Cafe Canem

Cafe Canem

December 30, 2011. Cafe Canem. Winter Park, Florida.

The Romans were known to have mosaic signs warning "Cave Canem" or "Beware of the dog," not because their pets were fierce, but rather because their pets were small and easy to step upon.

Orlando's nicer and less-touristy neighborhoods are known for their dog-friendly sidewalk cafes. This owner was just sitting down and scooping his pooch up so that he wouldn't get stepped on by the people walking down the sidewalk.

I am trying a new technique with my Leica X1 when shooting shots like this to compensate for its extremely slow focus times. Instead of trying to autofocus, I zone focus to a distance before starting my photo walk and set f/8.0 to give good clarity and depth of field. I set the shutter speed to somewhere around 1/500 of a second and adjust it as needed. I've found ISOs of 400, 800, and 1600 work well for these settings. I try to avoid 1600 to avoid excess noise.

This shot would have been better had both the owner and the dog been looking up. Still, I like diagonal formed by the five main subjects, along with the dark/light/dark alternation between what they are wearing.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/500. f/8.0. ISO 800. LR 2.