The Utah Dog Blog

Las Vegas Gamblers Galler

2011-12-13T07:10:00.003-07:00

Hello all!

Finally had a chance to uploade the gallery for this weekend's Boulder City Trial. It is here:

GACGLV AKC Agility

Please note that since I ran my little dog in Novice, I was unable to shoot any Novice runs.

Will post a few photos here later but am still on a shoot tonight.

2011 Samoyed Club of America National Agility Specialty

2011-10-14T15:14:00.010-06:00

I really enjoyed watching y'all put your Samoyeds through their paces on Tuesday. The Run for Glory was one of the more touching things I have seen in some time. And, as a person who has not spent much time around the breed, there were a few minutes of group howling that was both funny and amazing.

Here is a link to the gallery: 2011 Samoyed Club of America Agility Specialty

The photo at the top (I hope that is indeed Fresca) is an example of a "text" photo I offer to commemorate events like national specialities. (Click on the photo for a larger view.) Look for this option in the gallery shopping cart.

Enjoy!

(more) Vizsla Club of America Agility

2011-09-27T21:25:00.003-06:00

Jamie Walton and her crew

It felt like I had no sooner got home (to Salt Lake) from Denver than I had to turn around and head back to Colorado, to Grand Junction for the DOCNA Agility Championships. But we're home again today and I was able to process and print the title shots... look for those in the mail, possibly by week's end.

Although I posted the agility gallery a few days ago, I believe Deb Ascher has just sent out an e-mail letting everyone know the images are now online. So here is that link again: VCA Agility Photos.

Please note that I do offer digital files as well as prints. The area of my online 'store' that shows pricing has somehow dropped the low and high resolution files options. This is mildly embarassing... I am trying to get it resolved.

Thanks for visiting.

More DOCNA photos

2011-09-26T22:50:00.003-06:00

Finally! Here is the complete (Saturday and Sunday) DOCNA gallery.

Suzie and I and our pack had a blast all the way around. It was good seeing friends old and new. Thanks to Jim and MaryKay, the Stampes and Zippity Do Dogs for their efforts -- and for allowing me to come and shoot!! I'm already looking forward to 2012... I hope you enjoy the photos.

A quick note: I've somehow managed to mangle the code to display low and high resolution digital images. They are available. I hope to have this fixed tomorrow some time...

2011 DOCNA Championships

2011-09-24T05:54:00.002-06:00

Here's the link to day one: DOCNA Championships

Vizsla Club of America Agility

2011-09-23T06:28:00.004-06:00

Here's the link: Vizsla Club of America Agility photos

It was indoors. Yuch. Still, with a few exceptions, things turned out better than I had thought.

Enjoy!

Peace, Love & Flyball

2011-09-06T23:29:00.008-06:00

Bree

Suzie and I, Josie and Cisco in tow, made the trek to Grand Junction this weekend to 'play' a little flyball and (in keeping with the theme) hang with our far out, groovy GJ friends.

As I write this post it is LATE. So without further ado, the gallery is here: Peace, Love & Flyball 2011.

I'm on the road this week but I will try to make time to post some of my favorite shots.

Jazzy

Enjoy! And thanks for visiting.

Silver State Kennel Club Agility

2011-04-05T07:59:00.004-06:00

Back home from the Silver State Kennel Club agility trial held this past weekend. Wonderful hosts, great trial! Photographically challenging...

Our Josie girl did well. Lotsa Qs and a move up to Excellent.

I am almost literally out the door again on a trip that will take me away through Friday. I'll begin processing orders when I return.

Loved hanging with our new Las Vegas friends! Hope to do it again next year.

Oh, and hear is the link to photos: SSKC Agility

My New Website

2011-03-14T16:23:00.006-06:00

...and a little Flyball Eye Candy!

Dezzie

I don't know how many times I've been told that a blog alone simply won't do! "Why, it's unprofessional..." Well, I don't know about that but I have wanted an honest-to-goodness website for some time. Now I finally have one!

It's at the following URL: http://keithhighley.com/

My hope is that the new KH Photography site will serve as an electronic calling card for my portrait work. The Utah Dog Blog will continue to function as a springboard to agility photo gallery links and as a means to share portraits.

So check out the site and let me know what you think!

Utah Tail Blazers

That photo above is of Dezzie, a very quick, athletice and smart Jack Russel Terrier and one of Josie and Cisco's teammates on our flyball team, the Utah Tail Blazers. We've been practicing through the winter (practicing hard, mind you!) and Josie is ready to make her official debut later this month at a trial in St. George. Will let you know how it goes.

If you are interested in flyball in general or the UTB in particular, feel free to visit: http://utahtailblazersflyball.blogspot.com/

2010 GRCA National Agility Gallery

2010-10-04T23:26:00.006-06:00

(Click on the photo of Hawkeye for a larger view)

Here's the link: GRCA Agility Photos

One thing I've been dying to say about the GRCA trial: for it being a national, and therefore, I'm thinking, a pretty big deal, you folks sure were mellow. Maybe it's a Golden Thing?

Hemi

As with the MHGRC trial, two rings running simultaneously... if I missed your team, I'm sorry. And as with the MHGRC, I've included reference photos in the vast majority of of runs. There are a few though where I didn't. Contact me if you have questions about this.

