Another Icons Combo Photo

Photographer’s Note

I couldn't resist...

Making the first entry on my map for Switzerland, I should have selected a photo from the well organized and friendly Bibiday, or the funny and warm meeting I had with Toni, Nikki and their great kids, or the private meeting I had with my "cousin" Pixel in Luzern.

But for a canadian, this is ultimate Switzerland, with the only things missing is sweet chocolates, fabulous watches and smelly cheese...

This shot was a challenge, because as Dkeus31 and Floydian have told me personally, you only have one chance to take this picture, and you have to do it fast, because there is a jungle of people who wants to have their photo taken with the dog. There is also a lot of visitors who pass behind the stage where the dog is standing, so you have to avoid a lot of obstacle in one single shot.

I've waited about 20 minutes, for the dog to stand on his legs and to be sure nobody else was in the picture...

pcp, Manamo, leo61, kiwi_explorer, dkeus31, Floydian, LamCam, thor68, flory, dareco, Aliine, oldsock, Wanda1, Bruno40, jjcordier, ktanska, luisafonso, Philippe, cherryripe, tehanu_f, rigoletto, Herquin, melmcree has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

CatherineD (4860) 2007-11-02 12:00

Great shot of this legend!
The dog must be very cooperative...
Nice POV and depth.
Catherine

dkeus31 (26865) 2007-11-02 12:01

hello André,
presque voisin, dans la galerie et le sujet ce soir!

superbe cette image, le toutou fait la pose juste pour toi et semble envier la jolie fille qui se trouve a ta droite ;o)
Le Cervin est presque net, mais au moins pas derrière l'animal ;o)))
j'avais de la chande avec les alentours, avec 50 cm de neige derrière la table, il n'y avait personne dans l'image.
bonne soirée
didier

Manamo (3478) 2007-11-02 12:02

ahahahha!!! TRès fort André! une carte postale qui me fait sourire! C'est tellement cliché, mais c'est tellement parfait!!
On dirait que le chien est devant un poster, ou un écran, ou qqch du genre.
La compo est complète. La montagne, le toutou et l'ombre du toutou. La trinité, le triangle, appelle ça comme tu veux, mais ça marche bien. La lumière du soir marche bien sur le fourrure du gros lard.
Bonsoir!
Marc

leo61 (44300) 2007-11-02 12:12

Hi Andre!
Difficult to get sharpness in fore-and background but you maged it well.Excellent composition,great POV and good tight framing.A great shot and a nice souvenier fromm Switzerland.
Regards,Leo

fallan (1860) 2007-11-02 12:22

A great combo.

kiwi_explorer (12203) 2007-11-02 12:24

Hi Andre,
The sight of this wonderful dog just warms my heart. Beautifully captured and composed. The mountain peak puts the whole image into perspective. Very good image and color quality. Excellent work! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

toni_al (15476) 2007-11-02 12:51

Hello L'ami
Alors de retour chez toi, après une longue virée dans le vieux continent. C'est vraiment très sympa cette première image de notre petit paradis (pardon pays). Tiens je viens de réaliser que j'ai encore une valise contenant des images du château de Chillon et comme elles appartiennent à un 5D j'imagine que tes sauvegardes se sont bien passées et je peux les effacer ;-)
@+
Toni

angelheart (420) 2007-11-02 13:10

this is great..like ...a postcard
tfs luci

Luciano75 (0) 2007-11-02 13:17

Hello Andre...
Your waiting worth it...I simply love it.
Framing is perfect.My favourite.
TFS such a great shot.

Have a nice weekend,
Lucian

Floydian (30970) 2007-11-02 13:44

Hi Andre,
It seems my mountain keeper is still there ;-)
Although the light is not your best friend here, you really made a nice one out of it. His pose is wonderful, just as your framing with that famous mountain in the back. A real Swiss icon, very well presented.
After my Peru serie i will post some Swiss images i made during the short trip in September.
Have a great weekend, Henk

bruce_wayne (1507) 2007-11-02 13:55

Hello Andre
wonderful portrait!!! This dog is very very nice...I like a lot your shot too, light and colors are perfect...very well done!

