Golden Gaze

Artist: Johanne Brunet
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Card: US$4.16
Print: from US$17.81

Golden Gaze

Please note that I have deleted all my older simple Thank You replies, in order to unclutter the page a bit. Replies with more text were left in .

My dog Lucky looking out the window, longing for a vigorous healthy walk in the snow. We can see the trees and the snow through the window panes reflected in her eye.

Lucky is the loyal companion that we rescued from the dog shelter last year, my sister and I.

Focal length 55mm
ISO-400
Aperture f/5,6
Shutter 1/50 sec.

Shot hand held in manual mode, in natural light.
Nikon D60
AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR

WORK FEATURED IN GROUPS
Featured in the group Dimensions on February 20, 2009

Featured in the Nikon DSLR Users Group on February 20, 2009

Featured in the group Cats and Dogs on February 20, 2009

Featured in the Rescued Pets group on February 24, 2009

Featured in the Shameless Self-Promotion group on February 28, 2009

Featured in Photography 101 on June 23, 2009

Featured in Respectful Retrievers on August 1st, 2009

Featured in the Amateur Photographers’ Association on October 16, 2009

TOP TEN PLACEMENTS IN CHALLENGES
Finished in 3rd position of Top Ten out of 156 entries in the Best of the Best challenge of the Shameless Self-Promotion group on February 27, 2009

1st place winner in the March 2009 Avatar challenge of the Cats and Dogs group on March 1st, 2009

Finished in 3rd position of Top Ten in the challenge Our Loving Pets of the group The Addicted Photographer on March 5, 2009

Finished in 5th position of Top Ten in the 100% Animals challenge of the 100% Group on March 22, 2009

Finished in 5th position of Top Ten in the Avatar Challenge of the Black With a Hint of Colour group on April 1st, 2009

1st place winner in the challenge The Eyes of your Pet of the Playful Photogenic Pets Group on April 10, 2009

Finished in 5th position of Top Ten in the Featured challenge of the Shameless Self-Promotion group on April 12, 2009

Finished in 8th position of Top Ten in the challenge Cats & Dogs – Your Favorite of the Cats and Dogs group on April 21, 2009

1st place winner in the Dog Eyes challenge of the Paws N Claws group on June 9, 2009

1st place winner in the challenge 2 or more Features, Cats and Dogs only of the Paws N Claws Group on June 13, 2009

Finished in 4th position of Top Ten in the 3 or more Features of the Paws N Claws Group on July 10, 2009

Finished in 9th position of Top Ten in the 4 or more Features of the Paws N Claws Group on August 5, 2009

Finished in 3rd position of Top Ten in the 5 or more Features challenge of the Paws N Claws Group on September 10, 2009

Finished in 6th position of Top Ten in the challenge Extreme Close-Up of an Animals Eye of the Extreme Close-Ups group on September 28, 2009

Golden Gaze belongs to the following groups:

# 1 ARTISTS OF REDBUBBLE , ! 100% !, Amateur Photographers' Association, Americas ~ Rural, Urban, Wild, Free, Black with a hint of colour, Cats and Dogs (1 artwork per day), Creative, Talented, and Unknown, Dimensions, Everyday Life, Extreme Close-Ups, FEATURED ONLY, Live, Love, Dream: , Mans Best Friend's (Dogs only), Nikon DSLR Users Group - 2 uploads per 24 hours, Our K9 Friend 1 image a day (Dogs only), Paws n Claws <3 per day><Domestic cats & dogs only>, Playful Photogenic Animals, Rescued Pets, Respectful Retrievers, Safe Haven, Sets of Two, Shameless Self-Promotion, The Addicted Photographer►2 Per Day◄, The Beginner's Corner (profile page must contain photography experience), The Eyes Have It and The Woman Photographer **7 Submissions a week only please** Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints and Framed Prints

Wendi Donaldson

Amazing composition…great job on the exposure too! black is hard. Gorgeous sad eye!!! Hope you took Lucky out!! she deserves it!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Wendi! We did go out for a walk a little later; she really deserved it. I told her to stay put, and she did, despite her uneasiness from the camera. She obviously didn’t feel comfortable with that think looking at her from so close! :-)
ooyayootay