A note on ordering: if you are interested in an 8 x 10 photo with text (like the shot of Hawkeye) just add "with text" along with your dog's name in the notes section when placing your order.

Thanks for visiting!

MHGRC Agility

2010-10-03T17:07:00.008-06:00

Here's the link: MHGRC Photos

It was my pleasure to ~~shoot~~ photograph Golden after Golden at the Mile High Golden Retriever Club and the Golden Retriever Club of America National agility trials held last week in Greeley, Colorado. The trials were held Monday and Tuesday. I hung around Wednesday and was able to shoot a few portraits and take quite a few agility photo orders. (Thanks to all who stopped by.)

The MHGRC photo link will take you to an online gallery where you may view and order photos. The 8 x 10s with text (like Aine's photo, above) commemorating either trial are proving popular. If you would like this style, when you place your order just write "add text" in the notes section on the online order form. (It's pretty straightforward.)

I get payment questions from time to time: I accept either check or Pay Pal.

Limey

I shot a little bit of everything -- to the extent possible with two rings running simultaneously. On many of the Jumpers runs I feel like there were some nice team shots with excellent rear crosses right where I'd hoped they'd be. Several people have already ordered this particular shot, so do look for yourself. (OK, so the above of Tom Johns and Limey is not exactly that but it's nice nonetheless.)

Reason

I was also lucky enough to get some tunnel shots I am quite happy with. But you may have to work with me on this: I neglected to shoot (human) reference photos at times on the Excellent Standard runs but I did keep a detailed shot list of the dogs. If in doubt, shoot me an e-mail and I can help you locate your teammate.

Edge

Thank you very much to Warren Frizzell for the invitation to photograph the trials and to Warren, Mardee Kayser, Helen and others for all of their help on-site.

I should have the GRCA National photos up tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

Enjoy the gallery!

DOCNA Title Shots

2010-10-02T17:01:00.004-06:00

Goose and Duck

Update: added the above photo of Belle because... well, because I can! Oh, and to show what a shot looks like with the "2010 DOCNA Nationals" text.

Thanks for the messages reminding me about the title photos. I decided it would be easiest to just post them in one gallery and let you choose. Here's the link: DOCNA Title/Ribbon Photos

The title photos come in the 8 x 10 print and high resolution digital sizes only. (Changing prices for photos in a single gallery is WAY beyond my html skills.)

Enjoy!

2010 DOCNA National Championships

2010-10-01T16:44:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday we packed up the pack, my camera gear and printer, and headed south, to Grand Junction, for the DOCNA Nationals. It was our first, an event we'd looked forward to ever since I figured out the significance of the NAC qualifiers offered at local Utah trials in the summer of 2009. (Really, I had no idea what the big deal was about the NAC.)

Roxie

Suzie and I LOVE The Junction. The Stampes and others are probably tired of hearing us go on about how we'd like to move there... but to visit GJ for the DOCNA championships was the best reason yet.

Here's a link to photos from the trial: DOCNA National Championships Gallery.

Josie Girl

Personally, Suzie and I feel like we had a pretty productive weekend with Wyatt and Josie. Both got ribbons of every color. Josie's accomplishments are perhaps more noteworthy as she was in a deeper, more talented field. But I am very, very, VERY happy with Wyatt's Jumpers crown. He really got on it for me when it counted -- in spite of a really big handling error on my part in the finals! (Who botches jumpers, right? I do!)

If you ran in the Intern class, you might not find photos of your runs. I'm sorry about this. It was difficult to run Wyatt and shoot the same class. But this was Wyatt's last trial so, in all likelihood, next year, we won't have the same conflict!

Did you catch that in the last sentence? Yep, Wyatt is RETIRED! He went out with a bang and I am soooo proud of him. I will now focus on Cisco. And unless I am unable to bring it out of him, 16" jumpers need to be very, very afraid! (Just kidding, of course.)

Thanks for looking!

Great Salt Lake Agility Gallery

2010-09-20T17:54:00.009-06:00

Nic

Here's the link: GSL Agility Photos

This was actually one of the more difficult trials I've shot in a while; with very few exceptions the 'money' shots were invariably backlit, which makes for horrible shots of black dogs in particular. It happens. It's why there are so many chute shots here and so few weaves, no tires, etc. But whattayagonnado? (Course designers, repeat after me: Run To The Sun!)

Still, it a was fun three days.

I love the chute, actually. Even though it is -- for me -- easily the most difficult thing to shoot well. That shot of Nic, at top, and some of the others you'll see in the gallery were worth the effort though.

Ivana

That leaves.... jumps. With jumps, I try to look for a certain angle. If you get lucky, you can find an angle conducive to a rear cross. If you get even luckier, some sort of synchronicity might find you. Can you see it in the above shot of Ivana and Katherine Emge? (Sorry for the decapitation, Kathy!)

Aine

And sometimes you can find an angle that lets you stack a series of jumps. I think that's why this shot of Aine is one of my favorites of the weekend. (Click on it for a better view.)

Anyway... Thanks for visiting and I hope you find something you like.

PS. From Thursday through not-quite-sure when next week, I'll be in Colorado, first at DOCNA Nationals, and then at Golden Retriever Nationals. (Wish Wyatt luck at DOCNA!) I'm afraid orders won't go out until late next week at the earliest.

