Vicious Savage Puppy Attacked my Boy! :-O

[TheSteveMadden]

My son, Michael, needed a picture of his dog for a school project. Sophie is still a puppy and gets excited when someone sits down to play with her, which made for a super fun session.


Here's some of my favorites...


1. Circling the Prey

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/TheSteveMadden/30D_01087_c_web.jpg


2. Going in for the Kill

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/TheSteveMadden/30D_01085_c_web.jpg


3. Victory Dance!

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/TheSteveMadden/30D_01084_c_web.jpg


4. Friends for Life

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/TheSteveMadden/30D_01105_c_web.jpg


5. Another take on my favorite image.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/TheSteveMadden/30D_01087_web.jpg

Thanks for sharing in the fun.

Comments and criticism always welcome.

[EDIT] I added what equipment was used and the settings on page 2, message #18

s

[CDBlue]

Wow really nice shots. Great composition, technique, post processing and even the frames do not detract from the pics. Excellent work all around. If #4 would have been taken with the same background as the other pics it would have been truly exceptional ... as it it's great, but the background does take away a little from it :D

[mishnogram]

Great shots #2 and 4 are my favorites. Something to look forward to when our puppy arrives in a month or so.

[Saralonde]

This is such a great series! Good story, composition, and technique.

[Skippy29]

Great set of pictures! Razor sharp focus and nicely exposed. And the best part is they have so much emotion, they are both having a blast.
Nice job!

[sblais]

Great serie! I just love them all! They are so cute together!

[iddie]

Cute puppy and great pictures. #2 is my fav

[Mike_Canon5D]

This is an awesome series, can't pick a favorite, they are all really great.

[Miniflash]

Adorable

[Titus213]

You can't ask for a better action setup - little kids and active puppies. Nice series of shots. Well lit, well, framed, just real nice work.

[kato1]

Lovely shots and very sharp.

[S Taylor]

Very nicely done Steve. You composed these shots really well and timed your shots very well.

Thanks for sharing.
WT

[cdmonkey]

great shots. really like number 4.
Carl

[ANIGAV inc.]

yeah #4 did it for me.

[ilovemycamera]

Steve, the series is great! I really like the crispness of your images... The frames compliment the photos well!

Mind sharing the exif?

[ilovemycamera]

And i think the color ones are much better than the b&w, but they are all wonderful!

[pttenn]

#4 is terrific, as mentioned would be great with a different background. What is your son doing with sweater and jacket on in Florida???
Karen

[TheSteveMadden]

Steve, the series is great! I really like the crispness of your images... The frames compliment the photos well!

Mind sharing the exif?

WOW! I get back from lunch and the response is overwhelming! Thanks.


The EXIF is intact in the images, but here's my setup.

I used the 30D and EF 50 f/1.4 with a 430EX attached. My 85 is my favorite lens, but I didn't want to shoot from the neighbors yard ;)

Knowing I would need some DOF as I had two subjects and both were moving, I set the Aperture to f/4 and was able to get 1/500s at ISO 100. It was about 1/2 stop underexposed, but I was working fast. I really should have upped my ISO to get more shutter speed as there is a little motion blur.

I set my SpeedLite at -2/3 FEC to fill the shadows and enabled HSS.

For the picture of them sitting on the steps, I should have gone f/2.8 to take the background more out of play, but didn't think of it as I'm usually at f/2.8 or below all the time.

Conversion was done in Lightroom Beta 4 (I just LOVE this program and will go ahead and buy it as soon as it comes out) with Sharpening set to 25.

After resizing to 600 wide in CS3 Beta, I applied another web sharpening pass at 100/0.3/0 before applying the frame. There are some jaggies I never saw in CS2 and I'll probably need to play around with the different resampling Bicubic options to get rid of those.

Thanks again!

[TheSteveMadden]

Wow really nice shots. Great composition, technique, post processing and even the frames do not detract from the pics. Excellent work all around. If #4 would have been taken with the same background as the other pics it would have been truly exceptional ... as it it's great, but the background does take away a little from it :D

Thanks CDBlue.

I know... one demerit for the background :oops: , but the moment would have been lost if I'd asked them to move. ;)


#4 is terrific, as mentioned would be great with a different background. What is your son doing with sweater and jacket on in Florida???
Karen

Thanks Karen.

