100 Strangers : Round 3 : No. 233 : Paul and Betty
This stranger story is probably more about dogs than humans.
Ruby (my whippet) and I were returning to the car from our walk around Nottingham city centre. Our route took us through Nottingham Arboretum park, a beautiful urban green space within the city.
As we walked along a tree lined path I heard a bit of scurrying. It was a little dog running towards us, a miniature pinscher.
I pulled Ruby’s lead back as she can get a bit nervous around other dogs. She loves humans, but I am careful around other dogs as Ruby was bit by an Alsatian when we first got her, an unprovoked bite !
The dog’s owner said don’t worry she is OK.
We then had a chat about dogs, I learnt that she was a miniature pinscher and her name was Betty. I chatted about Ruby’s rescue dog history. Ruby had a nose to nose and Paul (Betty’s human owner) suggested I relax the lead a little. Ruby then sniffed Betty’s bottom …. “It’s how they get to know each other” Paul told me. Paul stroked Ruby and said her name suited her. At that point I think Betty objected to Ruby’s interest and had a little growl at her . We continued to have some dog chat and then I asked Paul if he would be part of my strangers project (with Betty of course).
I shot some photos under the canopy of the trees, but it was a bit too dark for good photos, so I suggested we moved a few metres up the path , outside of the canopy of trees and use a bush as a backdrop.
I rattled a few shots off and looked on the back of the camera to assure Paul they were OK. “It’s all about Betty” Paul said , "everyone remembers Betty rather than me".
I agree with Paul , that Betty does look cute, but the photo does capture both Paul and Betty rather well, so perhaps viewers will remember Paul just as much as Betty.
That was it, I thanked Paul and Betty for their time and Paul returned to his friend who had been watching the photoshoot proceedings !
I edited the photo in a new RAW editor , ART.
ART is a new and extremely streamlined fork of RawTherapee, ART, is a free, open-source, cross-platform raw image processing program.
I then did the mono tweaks in GIMP / G’MIC as I love the Black and White filter.
I think the pre processing of the ART software worked well and I will be using it again.
Fantastic shot Phil, you caught Betty & Paul beautifully. Love the background as it blurs nicely behind Paul. Betty looks rather like the Lancashire Heeler our son used to have.
@marlboromaam maggie it is just a hobby , if i do it professionally i have to set up a company, declare my income , pay tax etc. I am happy being an enthusiastic amateur 😀
@marlboromaam maggie it is just a hobby , if i do it professionally i have to set up a company, declare my income , pay tax etc. I am happy being an enthusiastic amateur 😀
@gamelee thanks lee, i am on a roll with my strangers
@nickspicsnz "pawtrait" ...i love it 😀
@fbailey felicity thank you. My next story is quite an " interesting" one 😀😀