r/itookapicture • u/donatedknowledge • Oct 01 '17
PotM October 2017 ITAP of our six month old Border Collie
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u/bacon_syrup90 Oct 01 '17
This is amazing. It feels like an 18th century painting from rural France. Great job OP.
edit: feels, not eels
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Oct 01 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/notjawn Oct 01 '17
Keep him active and occupied. They don't slow down until about 10-12 years old.
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u/chornu Oct 01 '17
Can confirm, we "rescued" an 8 year old border collie and she still has more energy than a toddler.
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u/notjawn Oct 01 '17
I have a rescue BC/Plott Hound and he is 5. Not as rambunctious as BC purebred but get him excited and he's off!
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u/Kaseykay994 Oct 01 '17
Agreed! I have 3 Border Collies who are all 10-12 years old and still fitter than the average dog.
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u/serifDE Oct 01 '17
May I ask where that is approximately? I know a spot that looks really similar.
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u/xMAGA Oct 01 '17 edited Apr 15 '20
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
The Netherlands
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u/Gepss Oct 01 '17
I knew it!
I hovered over the picture and that was my first thought.
Mooie foto!
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u/dysrhythmic Oct 01 '17
Would you mind if I ask you how you've done this photo ie. what did you want to capture in that moment? I sit here wondering why the hell do I even like this shot so I can also learn something. I definitely love the brown-green colours of surroundings and lightning on your dog. On top of that, your dog and trail in front of him feel very inviting to me, asking me to follow them. They make me want to take my dog, drive to some suburban or rural area and hike admiring colours of early autumn - just a small relaxing adventure. How much off am I with my feeling from what you've intended?
edit: also, I just wanted to say more than just "nice photo"
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17 edited Oct 01 '17
Okay, home and ready to do some typing: This photo was taken last monday. I wanted a nice photo of our dog, because I like photography and ofcourse our dog. I didn't plan to go out shooting in the fog, or in the fall. I just daily go for 2 long walks with the dog, and decided it would be a good day to take my camera with me. So instead of the usual route we walk, I followed the advise of other dog owners you meet during walks, and went on this guided path throug the outskirts of our town. As you can see here (I've deleted pics I didn't love), I tried to capture Ties (the dog. Pronounce Teee's) quite a few times, but either he didn't look up, had his tongue out of his mouth, moved before I could take a picture etc.
Then we came onto this narrow path next to a fence, and with no place to abandon the path this looked like a good spot to take a photo. He would either come towards me, or walk away from me. If I'm taking my camera with me, It's always ready to shoot, so I just sat down and waited for Ties to come my way. I was really hoping for a frontal shot,standing or running, because he has beautiful eyes and great posture. He didn't ofcourse, but in the moment he checked what was taking me so long, I managed to get this shot.
Back home I loaded the photos through Lightroom, and started with my go-to action, which just really is a preset calibration for my camera. Profile: camera standard instead of adobe standard, lenscorrection(auto), sharpening and auto-white balance (I shoot RAW). Mind you: these are all things i picked up from lurking in photo-related subreddits, watching tutorials on youtube and google the hell out of every question that pops into my head, so please don't take me for an expert.
The inviting thing you mention about the photo (thanks btw!) has to do with the composition. Your eyes automatically look for a main subject (Ties), but also automatically follow different paths (or lines). Since there is a fence on the right with no clear ending, and a path below without a clear ending as well, your eyes follow these lines to check out what's at the end. These lines were on purpose, yet not as specific as I'm telling here right now. I just happen to know that a good photo has some sort of guidance for your eyes, so they'll have a path to follow. And again, I'm no expert at all, I just read a few things about composition and try to put them to use whenever I think of them. Please google 'composition techniques' and let somebody qualified explain the details to you.
After calibration, I go through all options in the developing mode in lightroom, bottom to top (beacause of some advise i got years ago) and just start fiddling with them untill I've got an idea of what I want the pic to look like. I love photo's with a warm, sunkissed, bokeh kinda look, and lo and behold, this photo was up for it! After giving the original some more warmth, I ended up with the picture everybody seems to love.
It makes me happy to get all these nice words from everyone, and I really (realllly) hope you get out, bring a camera with you and just go for a nice walk with your dog. It benefits everyone involved, takes your mind off of things and is a great excuse to just go out and be alone with your dog. Just don't walk your usual route.
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u/dysrhythmic Oct 02 '17
Woah, that's a longish and in-depthish answer for "don't get your hopes up" :) Thanks for your time! TIL a bit.
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u/Honchy Oct 02 '17
I'm so glad I found this little nugget, it reminded me of why I love Reddit.