I'm in north Florida and we've had a SERIOUS cold snap here over the past week. Freeze warnings at night and 50s during the day. Brrrrr.

[LCF]

Great serie!

[Dan_S]

Lovely sharp series. Great fun.

[Yanis]

My son, Michael, needed a picture of his dog for a school project. Sophie is still a puppy and gets excited when someone sits down to play with her, which made for a super fun session.
...
...
...
Thanks for sharing in the fun.

Comments and criticism always welcome.

s

I am touched...:cry:. They are definitely Kodak moments. Better yet Canon moments. ;)

Excellent series!!! :D

Yanis

[MagicallyDelicious]

These are wonderful! I also love that first one! the look on the dogs face!!

[thomascanty]

Awesome series. I loved them all.

[Permagrin]

These are wonderful (my favorite...just marginally though because they are all great...is the "friends for life" photo). Excellent and enjoyable set.

[steveathome]

I think No 4 would go well on canvas, just need to blur the background a little more with cs2 if possible

[stefeb]

Great tale (couldn't resist) of boy and dog. Excellent. Reminded my of my childhood.

[Marsha050]

WOW, love the series... they are so sharp and crisp!!

[ilovemycamera]

The EXIF is intact in the images, but here's my setup.

I used the 30D and EF 50 f/1.4 with a 430EX attached. My 85 is my favorite lens, but I didn't want to shoot from the neighbors yard ;)

Knowing I would need some DOF as I had two subjects and both were moving, I set the Aperture to f/4 and was able to get 1/500s at ISO 100. It was about 1/2 stop underexposed, but I was working fast. I really should have upped my ISO to get more shutter speed as there is a little motion blur.

I set my SpeedLite at -2/3 FEC to fill the shadows and enabled HSS.

For the picture of them sitting on the steps, I should have gone f/2.8 to take the background more out of play, but didn't think of it as I'm usually at f/2.8 or below all the time.

Conversion was done in Lightroom Beta 4 (I just LOVE this program and will go ahead and buy it as soon as it comes out) with Sharpening set to 25.

After resizing to 600 wide in CS3 Beta, I applied another web sharpening pass at 100/0.3/0 before applying the frame. There are some jaggies I never saw in CS2 and I'll probably need to play around with the different resampling Bicubic options to get rid of those.

Thanks again!

Thanks so much for sharing... at work i am unable to right click and get the exif for some reason:rolleyes:

Hats off to a great series- if the wife isn't proud of those, i don't know what would get her attention!

[ABrownPhoto]

Oh wow, these are awesome! 3, 4, and 5 are just perfect!

really love these, thanks for sharing!

[wesuggs]

great images... love the color

[saravrose]

what kind of spaniel is that?.. it almost looks like a king charles.. ( I really really want one).. very cute pictures..

sari

[goatee]

Beautiful series of shots! Having a bit of motion blur really adds life to shots like these - they're perfect as they are :).

[TheSteveMadden]

Many thanks to everyone who replied for all the kind words.

what kind of spaniel is that?.. it almost looks like a king charles.. ( I really really want one).. very cute pictures..

sari

You guessed it! She's a 5 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Too smart for her own good ;)

[Boogieman]

Wow....What definition....Great Work!

[burntpixel]

very nice! great color, vivid and sharp.
#4 my fav

[Rumrunner]

Absolutely incredible! Words can't describe how much I like these. I am so very inspired by this work.

[webcrawlur]

Amazing, I love this series. #4 is my favorite, great job...:cool:

[Renboy]

He is very cute. You did a WoW job on these. Thanks a lot for sharing.

[canonboy]

Loverly, really captures the relationship of dog being a mans best friend :)

[Maureen Souza]

Wow, Steve!! These are beautiful shots and wonderful memories to preserve. Just wonderful!

[White_Marten]

They are absolutely awesome, everything is great, made me smile! Thanx a lot for sharing!!!

[WilliamL]

these are great... i really like 2 and 4

[Redfish]

These are all great but number four is my favorite too. They way that they are looking at each other seems to sum up their mutual affection. I hope that these end up framed! Mrs. Redfish...

[jra]

Wonderful capture! :)

[TheSteveMadden]

Wow....What definition....Great Work!

very nice! great color, vivid and sharp.
#4 my fav

Absolutely incredible! Words can't describe how much I like these. I am so very inspired by this work.