STUNNING SHOT! EXCELLENT!
DebraLee Wiseberg

Great composition

Debra
Terri Chandler

What a beautiful capture! Well done!
Richard George

Simple, elegant and detailed. Like this alot. Thank you.
Carole Brunet

Perfect shot sister!
Joanne Bradley

This is truly a brilliant shot Johanne! You have captured the total essence of this dog with this image. Love the clarity, focus and that amazing reflection!
Angie McKenzie

oh johanne!!! this is stunning!!! love it!!!!
PeterBusser

Wonderful detail in this shot. And indeed great exposure give the amound of ‘black’ in the picture. Would be a great submission for the “Black with a hint of colour” group, wouldn’t it?
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you so much Peter! I’m awaiting approval in the Black with a Hint of Colour group. Thanks for suggesting it anyway! :-)
Sharon Mau

I love this wonderful image, it is captivating!
Congratulations on your feature in Dimensions
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you so much for the great comment and for the feature Sharon! You know, the funny thing is that I almost didn’t submit it to the group think that it didn’t belong there. It only after ticking my way through my list of groups that I had a good look at the pic and decided that the reflection in the eye made it belong so I went back and checked the box. I’m glad I did! :-)
joak

this is great ..im gonny try this wi ma puppies if they will stay still!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Joak! You only have to bribe them with a truckload of dog biscuits; they’ll be nice and still! LOL!
Clare Forder

Amazing shot Johanne! Black is sooo hard at times (I can never get my cat right at all!) and the eye with the reflection is just perfect – well done!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Clare! You know, I’ve had this dog for close to a year, and I made close to a hundred shots of her in that year. From the lot, there were perhaps only a dozen good ones, and most were made recently. Took me a long time and lots of practice… :-)
Carl Eyre

awesome shot, love it
Caroline Evans...

very expressive!
Gerhard Engelb...

Technically Great and aesthetically Beautiful. Loads of impact. Moving.
Gerhard Engelb...

The shallow DOF makes it :-)
Renee Dawson

What a beautiful image Johanne. Congratulations on your feature!
starikarp

very good capture. Thank you for sharing it.
eclectica

Echoing all the others- black is so hard and you have done exceptionally well – just love this Johanne!
Angie McKenzie
Vikram Franklin

Amazing pic Johanne – you got detail on black! Technically sooooo good!
Emotionally – I see ‘hope’ in his eye! Well done!

Possibly one of my fav dog pics ever!
Johanne Brunet replied

Ha! Well thank you my friend, and I must say that I consider this a great compliment! As for the technical aspects, you should say your mea culpa because this is because of your influence! Remember we had a discussion on higher ISO recently? Well I experimented a bit soon after that and this is the result. It’s not as high as your Keyed Up portrait, but then I was aiming for low key and not high key. Anyway, it allowed me to get nice details without too much noise in counterpart. Thanks to your always welcome and precious advice! :-)
Jai Johnson

Oh, very nice! Love the contrast and the reflection in the eye as well.
Mark Chapman

Oh this is a cracking shot!
Lovely clarity and colour of the eye, I tried to do this with my black Lab Rosie but she would not stay still long enough after I ran out of biscuits trying to get a shot of her.
Brilliantly done.
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you so much for this great compliment Mark! I guess that you will just have to resort to hypnosis then… LOL!
Carole Boudreau

Super super bon Johanne , du vrai bonbon et félicitation pour tes features, instant FAV for me !
Francesca Rizzo

wow, this is superb johanne, fantastic – abs love it
Squealia

Perfectly crisp and clear….. superb shot
John44

Salut jeune fille :)
Johanne.. this is fantastic :)
The dark head and background.. the dreamy mood
Its razor sharp .. and the light you catched in the eye is fabulous !
I would say .. have a chocolat bar as reward !
Ciao
John
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you John for your great comment! I’ll pass on the chocolate bar though as it will go directly to my hips, as my sons tell me… LOL!
Kitsmumma

Gorgeous macro!!
Francesca Rizzo

i don’t like it johanne, i Love it :) abs brilliant
Johanne Brunet replied

Woah! You got me scared for a second there! LOL! Thank you very much Francesca! ;-)
lorilee

Fantastic image!!!!!!
Richard Barry

very nice indeed.
handprintz

Beautiful capture and wonderful detail
DarkStars

Absolutely Beautiful :)
Dina King

This is Beautiful!! Great Shot!
laurav

Stunning!
eelsblueEllen

Subtle and beautiful!
Lyn Higgs

beautiful ; D
Barbara Burkhardt

I love dogs too,. Beautifully captured, I can ~~hear~~ the dog in this image. Well deserved feature, Congrats!!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Barbara! Glad that you can hear her because she was really whining to go out when I made the pic! LOL!
Colinizing Ph...