Great Salt Lake Agility

2010-09-19T15:34:00.003-06:00

It was nice to see old friends and make new ones this weekend. It will be a few days before I get the gallery up but I thought I'd post a few shots (with questions!) before we head out to Flyball practice this afternoon.

Question 1: How is it that Nic, and shelties in general, are so dang graceful?

Nic

Question 2: Why do border collies look like they've just seen a ghost when they come out of the chute? Is there something going on in there we don't know about?

Gyp

Ditto

Question 3: Can Indy (below) take a bad photo?

Indy

Thanks for looking and bye for now. And again, please check back in another day or two for the gallery.

More Soldier Hollow

2010-09-14T22:44:00.002-06:00

It's Tuesday (and I am so happy to be home)!

Thought I'd throw a few more shots up. If you missed it from the last post, you can find the entire Soldier Hollow Splash Dogs gallery here.

Thanks for looking!

Soldier Hollow Splash Dogs

2010-09-12T07:11:00.004-06:00

Andy LaRochelle and Onyx

I was on the road all week this week and, well, didn't get these images posted nearly as soon as I would've liked. But here's the gallery: Soldier Hollow Splash Dogs.

I've included more images than I probably should have but I've done so with the thought that many of you might just like to see your dogs doing their thing.

I had a blast this year watching y'all jump! With the help of Josh, Andy and others we nearly have my little Cisco jumping, too! Here's to hoping the little guy overcomes that fear of what must surely be the equivalent of diving off the high board for us.

I'll leave you with this shot of Gosia and Blink. I like the concept a lot and this is something I will try to perfect for future events; it's VERY difficult to get enough usable (read: sharp) frames for this -- at least for this half-blind photographer! (Click on the image for a larger view.)

Gosia and Blink

Blink jumped really, really well. I hope G doesn't mind me saying so but is it not amazing that the biggest jumping border collie in the nation can't swim!?

Flyball with the Utah Tail Blazers

2010-08-07T16:25:00.004-06:00

While the ball really does (occasionally) fly, it's the dogs that do most of the flying...

Tripp and an unidentified ball

Last Sunday afternoon, just like almost every other Sunday this summer, we had flyball practice at a local park. The 'we' in our family are Josie, Cisco and Suzie and me. (No, fb for Wyatt. Poor Wyatt.)

We're flyball rookies. If this were the NFL we would have to carry the other players' smelly... shoulder pads or practice in dresses or submit to some other indignation. I'm told I have to do wind sprints this Sunday but that's because I submitted this photo for posting on the UTB blog for their Wordless Wednesday post. I can't say who that is in the photo for fear of further retaliation....

Josie and a mystery ball holder

Practice is usually all about... practice. But last time around I got out the camera to see what I could see.

Calamity

Here's one of my favorites. While a flyball purist may take issue with the form (I say it's perfect form and the camera lies!!) I just love this shot.

Here are some more: UTB Practice

Enjoy!

Splash Dogs

2010-07-23T15:47:00.007-06:00

Chase Me owned by Laurie Thompson

In early June I shot a few 'waves' of Splash Dogs while taking in Dog Days at Thanksgiving Point. (Dog Days is like heaven for dog lovers; in addition to Splash Dogs, there is an agility fun-run/demo, course-a-lure and dozens of other attractions and booths.)

Here's a link to the gallery: Splash Dog Photos

(If it's your first time to the site, click on the initial thumbnail to bring up a page with thumbs of everything. Click on a thumbnail again to bring up a bigger proof and pricing.)

This was my first time photographing this type of event and there was a bit of a learning curve. On top of that, unfortunately, the dogs were jumping more-or-less west to east -- horrible for shooting black dogs at high-noon and beyond. But whattayagonnado? (Yes, I would like a little cheese with that whine!)

I liked the event so much that dock diving just may be in Cisco's future. A few of our Utah Tail Blazers Flyball friends are already involved, so there's no shortage of expertise to tap into. When that happens I'll have to hand the camera off to one of you to shoot Cisco's jumps.

Any takers?

I'd like to shoot more Splash Dogs and hope to make it to Soldier Hollow over the Labor Day weekend.

DOCNA Red White and Q!

2010-07-06T21:33:00.003-06:00

Polly & Ethan

We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Grand Junction with the AWESOME Zippity Do Dog folks. I have lots of photos to share but only have time tonight to put the gallery online.

So here it is: DOCNA Red White and Q photos

Suzie, Wyatt, Josie and I had such a great time at the trial. Ditto for ZDD's September 2009 trial. During our drive home on Sunday we spent a lot of time talking about how nice it would be to live there...

More on the trial to come in the next day or two.

Thanks for visiting.

GSL Agility Combined

2010-06-15T22:24:00.005-06:00

Indy

Hello all!

Here are some more photos from this weekend: GSL June 12/13 Agility Trial

I've added Sunday's to those taken on Saturday; they're all in one gallery! This means you can order photos from the whole trial in one shopping cart.

(You must complete an order from one gallery before proceeding to another or you will still lose the images in your shopping cart. I'm sorry if this has happened to you.)

I'll try to post a few more of the shots I liked from the weekend. But this post goes out to Indy. The lens is liking Indy a lot. For some reason I get more crisply focused keepers with Indy than most other dogs. And I've just gotten so lucky with shots of this screamin' demon on course doing his thing. That would be running really well while talking to his handler, Marilyn Murray.

