Portuguese Snow Dog
And sometimes - no matter how seriously you take your photography - ya just gotta have a little fun! Last week we finally got some decent snow and cold enough weather to leave the snow nice and fluffy. This is Poncho - our 4-year old Portuguese Water Dog who isn't very fond of water at all, but loves playing in the snow!
Subject: Portuguese Water Dog romping in fresh snow
Location: Findlay Creek, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D800e
Lens: Nikkor 80-400mm VR lens @ 300mm
Exposure: 1/2000s at f7.1 ISO 450. No compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Other: Hand-held
Some of those viewing this shot probably use Nikon equipment. And...some of those MIGHT be wondering about the performance of the "new" AF-S 80-400mm lens. And...some of those might find my recently posted review of this lens useful...so here's a link to it:
http://www.naturalart.ca/artist/fieldtests/AF-S_80-400mmVR.html
Comments and feedback greatly appreciated...probably better to view larger version prior to doing so...
Cheers...
Brad
Comments
10 commentsP.S. He does love water; he just prefers it frozen.
I didn't know one could post pets here, maybe I'll do the same..
Very nice work, looks like a great zoom lens from here
He looks like an extremely cheeky chap, great image
Very dynamic. I like Ponchos calm eyes. They belie the excitement he is certainly experiencing. The flying snow really helps tell the story of this energy packed shot. Not that Jose's photo in you test images is a slouch, but I think the flying snow set against the dark background packs a big punch. (having had a career as a ski photographer, I'm partial to snow shots)
I'm curious about the vest both dogs are wearing. Is there a safety issue in your area that necessitates such a bright vest or is it just a personal preference when you take the dogs out for a run?
I found your review of the 80-400 very interesting even though I shoot Canon. Looks like a good addition to anyones quiver of Nikon lenses.
Neil
We live - quite literally - in the woods and are surrounded by crown land (the Canuck term for public land). The land around our house has its fair share of wildlife, from coyotes and wolves through to bears (blacks and grizzlies) and cougars. All of these species are actively hunted (and poached), in some cases year-round (with wolves, for example). We make the fuzz dudes wear the orange vests so that even the most myopic shooter would have difficulty mistaking them for a coyote or wolf. It also makes it way easier for us to see them when we're out on our daily peregrinations (Poncho's speckled natural coat provides surprisingly good camouflage if he's sans vest - he can just disappear in plain sight).
Cheers...
Brad
PS: They're always off-leash, and have been trained to never chase wildlife (but they love to sit down and watch it - last year we watched a female grizzly nurse three 3-year old cubs - from a ridge about 100 meters away - and the dogs were just fascinated and sat watching intently and quietly for 20 minutes).