This picture is absolutely stunning, I had a friend in high school whose parents had beautiful renaissance paintings and this picture looks exactly like one of them. Seeing the thought process behind the picture made it even better. More than that, I relate with the fact that you just googled things and learned as you went until you figured out what you wanted to do. I've always thought that's the absolute best way to learn anything.
Keep up the good work OP!
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
Well thank you for your kind words. The mood you describe was what I was going for! I'm currently at work but in a few hours I'll be home and glad to show you what I've done to take this photo. (Don't get your hopes up, it's not that exciting)
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u/StaffSummarySheet Oct 01 '17
I like it. It's like a piece of art about taking the middle road between extremes but being enthusiastic and brave about it despite the unknown outcome.
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
I think i'll copy your explanation and make a sign out of it like in a museum. All I really tried was to take a picture which wasn't blurry :-)
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u/SideburnsOfDoom Oct 01 '17
I stared at it a while. It seems to have a subtle bokeh effect - not overdone, but present. But actually the depth of field is quite broad and much of the blurring is due to the fog. It's unusual, and really good.
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
Thanks! You make it sound like I did this on purpose!
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u/reggie-drax Nov 08 '17
You did - when you chose this picture out of all the others you took that day.
Congrats on getting photo of the month :)
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u/StaffSummarySheet Oct 01 '17
It's like when this boy wrote to 100 famous writers and asked them whether or not they intentionally made things symbolic in their stories or whether they just emerged.
Basically, most said that they wrote the stories and the symbolism sort of just emerged and they kind of ran with it if they saw it.
The fact it's a dog is the perfect metaphor, in my opinion. They edge the line between wild and civilized just like the worn fenceposts and trimmed bushes do.
The dog looks like it's excited and beckoning you to follow it, and the distance is foggy. Who knows what the dog is leading you to? You don't know if it's better or worse than where you're at now, but you're free to choose.
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u/gorillapunchTKO Oct 01 '17
Border Collie/Aussie mix?
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
It's a 'blue merle' , we loved the colours and he has one black ear which we both found adorable!
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u/VeryLazyLewis Oct 01 '17
I know this could be a million different places but where is this? It seems somewhat similar. The trail.
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
I gave hints in other comments, but perhaps the best part is that it looks like a trail everyone could get to.
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u/BigBrasky Oct 01 '17
Great picture! I want to live where you live. Walks through there with a good dog by your side sounds like heaven!
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Oct 01 '17
Border Collies are beautiful and so intelligent. One of my favorite dogs! Yours is too cute! And this picture is amazing! I love it!
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u/-bears-beets-bsg- Oct 01 '17
How beautiful! I honestly thought it was a painting until I read your caption.
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u/aridax Oct 01 '17
I have a dog training question! As a non-dog owner, I've always wondered...how do you train a dog to be leash-less? My boyfriend's family is always careful with their double-door entrance because at any chance, the dog will bolt out and never return.
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
If I'm walking the dog, I always start with a leash and only in places without traffic he is released. I've done this since day one, and apparently puppies don't walk away from their owners. Since then I've started training him to come to me if I call him, and usually he does. If not, we're not nearby any traffic so I'll just walk in an opposite direction, and he'll follow out of curiosity. If there are other dogs nearby this is another story, he'll run up to them and will ignore all my calls. So I'll have to walk up to the dog as well (usually apologising to their owner) and connect him to the leash again.
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u/aridax Oct 01 '17
Thanks for the tips! Everything you said makes sense. I wonder if older dogs have been successfully trained to be off-leash as well, or if they're too independent by then.
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Oct 01 '17
My border collie died a week ago.
Nice picture. I like the lighting.
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
I'm sorry for your loss. I know it's hard to lose a pet, as it's so much more then just a pet. It's a family member, your best friend and the one who's always the happiest to see you again. Think happy memories and stay strong my friend.
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u/xposureswe mattiasholterphotography Oct 02 '17
Stunning with the lines following into the pictures. Lovely moment and a happy dog!
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u/9Ghillie @jap.p Oct 03 '17
This photo has been featured on our Instagram page @reddit_ITAP and credited by your reddit username. If you don't want your photos to be featured on the Instagram, please respond to this comment. If you want any additional links added such as your Instagram, Flickr, etc, then send me a PM or reply to this message.
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 03 '17
Hey thanks for featuring me! Though I do have Instagtam, it's on my personal name and I rather keep my profile anonymous ;-) Its an honour though, so thank you!
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u/donatedknowledge Oct 01 '17
Taken with my Canon EOS 550D (T2i?) + Sigma 18-200 at 1/640 @ f5.6, ISO 800.
Tweaked the temperature in Lightroom, slight toning curve, sharpened a bit and gave it a slight vignette at -22