real or fake?

Pets play a very important role in my life. And recently I had an opportunity to cover a fantastic event, where you could meet a lot of canines, taste a glass of good wine and try some really good cheese. What a combination, you might think, right? Believe or not, it worked!
And those three pupies just got my attention - so today's question is - the one in the middle is real or fake? :) And yes, I'm aware, that this is soooo kitsch, but hey, he so cute, huh? ;)

project 52 | week 17 - water

To do a nice and interesting shots of plain subjects (including water) might be sometimes chalenging. This week I'm returning to my water freezing session and water swan is my favorite for today.

PS: I'm officially sooo behind my project 52, that instead of giving it up completely, I'll go and work with my archive in some few posts now.
PS2: And here's one shot of the "studio setup" for this water shot! Thanks goes to Monika for holding the hose! ;)

fireworks differently ("defocusing" during exposition)

As summer fireworks season is approaching (think 4th of July), here's a one cool photo technique tip I would like to share with you folks. Before you'll head out to find a best spot and try to capture this beauty same way as last years, consider to try something new this time. I had to wait whole year to try it, but finally, my wait was over - last Friday city of Ballwin was celebrating their Ballwin days! Hooray!

So what is this buzz all about? It's actually simple. Put your camera on tripod, set up exposure to have shutter speed at 2 or 3 seconds and then try to aim to the epicenter of the explosion.
Then while having your shutter open, rotate your focusing ring (hence "defocusing fireworks") from infinity where the fireworks is sharp to a minimal focus distance your lens will allow you (or vice versa, play!). The full focus ring rotation has to happen during those two seconds. It is a very similar method to "zooming" technique, which Bryan Peterson maybe taught you in his books, workshops or online school. But instead of rotating zooming ring, you'll be rotating focusing ring.

Couple of things you need to take into a consideration for your setting:

guess what?

Ok, a little teaser. 
Guess what is it? I had a fantastic session over the weekend and this is one of the output. It is a straight out of the camera image, no editing, no photoshoping, no computer generated imaging. Give me a day or two and I'll "reveal the mystery" :) Leave the comments below. Thanks!