Thanks for visiting the site!

Great Salt Lake Agility

2010-06-12T22:56:00.002-06:00

Here's a link to photos from today. GSLDTC Agility Photos

It's somewhat slim pickins as the weather was horrible and, for much of the day, it wasn't all that conducive to shooting.

But the company was good!

Group IV AKC Agility Photos

2010-06-01T00:01:00.003-06:00

Here is the link: Group IV Agility

Because of other commitments I was only able to shoot on Saturday. And only Standard classes at that.

Sorry if I missed your dog this time around. I'll be at the Great Salt Lake trial June 12/13, shooting both days.

And how do you like the above image? It's one of my favorite chute shots to date. Love it!

Thanks for looking and I hope to see you at the GSLDTC trial.

Fender The (High Stakes) Elite Gambler

2010-05-24T10:46:00.004-06:00

That old Kenny Rogers song comes to mind. At the Muddy Paws trial Fender (and Edie) showed us he knows how to play the game. If you are too young to know who Kenny Rogers is, well... respect your elders!

Congratulations Fender!

Some housekeeping: All orders from last week will go out in today's mail. I will try to get orders received over the weekend out before week's end.

I'm doing post-work on some sittings as well. Can't wait to share those but I wanna get the prints done first.

Enjoy this snowy May day.

Sun Dogs and Black Dogs

2010-05-17T17:16:00.012-06:00

Sunday afternoon it appeared and all of a sudden -- while I was walking the course no less! -- I started hearing that I needed to grab my camera and shoot a Sun Dog. Being a pretty obedient guy, I did. I'd never seen one before but I think we all took it as a good omen that it came to our little ASCA trial. Phil Hahn explained it best when he told me "a Sun Dog is a rainbow-like spot in a cirrus cloud. Light shining through ice crystals in the cloud makes a sundog, much like the light shining through raindrops makes a rainbow." Phil's smart like that.

Black Dogs

I'm still a little miffed that some of the shots in the gallery are darker than they should be. Something's up. So just because I can, I thought I'd post a few of what those shots should actually look like.

OK, so Bingley is not all that dark. But I like this shot -- and a few others of him from this weekend. Judging from those images I think there's more to Bingley than meets the eye. He's intense in the weaves and in this shot, call me crazy, but I think he's smiling.

OK, Spur is not exactly a black dog either. I just like this shot of Robyn Garrett's baby.

Here we go:

And if you missed it from the last post, here's the link to the gallery: ASCA Muddy Paws

ASCA Muddy Paws

2010-05-16T21:51:00.007-06:00

OMG! Web Commerce Hell! I can now say I've been there. I had MAJOR problems with my online store but I think I have resolved them. Go me! Thanks for your patience at the trial and when you've gone looking for the gallery only to find nothing.

Here it is: ASCA Muddy Paws 2010

Big, big congratulations to Izzy and Little C for their ATCH! (Little C absolutley would not look at me so we took what we could get for this shot just after the big run.)

In the ASCA tradition this was a nice, mellow trial. Cool judge. Small field (entrants). All nice. Fun but a little challenging to shoot in some respects...

This shot of Pippi was one of my favorites of the weekend. Such a cute little lady! But then again I'm partial to corgis and Pippi is a Corgi-Westie mix. (Hope I get that right.)

Ginger Snaps was also adorable. Her tail is like a rudder and finds its way all over the place. And those ears have a mind of their own as well.

Important note when viewing the gallery: The images are darker than usual for some reason. (Quite possibly a remnant of the software woes I had this weekend.) And so some of the darker and black dogs in particular look too dark. They're not. So I thought I'd share a couple of images of dark dogs to give you an idea what they will look like as prints or jpegs -- both of the images below look way to dark in the gallery but they're really fine. If you have a question about a given image, just let me know.

Jack

Latigo

That's it. Time to crash!

Thanks for looking.

Jasper & Daisy

2010-05-12T11:42:00.005-06:00

Jasper and Daisy live on our street, five doors down. They're a regular fixture of life in our great neighborhood; we see them on their morning walk with their human companions, John and Sheryl, just about every day. Since our little photo session a few months back Jasper (on the left) and I have become best buds; if we're out at the same time, he is gonna come say hello. Period. And there's a whole lot of hello in Jasper to go around. But I like that.

These guys are clearly best friends and are inseparable, so when we talked about what we were after in a photo, a two-shot made the most sense. But just sitting around and looking pretty for the camera wasn't something they were into. No, they'd rather play. So after a few posed shots, we brought out a toy and a game of tug-o-war was quickly on!

The toy never stood a chance.

Jackson & Sadie

2010-05-11T10:47:00.011-06:00

Paul Thiriot is a friend of over a decade. He happens to be one of the better cameramen in Utah if not the US. No lie. Paul can make a jar of mayonnaise look sexy. If you've ever seen Dateline, you've probably seen his work. A few times a year, we get the chance to work together.

On a job just before Christmas we were hovering over our iphones, sharing pix of our dogs. When I showed him a portrait of Wyatt, Paul got kind of excited and told me he wanted me to shoot his Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Jackson and Sadie. Talk about making my day! (For you 'agiliphiles', it would be like Susan Garrett asking you to run her dog.)