so amazing… great detail
Arek Rainczuk

Fantastic -Instant favorite
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you very much Arek! I just spent some time going through your portfolio, you have gorgeous work in there!
rajamis

Just amazing, a great capture!
Dave Moilanen

Wow! What a capture! I love the intensity in her gaze!! :-)
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Dave! You saw well, she is labelled as one of the most intense dogs at our local dog park! Very hard to resist when she looks at us with such intensity. :-)
ooyayootay

CONGRATULATIONS on the feature!
Fern Design

wow love this close up and the eye is so beautiful!!!
Angie McKenzie

This image is Cats and Dogs group Avatar for March 2009!!! :)
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you! Thank you!!! I just found out, and I’m sooo excited, it’s fab news! Thanks to all who have taken the time to vote and to comment on this image, it is greatly appreciated! :-)
Joanne Bradley

Congratulations on winning the challenge Johanne and having this wonderful image be the new avatar for the Cats and Dogs group!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Joanne! This comes as a bit of a surprise, because there were so many great entries! Wow, I’m so happy! :-)
suesight

Congrats super sharp capture and framing :) wonderful Image, Much deserved!

Sue
Diane Schuster

Beautiful image, she looks like she has a lot of soul! Dee
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Diane! She also has a beautiful soul! :-)
Danielle Espin

Fantastic image! Great focus, she has beautiful eyes
Carole Brunet

Congratulations for your first place. C’en est une très méritée!!!
BarbL

This is such an exceptional shot….great work! Congrats on the win!
shaneran

congratulations on your feature and on winning the challenge !! very unique and beautiful capture of this wonderful dog !! I like the expression dogs have … their eyes say so much !! love this !
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you for your kind words. I agree about dogs’ eyes being so expressive and they say that we are humans because we have a conscience and emotions whilst animals don’t…
micmac

Amaziong details and expression…CONGRATS ON YOUR WINNING!!
Barry Goble

Brilliant composition and study..
jwinman

wonderful composition.
cdcantrell

I love it very nice eye good work
Carole Brunet

Congratulations for your third place in the Addicted Photographer. I think you got The shot for winning all challenges. Super!!!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Sister, your comment really made my day! :-)
JUZ3R

awesome shot!
Lisa Roberts

Well done – this is beautiful – it’s so hard to keep them from fidgeting around while you’re trying to focus!
Lisa x
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Lisa, I appreciate your comment! Dog biscuits was the answer for me! :-)
Squealia

Enter this one! Cats and Dogs 1 a day group challenge… It’s the winner!!!!
Johanne Brunet replied

I know Celia, but I feel a bit uncomfortable entering it again as it already won the last challenge, four days ago… Do you think I should enter it anyway?
CazzieCreations

Congratz on your win!! Great shot!! :)
Margaret Harris

You do some really nice work of animals…Lucky is exceptional …love it!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you so much Margaret! I just viewed your portfolio, and I added you to my watchlist. You are a very talented artist! :-)
Margaret Harris

Thankyou Johanne I really love your work to.
Jennifer Suttle

Wow, that focus is amazing! I’m about to buy a D60. Do you like yours?
Johanne Brunet replied

I love it!

It’s a good choice for the $$$ Nice colours, clear and sharp photos. If you plan on doing HDR, I would recommend something else, because this one does not do automatic bracketing. Some noise at high ISO too, but you would have to pay twice the price for a camera that deals better with noise, so it is still satisfying for the price!

Thank you for your nice comment! :-)
Jennifer Suttle

Great, thank you for the info. I appreciate it.
Tibby Steedly

Beautiful photo of Lucky – who is indeed lucky to be rescued by you! Congratulations on your feature!!!
Milos Markovic

Marvelously captured detail.
Leslie Hagen

Very, Very Beautiful! Well done!
Yool

Congratz on your top 10 win with this exellent shot!!
SandraRos

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PLACE IN THE TOP 10 !!!! Your photograph is just brilliant !
Carole Brunet

Many congrats for your 5th place in 100% Animals in the group 100%.
monocotylidono