Alessandro

bizsu (1011) 2007-11-02 14:27

Hi Andre ! Very much likes this picture, beautiful the colours, good the topic.
Greeting Zsú

ChoiP (28) 2007-11-02 14:53

Hello
Very nice shot. Original and clear.
Thank you

LamCam (3603) 2007-11-02 14:56

Hello Andre
A cliche, perhaps, but a very enjoyable one. You have made the most of this photo opportunity, it is difficult to imagine how you could have done better.
Very well done!
Best wishes Maggie

thor68 (5567) 2007-11-02 15:06

yeah, awesome composition - the famous and pretty Matterhorn and a wonderful Saint Bernard - that´s really worth the 20 mins.
well done & best wishes, thor.

tehanu_f (6874) 2007-11-02 15:11

Hi Andre,
You captured two of the famous symbols of Switzerland very well. It could easily be used in a travel brochure. It is in a way humorous, too. Congrats.
Fusun

fryz (1727) 2007-11-02 16:14

oh superbe premier plan
je dirais juste que la couleur du ciel n'est pas des meilleurs mais sinon la photo est très réussie
a+ Andre
Vincent

kwekwekan (292) 2007-11-02 21:29

very iconic indeed! nicely captured

wolf38 (13438) 2007-11-03 0:01

Hello Andre. A wonderful and worth seeing photo for Trekearth. Best regards, Wolfgang.

flory (4804) 2007-11-03 1:02

hi Andre,
i understand you perfectly;)
beautiful icon,proud for those surroundings;)
yes,love him!
thanks,Flory;)

dareco (17104) 2007-11-03 1:06

This is such a sweet picture! A beautiful dog in a beautiful setting. I really love this picture. TFS

DKarine (3852) 2007-11-03 3:47

Superbe photo, avec un décor de rêve pour ce mannequin. J'espère qu'il est payé cher pour faire ce boulot, pas facile de sourire à la demande... d'avoir l'oeil vif, la babine souple et le pelage luisant.
Un vrai cliché Suisse qu'il ne fallait pas rater!

A bientôt
Karine

oldsock (575) 2007-11-03 3:53

Hi Andre

As I see it was worth waiting for 20 minutes.
This photograph is marvelous! Just amazing!
Impressive composition, sharpness, colours!
Very interesting note.

Best regards
Matt

barrufeto_77 (26141) 2007-11-03 4:09

Hi Mr Portrait.

Wooooooooooow. What a lovely picture. A lovely compo with the typical dog with the swiss "solution" to all the problems heheheh.

Nice colours and excellent background.

Rgs, Oscar

Wanda1 (11195) 2007-11-03 4:14

Hi Andre,
Your patience definately paid off. He is so cute! I love the way he is sitting and his expression. Great balanced composition too. Nicely done!
Regards
Wanda

partha (13679) 2007-11-03 8:38

Amazing view, Great perspective and view.
Regards.
partha

pcp (3370) 2007-11-03 10:11

Wow, Nice picture and worth for waiting 20 mins. Image well balaced with daog and mountain.

TFS

Senthil.

:) soon

jjcordier (26278) 2007-11-03 23:32

André
Cette "icône" suisse a été aussi patiente que toi pour atteindre ce niveau de perfection d'image. L'office du tourisme suisse va certainement te faire une proposition importante pour acquérir cette photo!
Amicalement
JJ

Bruno40 (6442) 2007-11-04 1:19

Great combo Andre!!
Nicely framed, and good sharpness on the dog.
well done
Jorge

ktanska (17083) 2007-11-05 0:18

Hi Andre,
As Henk's version has been on my favourites for ages I just must compare this to it. And I feel sorry to say that the other one is better. I like the side portrait, blurred mountain and brighter colours on that. And still this is excellent. If I hadn't seen Henk's version I'd probably praise this one unlimitedly. Static, even mindless looking stir of the dog looks funny.
Kari

luisafonso (858) 2007-11-05 10:51

I remember Henk's picture. Everybody was saying that the dog was a fake one. :) Now the proof that it's real is here from everyone to see. Great side light André. It really enhanced the furry friend's details. Really impressive. You were fast but very precise also. I have only one complain. The dog is not looking straight at you. I get the chance that it is posing for another person and you stole the shot. Next time carry a biscuit or learn to bark! ;)

