During the summer months, Belltown Dance Studio holds public Salsa dancing events at Seattle locations such as Alki Beach and Westlake Park. Organizers spread out a portable dance floor and provide a nearly non-stop selection of Latin dance music. During the past two Alki events, the sun was shining and the dancing was hot!
Street photography is a popular pastime for amateur and professional photographers alike. It is often done with smaller, rangefinder cameras that allow the photographer to go unnoticed while they capture people going about their daily business. The images can be very powerful. Henri Cartier-Bresson was a master at street photography. His black and white images are some of the most iconic of the 20th century.
My doggy style street photography is not as stealthy or candid as was Cartier-Bresson’s. The camera rig (see below) weighs around 10 lbs, and is rather imposing to both small and large dogs. Confident dogs are curious and will come up and sniff the camera. while less secure dogs will shy away and even bark at the camera rig. Either way, it often results in some great expressions from my subjects.
When I’m out photographing dogs on the street or beach, I always ask the owner’s permission. I also try to hand out my business card and offer to send them an image or two of their pup.
I’d love to hear your feedback. Anybody out there doing anything similar?
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We love the picture of our red lab puppy. Your photos really show her personality.
Nanette and Ben
Today was another nice day at Alki Beach, so I headed out to make some photographs. This time I only took my Lensbaby Composer with the double glass optics on the D700. While I’m essentially a pet photographer, I do like to stray a bit sometimes. This was one of those occasions. I thought I might do some black and white processing when I got back, so I shot with that in mind.
Here are some of the B&Ws I ended up with.
The image below shows how difficult it can be getting the lensbaby in focus. I had hoped the bolt on the right was going to be tack sharp.
More of Alki’s charm.
And I couldn’t leave without photographing at least one dog.
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Okay, on the pigeons, I really like the top treatment better because the pigeon is clearer in that shot, and stands out more in focus as the subject, while the background is softer. I also love Lady Liberty. But my favorite shot in the series – hands down – is the barnacles. The cold bone of the shell is in stark contrast with the brilliant green moss. Also the sharp focus in the middle of the photo bled out quickly into such a soft focus that has so little to do with an actual barnacle; it was a study in real and imagined contrasts. Beautiful!
Several weeks ago I spent a few hours with Sora taking pictures on a beautiful November day. I posted some pictures from that session in a previous blog post here. Sora has late-stage insulinoma and is enjoying spending the holidays with her family. Saturday I had the opportunity to create more memories of Sora and the other members of her family. Here are some of those images…
Here’s Sora wearing a Christmas ribbon…
Zoe is watching Sora keep her blood sugar level up by eating honey and peanut butter…
Mom watches from the couch while Sora chews on the squirrel…
This is Zoe and Rex, Sora’s brother and sister. Zoe is a 5 year-old angel, and Rex is a sweet heart of a dog.
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i like your pictures,and zoe is really cute. I used to have a pet dog named Mr ligo when i was ten, and he had accompanied me for almost eight years until he died in 2007 when i left home for my college.he left me an unforgettable memory.
Love, love, love these shots! You are a fantastic photographer! Looking forward to seeing more.
Dear Bruce, Thanks again for capturing the essence of our Sora, my favorite is the one of her with her ball in her mouth, she has guarded “her ball” all of her life..that is so right on! Your photography skills are remarkable, every hair and whisker is seen. I fell like I can reach out and touch her. Also love the beautiful picture of Rex and Zoe. Rex has always been so loving toward her.
Carol Soukup
AHELP Project Advisor
Wonderful. Gorgeous photographs. Thanks for sharing your beautiful bambinos (all!) Michelle.
What a beautiful tribute to a dog so loved. My heart goes out to you…..Adrienne
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