Sadie & Jackson

It was Paul's daughter Danielle that brought the pair into the family. (And what does Danielle do? Oh, she's 'just' a jet pilot in the US Navy.) Her fiance wanted to give her a photo for Christmas. We decided to go with a canvas gallery wrap of the image below. It'd be pretty hard to mess up a shot of this pair but it did turn out even better than I'd envisioned.

That musculature and their lines just blow me away. I would not want to be an African lion with a pack of these guys on my tail...

Paul will have Sadie and Jackson at the Lure Coursing trial in Morgan over Memorial Day weekend (along with a bunch of other ridgebacks). I've never seen them run and I've never actually seen Lure Coursing, so I hope to make it up for the event and possibly shoot some runs.

Outdoor Agility Season!!

2010-05-10T21:21:00.018-06:00

OMG! It's here! And man are we excited about it! Well, Josie's excited and Wyatt is... well, it depends on the day, the temperature, his bio-rhythms and... me. Sigh. More on Wyatt in a minute.

Josie at the April USDAA trial in Farmington

We've taken part in three trials so far. If Josie's results are an indication, she and Suzie are on their way to a nice season. Josie is hitting her weaves more consistently (a bit of a problem area) and she is getting more comfortable running ahead of Suzie -- a must for a fast girl whose legs are almost as long as her handler's!

At this past weekend's AKC trial in South Jordan, Josie got more Qs than not and in just her second trial, she's a leg shy of moving up to Open in both Standard and Jumpers. (I note here that AKC Novice courses are ridiculously simple. My humble opinion anyway.) And the great thing about Josie is that she just loves agility.

Wyatt at the UKI Fun Trial ~ photo: Carol Clawson

Wyatt, on the other hand, probably won't miss agility at all when he's no longer running. The summer heat only adds to his occasional on-course apathy. Try as I do -- and if you've seen us run you know I am as much cheerleader as handler -- I'm starting to 'lose' him (his attention) with increasing frequency. Still, he got an Excellent standard leg this weekend and was oh-so-close in two Jumpers runs. So I think we'll run this summer and then Wyatt's gonna get a big ole 'Retired' sign on his kennel. Perhaps he'll pursue that modeling career he's always talking about.

That EXCELLENT photo of Wyatt above was taken by our friend Carol Clawson. As cute as "Mr. Never a Hair Out of Place" is, the photo illustrates one of the banes of our agility existence: contacts. W just loves to hang out on top of the A frame before frequently doing a leaping dismount.

And me? I had so much fun shooting agility last year that I'm just excited, almost giddy, to be able to photograph in good outdoor light again. At the same time, I'll almost certainly shoot fewer trials than last year. I will be at the local ASCA trial this weekend. It's a nice, relaxed venue and Robyn Garrett and Linda Hahn were very supportive last year in allowing me to shoot when I was still trying to figure out how to shoot these wonderful athletes we're so lucky to have in our lives! (And I'll be running with Wyatt.)

Here are a few photos from the April USDAA trial. I shot very little at this show as I was running Wyatt and, frankly, just wanted to relax and visit with friends... But a few turned out nice and kind of reinvigorated me for the upcoming season.

Cesar - airborn and with a tailwind

Indy

Lock-step. Can you see it?

Pushing through the chute

The Icebreaker

2010-05-03T12:50:00.011-06:00

Deb Sussman and Perk

We spent Friday and Saturday at a herding trial in Deweyville at the Goring Ranch. If there is an actual Deweyville, my guess is the sheep population far outnumbers the humans. It's absolutely beautiful country with rolling hills as far as the eye can see. I imagine when things warm up and green up over the next month it'll be all the more beautiful.

Suzie ran Josie in the Novice class. On both days Josie's outrun and lift were pretty -- even if her outrun does sometimes take her into the next county, as people like to joke. After the lift on Friday the sheep split and it didn't end so well. Saturday was much better with handler and dog in control.

That's Josie above taking off on her outrun on Saturday. You can just see the sheep, blocked by Suzie and between the panels in the distance. If you're thinking that's not a great shot, I hear you. I get nervous for Suzie and sometimes don't think about the most simple things -- like moving left then composing the shot to better see the sheep. On this run I'd asked Eric, a good friend and herding buddy, to shoot video of Suzie's run. He got caught up in the moment too; he kept saying 'oh my god, I'm doing a horrible job' or something to that effect -- and Eric is very good with video and stills. I'm certain it's because he was trying to watch the run and kinda forgot he was shooting it.

But if you herd, and can remember when you first started, and how nervous you may have been, then this moment should resonate with you; you've waited all day, it's your turn, your heart may just be in your throat... then you send your dog and it's on!

Fortunately, Josie was 'on' on Saturday. Here she's completed her lift and is bringing the sheep to Suzie at the handler's post (that orange pylon in the first photo) just out of frame.

Behind the scenes at the set out...

Trials are well organized. Prior to being worked, sheep are held in pens, off in the distance from handlers, and are 'set out' in a specific place prior to each run. After a run the sheep are put into exhaust pens. After so many runs the sheep from the exhaust are brought back to the set out area to work again, which is what is happening in the above photo. On Friday the sheep had been driven over that hill in the background and had just blanketed it. It was visually very, very cool. But my camera was in the car and I missed it! I wasn't going to miss it again. Here I'd gone through the trouble of climbing on top of a horse trailer... but the sheep came in a different way! And I missed it. Again.

