River: Vancouver, BC

My usual way of working is:

  • I usually spot the people with dogs about 50 meters to 100 meters away. That’s around 50 to 100 yards away.
  • I make sure that my dog is on my left and the leash is around my wrist. I make the photos while walking with my own dog. I get my position, which background I want to use…
  • I kneel on the ground with my right knee when the dog is about between 5 to 10 meters away or around 15 to 30 feet away.
dog
dog walking on the seawall
dog

dog walking on the seawall

  • The camera to my right eye. As they get closer, I start making my photos.

I don’t hide. I’m kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk or the pathway. I smile and make funny/weird noises to make sure that the dog looks at me.

I always thanks the people, even if they don’t stop. Often, I will pet the dog and talk to the owner as I pet the dog. When I asked for his name, she said: ‘River’, then ‘Do you want to know why?’ How could I resist and say no? ‘It’s because he pees a river.’

He’s like my dog. My dog pees only once at the beginning of the walk, and that’s it. That’s the type of pee that kills the grass or any other plant. That is unless, we go to the forest. In the forest, my dog becomes a ‘real dog’ and he will pee about a hundred times per hour on almost every single bush.

Technical

Camera: Canon 7D ISO 200 and 1/250s
Lens: Canon 70-200 f/4L IS @200mm and f/4
Processed with Darktable: https://https://www.darktable.org/