Vickie

Great advice by Tony (eta and Luke who posted at the same time as I wrote this). LOL, after Noah I think I could write a book on how not to teach a good recall but we got help & I learnt a lot from him. It is so hard to remember not to call your dog when they don't know what it means, but well worth it to only say "Come" when they are in fact coming, otherwise you are teaching the exact opposite of what you want. I also use a distinctive whistle right from day 1 with my dogs now, so when they are coming towards me I whistle & then say the word come. Now that they are grown up, I have the choice of either the word or the whistle & there are often times where the whistle is easier for them to hear & respond to. Another thing I find helpful is to take them to a safe, unfamilar area when they are small & just walk. I am not teaching a recall as such, but I am teaching them to watch for me & be aware of where I am going. This is much easier in an unfamiliar area as pups will usually feel a little insecure & watch for you anyway. And it is a great feeling to be able to walk with your dogs offlead & not have to constantly watch them since you know they will be watching you. A couple of mine have also hit a point at about 6 months where they decided they didn't have to come after all. I used a long line for one & for the other it was enough just to walk over with no emotion nor harshness, take her collar gently & help her to come in the direction I wanted & then let go straight away & praise for the right choice. Using either of these methods they learn that come is not an optional word. The other thing I like about these methods is that while I use food & toys all the time, there will come a day when something else may be of more value & I need to know my dogs will come, out of 2nd nature, not beause they will get something for it. Hope this helps Vickie

Everyone has been BUSY! There are some really cool shots there & some great imagination as well. Shoemonster, I LOVE your first 2, they are really well done! I really like Cody's shoes too (even if they do scare the crap out of me... ). Rocco's jowls are hilarious & EWWW! I really like your bent fork too CM, it looks cool. and your fork is very abstract Persephone, great treatment.

Combination of things Rocco. They were shot inside using natural light from the window. The D300 does 6 f/s & seems to handle a high ISO very well. I had the ISO up to 1000 in those shots & was able to get a between a 1/1000 & 1/2000 shutter speed. There is grain, but b/c of the composition I think it actually helps rather than hurts. I used my 50mm 1.8 which is a fast lense (compared to anything else I have). And yes, I just kept clicking 5-6 shots every time I threw the ball. Problem was focus. To get both Trim & the ball in focus I needed a lower Aperture, but then that compromised my shutter speed. So I used a higher one (F3.5) & focussed on Trim which meant that the ball was often oof, so just picked the shots where the ball wasn't moving much & looked like it was in focus.

Totally legal and beautifully done. He is so cute with his big ball. LOL, the last shot cracks me up, it's like "are you done yet? b/c I am" :cool:

WOW! I can so easily see these 3 mounted side by side & on a wall somewhere. I love them, great idea, great composition & the soft antique treatment works perfectly. They are really good.

I'm about 90% autofocus, since pretty much everything I shoot moves. I'm hopeless with manual.

Trim told me I could not possibly do anything with a tennis ball unless she was involved. EXIF Nikon D300, 50mm 1.8 Exp 1/250, A 7.1, ,Spot metered, ISO 500, Exp biased 1 Processing: curves, burn a couple of spots, frame & text

They are GREAT Winpara. I love that lense! What I like best about them are the reflections & the bent prong on the fork.

Let's hope not...

Very well done, disgusting, but a good shot!

I bet it can...but you have to have a go I think you will be surprised.

not so Rachel. They are all well focussed & exposed. I like the shoes suspended in the air. now that...is just plain adorable!

. What is your Flickr name? I don't spend much time on Flickr anymore, just use it to store pics. With GREAT difficulty & A LOT of patience. It is just leaning against the other forks. LOL, the shot took about half an hour, 5 mins to set up everything, 24 minutes to stand the fork up (it doesn't have a great "stay") & one to take it :cool: .

OK I did one! Equipment: Nikon D300, 50mm 1.8, Tripod, light with umbrella, white board on dining table, silver forks & red plastic fork EXIF: (1/1600), f/1.8, 50 mm, ISO 640, ExpBias: 0/6 EV Processing: Auto curves, text & frame.

Rules: There are 3 objects, common to most households or easy/cheap to buy. You can choose any one object or all 3, either individually or together. Each photo posted in this thread must come with a description of how you did it & EXIF data. The photo/s must be taken by the person posting it. You cannot use old photos you may have of the objects, they must be taken for the challenge. You can submit as many entries as you like. Photos can, but don't have to include dogs Images can be edited using photoshop etc,. Challenge runs for 1 week & ends Thursday 18th September 3pm. There is no winner, just a bunch of people having fun & learning new techniques/ideas. Challenge 1 Items: 1. Tennis ball 2. Fork 3. Pair of shoes Post away!

I don't know the answers to all your questions I am just making it up as I go along...like I said, anyone want to make/amend rules, go for it! I think I will start another thread though for the posting of the actual pics & call this a discussion one. Ruth, I am happy for it to be once a month, but for the diehards , I think we should try once a week & see how it goes. Georgina, dogs are optional iltby, not sure? I feel photoshop is fair game (especially since I have so much still to learn with it) kazzie, DEFINITELY not professional only, since that would cut most of us out. I'm going to start another thread for pics, can you repost your photo there?

Cool We're all set then. Freckles, a card reader is another option? I got mine from the local servo

As per the other thread with the Canon competition, here is the start of our own little challenge. I thought I might as well just make one up & think of some rules. Rules: There are 3 objects, common to most households or easy/cheap to buy. You can choose any one object or all 3, either individually or together. Each photo posted in this thread must come with a description of how you did it & EXIF data. The photo/s must be taken by the person posting it. You cannot use old photos you may have of the objects, they must be taken for the challenge. You can submit as many enties as you like. Challenge runs for 1 week & ends Thursday 18th September 3pm. There is no winner, just a bunch of people having fun & learning new techniques/ideas. If anyone has ideas to add/amend rules, let me know & I will change this post. The next 2 people who reply to this can pick the other 2 objects Challenge 1 Items: 1. Tennis ball 2. Fork 3. Pair of shoes

Have you got a tripod Ruth? You could also play around with other things in your house & save the dogs for daylight. Food, utensils, mirrors, Waterdrops are always fun.

Hey Sam!!! Get in here & BRAG!!!!!

I agree, post some so we can see what you are getting.

Have a fabulous trip!!! I can't wait to see your pics when you get back

Persephone's excellent link on resizing made me think about one I got a lot out of Spot Metering anyone else got any good ones?

Thank you . That's an excellent article!

It's not always knowingly being spread. Most people who were at KCC last weekend from NSW & ACT, will be at the NSW Festival of Agility this coming weekend. Since I think it can take 10 days to show symptoms, it is a possibilty that some of the dogs will be affected & contagious without showing any signs yet.