City Pet Club

2010-04-29T13:02:00.007-06:00

Brutus

What to do on a snowy day in late April? Play catch up on a long overdue post, of course!

Last fall, thanks to an invitation by owner Jess Dear, we had the opportunity to shoot a series of portraits at City Pet Club. Thanks to the efforts of CPC manager Derek Abaroa, turnout for Pooch Portrait Day was pretty good.

One of my favorites was Brutus, Jess' weimaraner. (Brutus has since passed. I only met him once, at our session. He was a cooperative, well-behaved and good-looking boy!)

Of course, each dog was striking. Below are a few more. You can see a gallery of each of the dogs we shot here: CPC Gallery.

Sheba

Mickey

Gus

Sagan and Tycho

2010-04-23T16:22:00.009-06:00

Kristie Rasmussen is a friend of over a decade. For friends who know us, Tycho and Digger were occasional teammates in Obedience competitions; we still have a photo of the pair on our mantle from a trial in Idaho Falls around 2004. I photographed one of Sagan's perfect 200 scores that same weekend.

So when Kristie asked me if I'd be willing to try a little something different with the pair, how could I resist? I'm something of a purist and, in all honesty, the idea of doing a composite like these didn't totally appeal to me at first. (Of course, I never mentioned this to Kristie!) But I'm really happy with how these turned out. And I believe Kristie is too.

Sagan

OTCH ASCA OTCH U-CDX Amberac's Star Tracker Sagan UDX3 TD RAE VER OM1 GRCA-OBHF ASCA-UDX

Tycho

U-CDX Halltree's Star Gazer Tycho UDT RAE GRCA-OBHF ASCA-UD

You know that saying, something about a well-rounded dog having titles on both ends? That's Tycho and Sagan. Both have more varied titles than I can get to in this short post. Both were awarded the GRCA Obedience Hall of Fame Award and both have two Dog World Awards.

In short, they're two very accomplished boys!

The final prints were done on canvas. Last week we took them straight from the printer to Alpine Art & Frame where, with the help of Kathy, one of their very knowledgeable staff, Kristie was able to quickly choose a frame appropriate for the dogs' coloration and the room where they'll live.

Of course, none of it would've been possible without Sagan and Tycho's cooperation at our shoot. So thank you, you pair of handsome young men!

MACH 4 Billie and MACH Forrest

2010-02-16T21:46:00.010-07:00

I have non-agility friends who visit this page. One recently asked, "so, what's a MACH?" So maybe a little background is in order for this post:

MACH stands for Master Agility Champion. It's a title awarded when a dog and handler get 20 Double Qs (2 out of 2 qualifying runs in the same day) and amass a certain number of speed points (it's formulaic and I'm not going there because I don't fully understand it myself). It's a reward for consistency and it's a big deal. Some of us (like me and the dog sprawled out on the couch as I write this) can go a whole four day trial without a double Q.

A MACH 4 is the same x 4. That's 80 Double Qs and something like a gazillion speed points. I never knew such a thing existed until I met Billie, subject of this post.

A MACH 5 is a car driven by Speed Racer. [Ed. note: Speed was such a tool. The show totally should've been about Racer X. I mean, seriously.]

Now on to our story.

Anne & Forrest

Anne Ibach is one of the handful of people who work their butts off organizing and executing local AKC agility trials. She's done this for the last decade, far longer than I've been around the sport. She's also a wicked good handler. In March Anne's leaving us for Portland, where she's landed her "Dream Job" with Oregon Public Television.

Salt Lake's loss is definitely Portland's gain.

MACH4 Billie, MXF, PDIII Retired

Anne began training with Billie in 1999 after an invitation from Coleen Hawker, Bill's owner at the time (and another local agility pioneer). She and Bill took lessons with Monica Bush and after a whole two months of training they entered their first trial. "Five years, thousands of miles and dollars, and several bottles of thyroid pills later," she says, they earned their first MACH, becoming just the fourth dog in Utah to earn the title.

They weren't finished. I didn't ask about numbers 2 and 3 but Billie got her 4th MACH last July, at age 11. She's only the second dog in Utah to do so. With that last MACH, Bill dropped out of the circuit and into retirement.

Best I can tell Bill's a pretty laid-back cat; for the above photo we said 'Bill, you lay here.' And he held... and held... and held that pose. Easy to work with. So despite the accomplishments, Bill's no diva.

MACH Red Rock Run Forrest Run MXJ, MX, MXF, JE, MAD, RN, CGC

But it was only after Forrest got his MACH in October that we talked about getting together for a photo.

Anne and Forrest found each other in 2003, when Forrest was a four month old pup -- and only, Anne jokes, because she was not smart enough to know better. "Never buy a Jack Russell on impulse," she says.

They've had to work far harder to get Forrest to where he is today; for the first year of his life, Anne's convinced he viewed her as nothing more than an annoying weight on the other end of the leash preventing Forrest from being Forrest. But Anne decided Forrest would become an agility dog. Lots and lots and lots of hard work later, he is.

I kinda get the impression that because of how hard they've had to work, Forrest's MACH may just mean more than Billie's achievements.

Way to go, Forrest!

