Playing with photos

So... today I finished my finals. My reward: playing with a little photo editing :)

Here is my first try using Picnik for anything non-utilitarian (ie just for fun).

SOOC image

Edited image

I was trying to get an old-school feel with the partial black and white fade, and also resolve some of the composition issues that can come along with shooting with an auto-set point and shoot camera by modifying the focal point and softening the edges as would happen if I were better able to control the aperture and focal distance of my camera. I was bothered by how prominent the fence was in the SOOC image and very happy with the way the subject focus changed with the edited image. I can't decide if I like the full color soft focus version or the fade to B/W version better.

Fun project :)


Addendum. Here is an additional image just for Michael.

Focal point edited as above, but with focal fade to B/W
so the color of the dog is unchanged but the background fades.

Some lesser known sheepdog skills...

Skill #1: Watch "Sheep TV"




Skill #2: "Learn by osmosis"




Skill #3: "Be good on your tie-out"







Skill #4: "Be cute so they let you off eventually" :)



In 3 more weeks I'll put Rye on sheep again. In the interim he has been working on finding assorted ways to show how clever he is while simultaneously making me nuts. Those skills in no particular order: Climbing stepladders, opening 3 different kinds of drawers, throwing his toy OVER a 4' gate to try and convince people on the other side of the gate to play with him, and always managing to be lying quietly on his bed when I think I hear him up to no good.

In more serious news, he is enjoying his foundation agility training and is learning a few more tricks. Obedience is coming more slowly but we continue to practice on a regular basis.

The Big Day: Rye's first time on sheep!

I was very pleased with Rye. He is nice and keen and stayed engaged for the full work. Video is worth a zillion words. Enjoy!



He is clearly not ready to take training so I will put him up for a month or so and then put him on again and see where he is at. Once he can start taking some pressure I'll begin working him regularly.

He was pretty funny though. He was not ready to quit when the time came, and certainly wanted to take me right back through the fence to the sheep. What an adventure we have ahead of us!