her scruff as they are playing.  The other day I had the misfortune of kneeling on on a puppy molar, which darn near embedded into my knee cap.  It was almost as painful as stepping or kneeling one of my kid's Legos. OUCH!   Needless to say I will be happy when teething has passed.

What I have seen evolve over the past couple of weeks is Bea's personality.  She is no doubt going to be a confident, self assured little dog.  She is not afraid of much and has not yet met a stranger.  She loves everyone and is a joy to be around.   She has given herself a few jobs to do around the house.  For example - she feels it is her job to keep the back yard free of crows.  All crows.  Robins seem to be okay, but Crows are most definitely NOT allowed.  She will sit sentry on the back patio waiting for them to show up in the tree's then launch into barking.  We are doing our best to put a stop to this as it will drive me and our neighbors nuts.  *sigh* 

This weeks picture was another tough pick.  I am still struggling with the color of the icky grass in the field.  I went with this one because of her expression.  Her foot is a wee bit blurry, but I thought it showed the quickness of her movements - and her expression melts my heart. 

Aperture: f7.1

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/1000

ISO: 1250

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

This week's runner up. 

10/52 Bea on Sheep

March 13, 2011


This was Bea's first little teaser on sheep.  Her tail was down the entire time.  She went perfectly to balance, she calmly and thoughtfully came in behind the sheep and walked nicely behind them, of course after a little 'puppy brain' stuff at the beginning - she settled nicely and showed some of the quality work she will one day be capable. 

I shot this photo while walking backward, shooting over the top of the sheep at my feet.  I loved her expression, intensity, yet relaxed assurance that she is doing exactly what she is meant to.  Look at that happy expression...what could be better?

Aperture: f7.1

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/800

ISO: 500

Lens: Canon EF 135mm f/2L

 It was another hard choice this week. This week's selection wasn't so much about photographic quality, rather capturing the experience of this special time. I almost chose one of these too - but settled on the one above because of her expression. Sheer joy! 

A nice back lit shot that captured Bea's shadow on the ground.  

9/52 Running Bea

March 2, 2011

"Wait for me!  My legs may be short, but I am FAST!" 

Fast indeed.  Bea is growing to be one of the fastest in our pack.

Bea looks so serious in most of her 52 Weeks shots.  This week, I wanted to show the carefree side of this adorable pup.

Now for the technical stuff - in post processing I overlayed a texture to give some color to the grass as it was washed out and ugly.  The colors are not necessarily realistic, but I liked the end result.

Exposure: 0.001 (1/1250)

Aperture: f/8.0

ISO: 800

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Such a busy Bea.

Invisible Bea in the grass - hiding.  

"Whatcha looking at me for?"

"Ha ha!  You can't catch me!"