And Anne, doggone it, we miss you already!

How Josie Spent President's Day

2010-02-15T21:50:00.007-07:00

Josie

We spent the day in Spanish Fork with Josie (our border collie, if you don't already know) doing what she and Suzie enjoy most. It had been several weeks since she had been on sheep but she worked surprisingly well for Suzie in the Big Field with good outruns and some nice drives.

And whether Suzie is communicating a little more convincingly or whether Josie has just decided she wants to listen, she was in control for almost the whole day. That's progress for this pair.

Of course, our friend Linda worked with Josie in the small pen (below) beforehand and probably helped Joie get some of that "Oh My God, Sheep!!" excitement out of her system.

Friends and strangers regularly tell us how sweet Josie is -- and she really is. But, above all else, she's a herding dog. The shot below is how not to behave but it happens. The sheep wasn't hurt (I promise) and that was the only gripping that went on.

Goodbye to Dexter

2010-02-06T21:29:00.011-07:00

Dexter

(Over the Thanksgiving holiday.)

Dear Dexter,

We met just that one time. You came over with Ruth and Edie. Already well into your fight with cancer, were you in pain that day? If you were, I couldn't tell! No, you did everything we asked of you: You sat - patiently. And when we asked you to, you smiled that smile. You made me smile. And between us, I think we just may have made Ruth's day that day. Of course, you made Ruth's day every day for almost twelve years.

You're a special boy.

And you are missed.

MACH Jetta!

2010-02-05T10:06:00.015-07:00

Being able to witness a few of the MACHs won in 2009 by local handlers and their canine partners was pretty heady stuff. But the one final qualifying run I wanted to see above all others came in October in Boise. Unfortunately we didn't make that trial, so I can only imagine how nicely Jetta must've run for Leslie -- who surely must've been on the verge of exploding on the inside but was just as surely as cool as the other side of the pillow on the outside.

With that run Leslie Dixwell got her first MACH and Jetta became only the third Swedish Vallhund ever to MACH in the US.

Leslie's MACH is personal for Suzie and I because Leslie was one of the first local trainers to befriend us when Suzie began doing agility with Corky, our first corgi. Prior to Jetta, Leslie had competed with corgis, mostly in obedience but also in agility. In fact, Jetta's MACH might not have been her first but for the fact that two of her corgis, Kela and Bell, had physical problems that forced them into early retirement. Bell once did place first in agility at Corgi Nationals. (And Kela earned a UD, which Leslie says is a close second to Jetta's MACH, as achievements go.)

Obviously I am biased but I believe Leslie is one of the best agility trainers we have in Utah. She's New School in that she regularly trains with Susan Garrett and Greg Derrett, and is constantly bringing new thought and exercises to training sessions. She's Old School in that she'll ride your arse hard (but always with a smile!) about lazy handling or not getting your dog sufficiently revved up to work. Although a MACH is not in the cards for me and Wyatt, the improvements in speed and drive that he and I experienced this past year are all Leslie's doing.

How They Got There & Where They're Going

Jetta is now seven and-a-half. It took two years of trialing to get to her MACH. Leslie says things only started to gel when she began stopping Jetta on contacts -- and when she became a better handler herself. "Most of it is consistency and handling," she says, adding "there comes a time when it is second nature to go around the agility course." (Wonder if Wyatt and his numnutts handler will ever have that feeling!)

If the late-January Golden Spike Obedience Club agility trial is any indication, there may just be a MACH II in their future: at the three day trial Jetta had three Double Qs. They now stand at 6 Double Qs toward a MACH II.

The Ad

Suzie ran point on getting friends and, with Donald's help, family lined up to support the purchase of a full-page ad in this month's issue of Clean Run. The ad is unique to all of those I've ever seen. Thst'd thanks to the graphic design skills of Eric Larson, another student of Leslie's, who donated his time to put the ad together.

Dragonflys, Gallery Expiration Dates for 2009 and PayPal

2010-02-02T11:54:00.010-07:00

As if Puccini isn't reward enough for pressing the shutter, on this particular frame (taken at the Great Salt Lake Dog Training Club Agility Trial in September) I was rewarded by what I initially thought was a dust speck. What are the odds? Thanks to Anne Ibach for pointing it out.

(Click on the photo for a bigger view.)

Puccini and friend

On to housekeeping:

To prepare for the upcoming outdoor season, and to make changes to my web site, I'll be removing the majority of Agility galleries from the site at the end of February. This applies to all trials prior toSeptember. The September trials will be online until the end of April.

I hope that's not confusing. If in doubt please visit the gallery in question; each one now sports an expiration date at the top of the page.

And finally: Pay Pal

Because I have had so many requests for it, I am now accepting payments (online) via PayPal.

Kalli and Buddy

2010-01-20T21:27:00.003-07:00

The Pearce family is blessed with one adorable group of kids and, well, canine kids. Justin, Trevor and Sophie just couldn't have been more easy to work with. The same for Kalli (the beagle) and Buddy (a doxey). The key to this shot -- which was really, really easy to get considering the number of beating hearts involved -- was that Kalli and Buddy are at their calmest with Trevor. Once we knew that the composition sort of took care of itself.

Thanks to Angie (mom) for bringing the kids over for this pre-Christmas siting.