Another great accolade for this wonderful picture Johanne: Congratulations for another Top Ten in the Black with a hint challenge!!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you George! I really like this photo, and my husband asked me to have the set shown above printed, framed, and put up on our wall! Not good enough for the Fine Art of Photography group though… :-(
monocotylidono

Ah yes… there is reality, and then there are Ivory Towers! Some people get so full of themselves they have become irrelavant… Don’t pay attention :-)
Randy Richards

Very nice, and although you are in friendly compitition with me in the featured challenge, I really like this shot and voted for it!
Adam Gormley

Hi Johanne, stunning image here, so brilliantly done! I can feel the emotion of this dog in the eye, and that is brilliant!! :)
Munggo

This is just great, well shot.
shaneran

congratulations on the challenge win in playful and photogenic pets !! this is such a beautiful image of your sweet dog !!
VanillaDolphin

Congrats on your win:)
ildilazar

Gorgeous capture!
Svetlana Sewell

Gorgeous!
RobertCharles

what a gorgeous gorgeous shot. lucky is beautiful!
TIMKIELY

just wow, brillant work .well done
Cheri Perry

Absolutely fantastic image. This would be a great addition to the new group Paws n Claws
Cheri Perry

Thank you for sharing it with us.
Carole Brunet

Congratulations for your Top Ten in Cats & Dogs – Your Favorite of Cats and Dogs group.
Wildwings

A beautiful animal. You have captured the wishful expressio in her eyes. She is ready to go. An instant favorite for me.
Angela Noyes

Captivating shot…I love how you’ve cropped it in so so close…my dog gets so nervous around the camera for some odd reason, so I can rarely even chance a shot like this, but this is amazing!
LudaNayvelt

fantastic image, WOW! We have same camera, and I do not use my Nikon D60 very often
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Luda! I used to shoot with a compact Nikon Coolpix 5600 when I first started photography, a year ago, but now that I’ve started using the Nikon D60, I almost never use the Coolpix anymore.
Melissa Brett

Beautiful shot.
Little Rascals...
Colleen Milburn

Oh, what a beauty, Johanne – the dog and the pic – gorgeous!!
connieinwi

Beautiful capture Johanne….
mochilady

Congratulations on your win!
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you Lynne! :-)
solareclips~Ju...
micmac

CONGRATS ON YOUR WINNING…SO WELL DESERVED!!! BRAVO!!
VanillaDolphin

Congrats on your win =)
Little Rascals...
Louise Robinson

This is great! So clear and detailed. Very nicely taken
Little Rascals...

Wow, and one more time!
Johanne Brunet replied

LOL! Thank you Suzanne!
VanillaDolphin

Congrats on your win =)
Johanne Brunet replied

Many thanks! :-)
Taylor Sawyer
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you so much Taylor! :-)
Mleahy

Amazing photo- great composition and detail. how do you get that kind of detail on a black dog? I have the hardest time doing that with my black cat.
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you for your kind comment! I think that ISO-400 and shooting in natural light has helped to bring the details in this one.
panALsonic

Really good shot and composition. The crop is great and depth of field is very effective.

My only criticism would be the actual light source – its naural light from a window or something? I think it would have worked better with a lightsource that wasn’t as “plain” as a window (a soft spotlight or similar)?
Johanne Brunet replied

Thank you for your comment and input!

Personally, I kind of like the window which procures some advantages over artificial light in this particular instance.

A spot is… well, just a spot, with nothing special to it, and this is what I would consider as plain (my personal opinion). Whereas this window offers contrast in its shape against the round eye. When viewed at the largest size, we can even see the window panes, the trees and the snow. This brings out the emotion in the shot, the sense of wistfulness that would have been impossible to get with artificial light.

We can direct a human model in trying to convey such and such feelings, but an animal needs something real to focus on in order to show some emotions; I don’t think that a spot would have worked for this purpose.

But hey, this is only my personal opinion, and I thank you for taking the time to express this constructive critic! :-)
panALsonic

Johanne,

I take your points on board and can see the thought process behind it.
Little Rascals...
Little Rascals...
TwinRaven1

Very soulful…some of my favorite pictures of my dog are ones where she is staring out the window…they seem to get so thoughtful…anthropomorphizing, I know, but I always pause to wonder what she’s really thinking.
aglaia b

this is so beautiful johanne. ;-) xox
Mariann Rea

Beautiful! The window to her soul
naturelover
Lisawv 25 days ago

Terrific shot and love that you captured the window reflection in the eye.