I have a story to tell you about this fellow.
And although I have a whole lot of pictures...
none of them actually belong to the story.
The pictures? A practice photo shoot...working on portraits.
Yesterday.
More about that later. (I have much to share.)
The story?
Our story takes place Saturday afternoon.
Amanda and I decided to take a walk and invited our friend Kathy to come along.
(Kathy is Jim's wife. Jim is our neighbor who graciously gives me a day off
each Wednesday from farm chores.)
The walking route we chose was around our "block".
(which is actually about 3 miles)
As we left the farm and walked down the road past the duck pond,
Sam greeted us on the road.
Not wanting to make the trek back up the long driveway to home,
I decided to take Sam along,
and fashioned a leash from the string in (now pulled out of) my sweatshirt hood.
At about the half way point, Sam began to limp and
walk on three legs.
We stood by the side of the road and let him rest,
while he licked his front paw.
Trying to walk again, he would only bear weight on three paws and held one up in the air.
I examined his paw and found nothing visible....
but he kept insisting that he was injured.
Kathy called Jim and asked him to come and pick up Sam in his truck.
Five minutes later, Sam was chauffeured home by "Uncle Jim."
We continued on with our walk (about another half hour).
As we reached our farm lane,
we could not believe our eyes.
Pedaling up the hill was Hubbs,
and Sam was joyfully running along beside him....
obviously not injured.
(Hubbs never even knew that Sam was gone...
apparently Jim just let Sam back in the house,
unbeknownst to Hubbs. So when Hubbs asked the dogs if they wanted to go for a bike ride,
they enthusiastically said "YES!!!")
So....
now do you see why we call Sam "Bad Sammy"?
This little guy is about as manipulative as they come...and smart.
I have come to the conclusion that he was not enjoying our little walk...
especially the part about being on a "leash"....
so he found a way to end the walk...
and get on to something much more fun!
Now....
about those photos...
After all of these years, I have finally decided to take a photography course,
and learn to use the manual settings on my Nikon DSLR camera.
If you are using your DSLR camera on automatic and are afraid to try manual,
please give these guys a chance to teach you.
I guarantee you will learn so much!
So, here is a quick demonstration....
Sammy, taken with the camera on automatic:
Sammy, after I changed the settings, manually:
Sam even looks happier with the manual settings....just coincidence!
Do you see the difference?
Why has it taken me so many years to try this?
And last, but not least...
a piece I call "Wagons Ho!"
Comments
I've not yet ventured into the manual setting on my camera. Congrats on taking a course!
What a wonderful neighbor to give you a day off like that. I'd love to do that for someone!
It is such an improvement in the photos were taken on manual. it is hard to believe they both came from the same camera. There is so much more depth & a portrait-like quality to the 2nd photo. Loved the chickens going Westward Ho. Beautiful colors. Have fun with your photography classes. It's always great to improve your skills, especially when you already own the camera.
I have yet to get serious about learning photography for real. You photos are definitely a testament to understanding more than the on/off switch on the camera.
Love your Moon Shot . . . on manual . . .
Perfect daily Around the Block, three mile walk . . .