Mutt

[Black Pearl]

Out with Jasper this morning and using him to experiment with the vintage Pentacon lenses I acquired recently. This was shot wide open with the camera held low, the screen articulated out and focus peaking switched on. I got one shot before he did a runner and managed to nail the focus on his eyes - I'll chalk most of that down to luck I think

[bje07]

Very expressive, good DoF, with very good definition.
Square framing could works, centered (to keep the symmetry of the BG) or not.
Very nice shot.

[bnnrcn]

A lovely dog and a nice image Robin IMO I prefer a tighter crop as the bright bokeh distracts from Jasper.

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[Black Pearl]

A lovely dog and a nice image Robin IMO I prefer a tighter crop as the bright bokeh distracts from Jasper.

Its all about that bokeh - Jasper just made a useful object to focus on

[rpcrowe]

The bokeh almost looks like a painting of some type...

[IzzieK]

Exactly my thoughts as Binnur and Richard. +1 to them. The bokeh looks good but it is too wide. Good shot of your dog though, very sharp. What breed is he? Just curious...

[All3n]

I always enjoy dog pictures - puts a smile on my face every time!
thank you for sharing

[Black Pearl]

Exactly my thoughts as Binnur and Richard. +1 to them. The bokeh looks good but it is too wide. Good shot of your dog though, very sharp. What breed is he? Just curious...

Its not really a photo of Jasper, more an experimentation with a new (old) lens I picked up recently to see how and where the heavily ringed OOF rendering is created. As far as I can work out the lens needs to be wide open and you need strong spectral highlights in the background - preferably with a good separation between them and the focus point whether that be like this for lots of small overlapping rings or big bold ones on closer shots. Baring in mind the lens was produced from December 1970 to November 1975 it is remarkably sharp, even giving my very modern Fuji lenses a serious run for their money.

As to Jasper - well he's a rescue mutt so we're not entirely certain but there is definitely Staffie in there and from hunting around Google images we think Golden Retriever. He is the most gentle, loving dog I think we've ever owned but at the same to by far the dimmest....he's lovely...but a bit thick.

[IzzieK]

I understand that first explanation. I just thought I'd asked you about Jasper's breed. Sorry about your dog being thick. From my experience in dog training, when they are young, you do not give up on them, but refrain from too much repetition. Your dog is not thick, it knows what you are talking about or commanding him to do. If he can do what you ask in 10 commands, why would he do it in one? Looks like he had you well trained instead.

[Dave A]

Nice image. Jasper is so sharp against the background that he really jumps out.

Dave

[Black Pearl]

I understand that first explanation. I just thought I'd asked you about Jasper's breed. Sorry about your dog being thick. From my experience in dog training, when they are young, you do not give up on them, but refrain from too much repetition. Your dog is not thick, it knows what you are talking about or commanding him to do. If he can do what you ask in 10 commands, why would he do it in one? Looks like he had you well trained instead.

I'm not convinced

He will sit, lie down, come, give a paw and generally behave but you can say 'walk' 'lead' 'out' etc and you don't get as much as a twitch - which is odd. All my previous dogs you could spell L E A D and they would go mental but Jasper, well lets just say he's a bit dim

[Black Pearl]

Nice image. Jasper is so sharp against the background that he really jumps out.

Dave

For such an old lens it is remarkably sharp. I could go out and buy a Fuji 56mm f1.2 which is sharper, auto focus and has beautiful smooth bokeh but there is something fun about shooting with something a little flawed.

[IzzieK]

I thought I once had a dim dog too. He does everything of what I command him to do. But he was sweet and loving and just wanted to play. At school, he will misbehave once and only once. Then the rest of the way, he will obey Bill. He loves coming home and will go around and around the back yard and tell everyone in the neighbourhood he is "home." Funny dog. Then one day he decided to get his ball and roll it to my foot under the table. I looked at him and his eyes were pleading to play. But only for a short time, I told him. On one condition: he will do everything that I asked him to do. He jumped up and down like happy dogs do. Ouside he decided to teased me and misbehaved and started being the dim dog again. I threw the ball hard on the ground and said that if I really don't love him, I would have changed him for a new model. He looked at me hard then he behaved, did everything we needed to do together that day. I was so happy I slept downstairs to accompany him. The next day he fell sick. We took him to our vet. He was diagnosed with kidney failure. Dogs has a way of keeping how they really feel so you do not worry about them. It all happened within a week. We lost him. I was devastated. He was 8, nearly 9 months when he died, a week before his formal Search and Rescue class starts. True story. It took a good while before we got another dog.

I'm not convinced

He will sit, lie down, come, give a paw and generally behave but you can say 'walk' 'lead' 'out' etc and you don't get as much as a twitch - which is odd. All my previous dogs you could spell L E A D and they would go mental but Jasper, well lets just say he's a bit dim

[Rainforest]

Sounds like you are getting a good handle on what this thing can do. Fun. I love the Jasper part of your shot and the bokeh is so unique and pleasing on the lower part of the image but for me personally the white parts and some of the left whig my eyes out. Perhaps not enough coffee yet. Hope you keep sharing these, they are interesting.

[marlunn]

Nice shot Robin, funny that - the more you shoot the luckier you get
The lens, it has a nice output, Jasper has good seperation from the background I suspect it will be a great portrait lens under a lot of conditions.