Yesterday I had a chance to shoot Keiko, a 4 year old golden retriever that was rescued from a puppy mill back in October. Her story is amazing and horrible at the same time. The puppy mill owner used to spray the dogs with pesticide to keep the fleas down. This made just about all of Keikos hair fall out and the skin to become covered in sores.

Keiko is now a very calm, gentle dog that doesn't like to get more than a couple feet away from her owner.






Rob Vreeland
w w w . M u r p h y D o g S t u d i o s . c o m

Rob, it sickens me what goes on with these poor animals. And the average Joe hasn’t a clue the half of it. Glad to see she found a good home. Nice shots, I like the second best. One question, are those powerlines distorted be a fisheye? For the first time I have see powerlines in a photo and they are not detracting.

Hey Rob,

Love the shots...and the story. I think that some would definitely quibble over cutting off the dog's ear in the first photograph. It does not bother me at all.

The second shot with the power lines...really cool. I also second Jeff's question about the distortion. A fish eye?

James

Jeff - yes, those are powerlines. The dog park I was in was built under a ton of power lines. It was difficult to shoot without having them in every shot.

I'm actually not that big of a fan of shot #2. It just doesn't really show you Keiko's personality. On the other hand, shot #1 is the money shot and even made the owner cry.

James - I can't believe you even brought up the idea that someone might have a problem with the dog's ear missing in #1. The composition is what makes that shot.

Fisheye was the Nikon 10.5mm.

I can see why the owner was affected - it is a truly beautiful head study. Quite a few of us have rescue dogs and can really relate to the emotion when the shot is "your own dog" and catches the personality like this.

"James - I can't believe you even brought up the idea that someone might have a problem with the dog's ear missing in #1. The composition is what makes that shot."

LOL. I agree. I love tight cropped shots. I was just saying that there are many who prefer to see the whole dog in the shot. It is a different perspective, certainly. To me, it is all about the eyes. Everything else is secondary.

James

Beautiful retriever and very nice images. Well done.
For the animals...

Cheers,