Depth

I was talking with Lorelei the other day about the importance of background.  We differ in our styles and our opinions on some things (which is never a bad thing).

I tend to like photos that don't have a lot of "clutter" - the focus is on the dog and there is nothing else to distract you from that. We decided that I prefer to document, rather than tell a story and that she is the opposite.  I can appreciate the beauty of an image with a gorgeous background, with small people/pets in the image, but for myself, I want images that show me what they look like at this particular time - I want to see their expressions, not their location.

The one thing I like about studio pics and in particular, Amanda Jones' studio photos, is that you are left with nothing but the dog.  If I could create an indoor studio big enough to have dogs running at full speeds I'd be a happy girl.  Just think of the detail you could see without anything (aka grass, snow, shrubs, etc.) blocking your view or distracting you.

Lorelei got me to think about what my favourite photos were and I have to admit, the ones that stick out  in my mind were ones with lots of background stuff.  Like these and the cover image of the candids on my website (sorry can't seem to link directly to picture but you can see it in its entirety if you click on the gallery - it is a few images in).  But what those "pretty" pictures are lacking (at least in my opinion) is activity and expression.  They are nice to look at, but are a little dull, as the dogs are just standing there.

So today I set out to combine the two - pretty pictures with some action.  It was harder than I was expecting, which may explain why I don't seem to do it very often.  To get the right stride, with the right expression, in the right place, without stray grasses or shrubs blocking her face, all while not dropping the focus off Coulee onto the cluttered background, was hard.  Way harder than I expected.  I only got one that I was really happy with.

 But one is all you need right?  :)