Pet Portraits - please post them here

[Dave Humphries]

~ what is a "bitsa"? I've figured out that moggy is a cat, but the other word has me puzzled.

Hi Myra,

I suspect it is a reference to him not being a pure-bred (no offence intended Mack, if you're reading this), it means he is made of 'bitsa' this breed and 'bitsa' that breed

I was thinking that his ears don't show much signs of fighting, so he must be a pacifist

Cheers,

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks, Myra.

Nice shots of Maddie and Topaz. The one of Maddie is classic cat: full focus.

We've read that the coloring is properly called "tortoise and white," since a true calico has the white intermixed with the brown and black. But we always call her calico. Dave has one, too, I've seen here: Socks.

Yes Rick, could be Socks, or could also have been Bubbles

Cheers,

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Myra,

Dave is correct - a bit of this a bit of that = bitsa....

We do not know what breed he is and nothing goes in the one direction when he walks. His front legs are bowed outwards (and my partner Steph says 'he couldn't stop a pig in a passage'). His back legs bow inwards (called cow hocked).
In fur is a very soft grey underneath with black tips. I winter he is basically black. IN summer he is a really aged motley/blotchy grey/black.

He has no scars as he runs rather fights but around 6 months ago we had an aggressive fox take up residence under the house, where Mack lives (when he is not inside). Making a dash for protection under the house he didn’t get his tail in in time and the fox bit it doing some serious damage. All better now.

But we love him.

[Klickit]

Handsome Mack must be a pacifist Peter, what is a "bitsa"? I've figured out that moggy is a cat, but the other word has me puzzled. Bitsy means small, but Mack is not a small kitty!

Myra

Bitsa this and bitsa that. Can apply to dogs too and no doubt humans if it comes down to it. Just means lots of breeds indiscriminately mixed.

Any suggestions welcome.

Just give him lotsa lurve...

[Maritimer1]

Ahh! That makes sense. So a bitsa dog is a Heinze 57 dog - many varieties of breed in the one dog. Thanks!

Myra

[arith]

My mums dog, rescued from an owner who asked a vet to put him down because he had bad breath.

[Peter Ryan]

Ahh! That makes sense. So a bitsa dog is a Heinze 57 dog - many varieties of breed in the one dog. Thanks!

Myra

You will note that this 'bitsa' (heinz 57 variety) needs a two seater couch to sleep on.

[Maritimer1]

This thread never fails to make me smile!


Myra

[wilgk]

Or 'Dream' to her family....
Once upon a time we Babysat a friend's Golden Retriever - of course I saw how everyone loved her & said 'Let's get a Dog'. NO! said the beancounter you can't have a nice garden and a dog.
I did hear what he said - I just chose to ignore him and found Dream.
The bean counter's opinion now..."Best thing we ever did was get a Dog"

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Kay,

Looks like she will be a very loyal friend. One tip - when photographing animals wherever possible focus on the eyes. If you focus on the nose, particularly in close ups, the eyes can be in soft focus, as they are some distance from the tip of the nose.

[wilgk]

Thanks Peter - good point to remember

[Maritimer1]

Kay, she is lovely and perfectly named. A friend who owns the farm where I keep my horse has two Golden Retrievers. As you know, they are great fun to photograph as they're so expressive. One of my fav shots of her dogs was taken outside in front of a big open door. The darkness of the doorway made such a nice contrast to his coat colour.

Hope to see more photos of Dream!

Myra

[David]

Steve - The instant I saw this I thought of Boris Johnston. I'm sorry Barney. Please forgive me. (For overseas visitors, Antipodeans and those who live in the nether regions, Boris Johnston is the Mayor of London and is renowned for his shaggy head of hair and shaggy behaviour (Sorry Boris, couldn't resist!))

Cheers

David

[arith]

That's his new name cheers David

[Letrow]

My other cairn terrier. They are 8 (this one) and 10 years old, but still lively, although we did recently notice that cairn pups are a lot more lively ;-).



@carregwen: Flash, I know. It is not my favorite though. I try to do as much as I can with natural lighting. Flash doesn't always improve the picture for me (my personal taste), but I see your point.

[Colin Southern]

@carregwen: Flash, I know. It is not my favorite though. I try to do as much as I can with natural lighting. Flash doesn't always improve the picture for me (my personal taste), but I see your point.

I have a theory that flash can be our best friend ... or our worst enemy!

[carregwen]

@carregwen: Flash, I know. It is not my favorite though. I try to do as much as I can with natural lighting. Flash doesn't always improve the picture for me (my personal taste), but I see your point.

Peter

I think this is another example of where flash would have helped the shot. A small amount of fill flash would have picked out more detail in the dog. I agree that flash can be a problem if it's not used properly, but you can do quite a lot by either bouncing the flash off a wall or low ceiling. If you are outdoors a small flash diffuser can improve the quality of the light, and make it softer. I have one of these, and it definitely makes an improvement on the flash light quality. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Flash-Bounce-D...item255b9afa24

[Letrow]

Peter

I think this is another example of where flash would have helped the shot. A small amount of fill flash would have picked out more detail in the dog. I agree that flash can be a problem if it's not used properly, but you can do quite a lot by either bouncing the flash off a wall or low ceiling. If you are outdoors a small flash diffuser can improve the quality of the light, and make it softer. I have one of these, and it definitely makes an improvement on the flash light quality. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Flash-Bounce-D...item255b9afa24

I guess I understand where you come from, but I don't really see the point in using flash when there is enough natural light. Personal taste I think, I just prefer to photograph without flash whenever possible.

The one photographer that I do like with flash is Joe McNally, but his amount of flash equipment is enormous of course. He gets great lighting, but it isn't natural and sometimes natural just works better I feel.

[ScoutR]

My mums dog, rescued from an owner who asked a vet to put him down because he had bad breath.

These are great Arith. Barny reminds me of my Dad's old dog. I never could figure out how he knew where he was going.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

You will note that this 'bitsa' (heinz 57 variety) needs a two seater couch to sleep on.

ROTFL - typical cat behaviour. Such small animals and they manage to take up so much room. One of my cats likes to sprawl on the double bed in the spare room, and somehow he manages to take up the whole bed, or at least make it impossible for anyone else to get in.