Recently I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing my first Rhodesian ridgeback, a breed which came into my radar only last year thanks to super talented Claire of Rouxby Photography and her BEAUTIFUL photos of her Rhodesians (all of her photos are wonderful). Since becoming a huge fan of Rouxby and following her love affair with her dogs, I have been intrigued by this breed and was super excited when Buddha’s owner called to schedule a session. Buddha! I asked his owner how she came about that name, and she said it’s because having a dog in her life has kept her well-being centered and healthy. I like that a lot. The name became even more fitting as the shoot went on. Though Buddha is only 10 months old, he was perfectly mellow, zen and stately throughout the entire shoot (except for the few minutes outdoors when he met his friend Sophie). Just a lovely, beautiful dog.

      We meet Buddha at his house in Cambridge, MA.

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Buddha

      BuddhaBuddha

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Buddha and Friends

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Buddha

      Thank you Buddha for a wonderful shoot!

      BEFORE and AFTERS!
      With this beautiful dog in this beautiful light, we were having such a good time that I forgot to take behind-the-scenes shots again. So in lieu of that, I’ll include a few before-and-after shots.

      Before (image on left) is straight out of the camera, after is with post-processing applied in Lightroom.

      Below image taken in the living room. We started in the late afternoon and there was some very weak light coming in through the front door, which was facing north. I shot a few stops shy of wide-open (I’m trying to shoot between f/2.0 – f/2.8 these days), probably could have slowed the shutter speed down more since Buddha was so mellow. But instead of doing that I bumped the ISO super high to get more light.

      Buddha before and after

      RAW: 1/200 sec at f/2.0, ISO 2800 | 50 mm f/1.4 lens
      Lightroom: WB adjustment, brightness increase, blacks increase

      ***

      Below image taken in the field out back. We had a nice, not-so-unobstructed view of the setting sun, which is rare in the city! We couldn’t have timed this better.

      Buddha before and after

      RAW: 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 | 50 mm f/1.4 lens
      Lightroom: WB adjustment, fill-light increase

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      COMMENTS

      Beautiful images, what a handsome guy! I love his reflection in the basketball court shot!

      Wow! What a beautiful winter session! I love the way some of your shots really emphasize the texture of Buddha’s fur.

      I love your work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      He’s so handsome, although I thought we would see more shots of that distinctive ridge down his back. And I see the magic of the blue squeaker is undiminished. I have to find that toy!

      Wow, great set Li! Possibly your best so far IMO. Nice dog, too.

      ISO 2800 and no noise – wow – wicked… well done!!! go you!!!

      Uh. No fair!! ISO 2800! I am jealous. ;) I love the ones he is tilting his head in. :) So cute!

      These are freakin’ awesome, Li. Let me know if you’d like to do a swap ever … I would love your mad skillz on my doggy and me :)

      OH. MY. GOSH. he is perfection!!! you did such a fabulous job with these, i am totally in love with just about every single one. and i LOVE the name buddha! also, thanks for the shout out :)

      just happened upon your site. i love your fotos. they are absolutely beautiful and they put a great big smile on my face. thanks.

      Love this series. You rocked this one :)

      After reading you blog, I thought your articles is great! I am very like your articles and I am very interested in the field of Free trial. Your blog is very useful for me .I bookmarked your blog! I trust you will behave better from now on; I hope she understands that she cannot exepct a raise.

      This article was helpful in a paper I am writing for my thesis.

      Thanks

      Bernice Franklin

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