I want to start this week's "Man & Fauna" period with an image of dogs, which seem to be very popular here.
These are feral dogs and they are very common in southern Europe cities. In some countries like in Romania they are causing already some trouble and it is reported that they have attacked also humans. A sad situation since in my opinion it is men's or human's responsability to take care about them and give them the right care. It is obvious that feral dogs will look for food. While it is probably mainly garbage I can think of them hunting also for smaller, sometimes large prey if they are hungry. That may explain the attacks to humans ...
I made this image in Athens at the Parthenon and actually a lot of dogs have been there. I was setting up to photograph the dog at the right site, when a second appeared and came closer to it, like to say hello, with a kiss.
That is why it is a bit tight in the framing, but I am happy with the image, since it belongs to my TOP 10 sellers
Canon EOS 30D, EF 2.8/70-200 + 1.4x extender, F8, 1/500s, ISO100, handheld
Photoshop RAW import, curves, resizing, sharpening
Comments
6 commentsWonderful photo, thanks for posting it!
You've captured a very nice interaction here...quite sweet! I like your DoF here and technically the image seems quite solid (tho' it does appear that there are some blown highlights on the top of the nose and forehead on the dog on the right - tho' apparently that hasn't hurt image sales!).
The whole topic of ferals is quite controversial. I don't have a "universal" view about them, but in some regions they can have both ecological and conservation consequences. By definition, ferals are domestics (i.e, animals that have been intentionally genetically modified for the benefit - or at times whims - of humans). When those domestics escape (and become "ferals") they have the potential to compete with - or directly interfere with - some species of wildlife. In some parts of North America the presence feral horses (a non-native species) are very divisive - some humans love them, but others consider them invasives that can compete with deer and elk for a finite amount of forage (and believe they should be removed). I tend to focus on the ecological impact of them when deciding where I stand on a particular feral species. I'm a huge dog fan and find it sad when their owners neglect them and leave them to fend for themselves (and they certainly can be dangerous to humans and other animals...).
Cheers...
Brad