Amazing, I love this series. #4 is my favorite, great job...:cool:

He is very cute. You did a WoW job on these. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Loverly, really captures the relationship of dog being a mans best friend :)

Wow, Steve!! These are beautiful shots and wonderful memories to preserve. Just wonderful!

They are absolutely awesome, everything is great, made me smile! Thanx a lot for sharing!!!

these are great... i really like 2 and 4

These are all great but number four is my favorite too. They way that they are looking at each other seems to sum up their mutual affection. I hope that these end up framed! Mrs. Redfish...

Wonderful capture! :)

Thank you SO MUCH everyone :)

A consistent theme seems to be how sharp the images are. I just got the 30D and 50 f/1.4 and that combination is super.

I never seemed to be able to get this consistant sharpness, contrast and color out of my XT with the 50 f/1.8. I still have the old setup, so I'll have to go back and shoot side by side, swapping components, to see if it's the lens or camera or both and report back.

[ldibo]

What great pictures! They just make you smile! I love my 50mm 1.4!

Lynn

[MDJAK]

Love 'em.

mark

[kpiela]

hysterical... looks like they were both having so much fun! very cute series :)

[jmanser]

Those are fantastic! I love his facial expressions :)

[queenbee288]

Great action shots. I have a Cocker Spaniel also. Now 4 yrs old. Great dog for kids.

[Lin-z]

That is a very cute little doggy!

[liebernoodle]

Wonderful wonderful shots! As everyone else said, so crisp and clean looking!

[The REBELion]

Wow great shots, these are very sharp.

[Chris]

I love #1 and #4. Makes me wish I still had small kids. Oh well, the grandkids will probably start coming in 3-5 years. That should give me plenty of time to practice.

[nyy]

All are great, but I particularly love 4.

[jej826]

Great set of pictures! Razor sharp focus and nicely exposed. And the best part is they have so much emotion, they are both having a blast.
Nice job!
I agree.Great shots.Cute boy and pup.

[elader]

Wonderful job. Terrific shots. Congratulations. The 4th and 5th should be framed.

[Stump]

I bet she's a cocker spaniel, and she's beautiful! I have one also :)

[TheSteveMadden]

I bet she's a cocker spaniel, and she's beautiful! I have one also :)


Close, and thank you! She's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, 19 wks old or so.

They were originally bred as lap dogs for drafty castles to keep their owners warm. She loves to cuddle up which delights my wife to no end.

I found out too late that the breed is considered a "Toy", much to my chagrin. I NEVER wanted a toy dog ;) My choice would have been a Lab or German Shepherd - something substantial. My wife won and i couldn't be happier.

[Kiddo]

WOW!!!! Great pictures!!!

[GingerT]

Awwwww these are soooo great!

[Longjohns]

Fun Photo's. I really like # 4.
Each has their own idea of whats next in the looks they are giving each other.

[Indypic]

Great pictures.

:) Did you have to let the dog attack your son like that.

J/K had to get you back for the post about my kid.

Again great pictures.

[CarsRFun]

#4 is outstanding they all are!

[mijbril]

Steve, I am going to be sick!!!!

That is such a sweet series, keep them all & NEVER lose any of them.

[rjmhotrod]

I never seemed to be able to get this consistant sharpness, contrast and color out of my XT with the 50 f/1.8.

I feel the same way with my XT and 50 f/1.8 combo. I've been wondering if the 50 f/1.4 would be a better choice. But then again, I tend to shoot wide open with the f/1.8 just because I can - when I really should stop it down a bit. I think these shots are fantastic and I'm absolutely blown away by #4. Perfect capture (even with the background).

[TheSteveMadden]

Wow! Five pages of responses**... I am so stoked! Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement.

Never underestimate the Power of the Puppy :)

(** Not that something that petty means anything to me. No, not at all ;) )

[TheSteveMadden]

Great pictures.

:) Did you have to let the dog attack your son like that.

J/K had to get you back for the post about my kid.

Again great pictures.

LOL, sorry :p

The reason I thought about that on your post was about two weeks ago my oldest son said to me "Dad, can you come out and play.... without the camera?" :( I realized I needed a little more balance myself.