Frugal Film Project – Betsey Karl

Our fearless leader mentioned February the subject “structure:….and i’m always up for structure!  cool old buildings, bridges, ect….right?

for this month’s exploration of HP5, Jr Wyatt suggested to me I try shooting it at 800.  so. I did. and I like it! combined with my Nikkormat ftn and a Nikon 50 f/1.4….it made for some neat photos.  Why I chose this one….

This is Karlee, our golden retriever.  She turned 12 in December.  We adopted her when she was 11 months old through Golden Retriever Rescue of NJ.  Her back story is that her family chose to give her up…the dad had been diagnosed with a terminal illness…that combined with a young family and a young rambunctious puppy….they made hard decisions.  I don’t know his outcome…I pray he is alive and well.

The structure of Karlee’s life is this…to sleep until late morning, do a walk of shame to the backdoor to go out and come back in, to promptly jump up on the couch or a chair, to take her late morning snooze.  then maybe after an early afternoon nap, to go out again…and then…well you get the picture.  But, Karlee has an amazing gift.  she knows when you don’t feel well.  We first brought her home…Nate was six, and had a bad cold.  He stayed home from school, and fell asleep upstairs on the rug in front of cartoons.  Karlee did her best imitation of Lassie telling Timmy Grandma is in the well.  Rushing downstairs to me, barking, tugging on my shirt and demanding I go check on him. “Awe, Karlee…he’s ok, he’s taking a nap”. And she promptly lay down next to him to nap too.  Fast forward a few years to 2012 and Hurricane Sandy.  My parent stayed with us a few weeks-no power, no utilities at their house.  It was, the death of my dad.  They stayed with us for a couple of weeks in November. He would pass on December 5th.  Karlee never left his side.  To the point of being underfoot when the big guy would try to get up to go to the bathroom. 6’3″ and 300 plus pounds.  Karlee was determined to make sure nothing happened to him.  When he napped, she napped.

Now, she’s in her golden years. Her face has sugared. she’s more grey than gold.  She is the sweetest dog on the planet.  I love this photo-iso 800, 50mm lens, f/1.4.  I love how the focus is out of focus, then in focus and then out of focus.  Kinda dreamy…don’t you think?