gilou530 (36769) 2007-11-05 12:28

salut andré
un beau symbole des alpes le st bernard avec son bidon de niole, c'est superbe comme image, beau cadrage et netteté nickel
amitiés
gilbert

cherryripe (19475) 2007-11-05 13:31

Salut André
Il ressemble à un chien en peluche. Tu es sûr qu'il est vrai ? Sa fourrure est vraiment net et se détache parfaitement du fond qui reste bien connaissable. En tout cas quelle patience pour pouvoir le photographier pile à côté du cime célèbre et sans personne. C'est autant un icon qu'Ayers Rock ou l'Opéra de Sydney et toute aussi spectaculaire. T'as bien fait de rester le jour supplémentaire après toute la pluie. En voyant la date, cela aurait été sympa de fêter l'anniversaire de Toni là bas :-)
Je te souhaite une bonne journée
Nikki

Philippe (11805) 2007-11-05 13:35

Bonjour, André. Oui, une photo du Cervin de cet endroit, sans touriste japonais, cela relève de l'exploit... Notre Saint-Bernard est très bien placé dans la composition (même s'il est un peu loin de sa vraie base ;o)) en laissant la place au véritable seigneur des lieux. Je ne vais pas polémiquer sur la netteté ou pas du Cervin. En ce qui me concerne, je l'ai reconnu sans aucun problème... La neige est bien exposée, même à f/8, ce qui n'est pas toujours évident.

fayeulle (26547) 2007-11-05 22:38

Salut André
Ta patience a été hautement récompensée. Les teintes de cette photo me font un peu penser à une publicité des années 1950. Je suis étonné que tu ai pu avoir une telle profondeur de champ avec un tel objectif à f/8.
Amicalement
JP

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-11-09 1:42

Hi Andre, impossible to resist to this image!
the dog here is so wonderful!!
and a great symbol too!
the mountains in background are beautiful too!
bravo!
ciao!
Valeria

jaywalker (12853) 2007-11-09 2:10

Hi Andre, This is a beauty, I showed my wife & she fell in the with him, the wait was worth every minute, great light, great colours perfect DOF & a great dog, kind regards Wilson.

mdchachi (1611) 2007-11-11 10:24 [Comment]

Show Comment

rigoletto (27404) 2007-11-17 3:46

Glad to read that this furry St. Bernard is ready there to pose for ambitious tourists. Otherwise i would have strong doubts that you carry him in your pocket to take him out and put on the ground to makes photos of him whereever you like. The mounth looks like a sharp fang, and is a good reference to the presence of a dog, in my humble interpretion.

Or, maybe those two make a good symbolic compo for Switzerland, eh, this is what you claim :PP
Cheers,
Deniz

Herquin (4508) 2007-11-17 5:13

Hello André,

What a lovely picture .. but i'm thirsty .
Cheers.
Christian .

sebinho342 (18808) 2007-11-19 14:04

Trop fort, ce cliché me tue a chaque fois que je le vois, celle de henk était la première fois que je la voyais, il me semble didier en a mis une également.
Juste ce qu'il faut en netteté, juste ce qu'il faut en bokeh, du grand art
La photogrzaphie est affaire de patience souvent
... si tu étais un animal je te verrai bien saint bernard ;)

faubry (32974) 2007-11-20 1:43

bonsoir André, le chien est aussi important que le sommet.... une superbe photo très nette, génial la position du chien.. bravo
francine

yanseiler (20) 2007-12-07 3:59

Salut André, c'est cliché c'est sûr mais je la trouve bien marrante, excellent...

melmcree (2261) 2007-12-13 13:22

Hello again Andre,

I recognized this scene from Henk's portfolio. You have a great shot too. The dog is very well lit and excellent in detail. Your patience paid off well.

Cheers,

Mel

Photo Information

Copyright: Andre Roberge (InasiaJones) (21155)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-09-20
Categories: Decisive Moment
Camera: Canon 5D, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
Exposure: f/8, 1/100 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Swiss Icons, My favorite animal photos, Animals portraits III. [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-11-02 11:50
Favorites: 3 [view]