Hades

2010-01-19T16:51:00.013-07:00

(Note: I'm playing blog-catch-up after a very busy 4th quarter and the Christmas rush. I count myself very fortunate to have been inundanted with Christmas cards and portraits. I hope to share many of them in the coming weeks.)

Hades

Hades belongs to Thomas Van Wyngarden, a local attorney I met through the City Pet Club (more on that in another post). At the time of this sitting, in mid-November, Hades was eight months young.

In spite of Hades' dark coat, we decided to see what we might get by going with a dark background. We weren't disappointed! This 'Cute Puppy' look is just adorable. Of the images we printed, Tom tells me this one gets the most comments.

But you be the judge. Here are a few others:

(Click on any of these shots for a bigger view in a separate window.)

All for this post...

A funny thing happened on the way to the pound...

2010-01-06T10:04:00.028-07:00

Cisco

I had absolutely no interest in making an addition to our family this summer when I started getting texts, and then photos, about this "adorable" little corgi-heeler mix at the local Humane Society Animal Shelter. ~~Over my dead body, I told myself~~. Being a good sport (and a wise husband) I decided to go along and have a look, thinking I could come up with some valid reason(s) why we shouldn't bring him home. But a funny thing happened when I spent some time with the little guy that day at the pound.

"We can foster him," was my intitial justification for bringing him home. The very first week we had two offers from friends (who I know would have given him a good home), but I found myself making excuses as to why they wouldn't be a good fit.

Suzie and I have concluded that I suck at fostering.

So the dog then known as Bear, briefly known as Jesse James and now living up to that other outlaw moniker has found a home.

The relationship has not been without its trials.

Those were perfectly good slippers BC -- Before Cisco. And his vocal ablilities rival his demolition skills. Oh, and his relationship with the pack? The Steel Cage Death Match fights with Wyatt were hard to prevent and very hard to take. Josie initially feared Cisco so much she went into hiding. I don't think I've ever been read the riot act as frequently as during those early days. I can now admit that I privately had my doubts about whether it would all work out.

But ever so slowly, things did work themselves out -- maybe because they just do but more likely because we sought counsel from friends and trainers with FAR more experience than us in understanding dog behavior. And we worked with Cisco.

Cut to 6 months after putting the pound experience behind him and Cisco is a pretty happy boy with a pretty good life.

He's still a Bad Ass. Our friends Eric and Mia say that if Cisco had his own symbol, it would a skull and crossbones. I tend to agree. But he's very smart, has serious drive, and wants to work. And the more we work with him, the better his behavior and attitude.

Cisco's also fast, far faster than Wyatt (who can actually get up and go when he wants to). I see agility in his future.

As far as their relationship goes, Wyatt and Cisco get along far better now. (This photo is of the pair, begrudgingly but patiently posing for me over the holidays, which we spent in LA, far away from the cold!)

They mostly leave each other alone but they also play. It's funny how you get to know certain sounds, a certain look or other behavior that can signal that it's about to be 'on.' Having a better understanding of these triggers has made for a much more peaceful existence for them and us.

An unintended consequence of Cisco having found his way to us is that Wyatt -- as jealous as they come -- wants to train more when he sees me working with Cisco.

So I'm really happy with our new addition. On top of everything else, he's also a pretty handsome little guy who mostly doesn't mind being photographed!

(Click on any of these photos for a bigger view)

Christmas Cards Anyone?

2009-10-12T15:12:00.006-06:00

Hot of the press, here's our 2009 prototype:

Last year, last minute we produced a Christmas card from a picture of our pooches. We received so many comments that we decided to offer cards this year to anyone who might be interested.

Suzie and I had a blast last night shooting this shot and some long-overdue individual portraits of Wyatt, Josie and Cisco. (I'll post some, and a introduction to Cisco, our Pound Puppy and resident devil, soon.)

I prefer an all-white background but other colors can work too. It's all a matter of personal taste. We searched in vain for Santa-type Christmas caps this weekend but came up empty. It turns out everything is seasonal. So this may not be the image we send out...

Drop me a line or call if you are interested in a card of your pooch(es). The sooner the better as it is already mid-October.

Portrait Gallery Update

2009-10-09T23:04:00.004-06:00

It's long overdue but I'm finally posting an updated gallery. If your name is Cesar, Markie MACH, Jessie or Zeus, you'll wanna check yourself out!

That's Cesar up top. I played around with this particular shot a little to try and highlight his spectacular beard and salt and pepper coat. I wonder if Doggy Photographer Heaven isn't a place where you can shoot portraits of Schnauzers and agility shots of Briards, Havanese and different spaniels in flight with their ears floating like they do...

DOCNA AGILITY - Grand Junction Style!

2009-09-23T20:28:00.007-06:00

Here's the link: Grand Junction Agility Photos

Suzie and I (and Wyatt and Josie) had such a great time this past weekend. Y'all know how to put on a trial. Thanks so much to Cathy Stampe for letting me come and shoot the trial, and to the whole Junction Gang for being such great hosts. I see the Airport Motel 6 and Grand Junction as a regular stop for us!

An observation: while Utah rules (the nation!) in the whole birthrate thing, Colorado seems to be producing a significantly higher percentage of junior handlers. It was really great to see Kaitlyn, Levi, Mauryn and their young peers just tearing up the courses! (Levi's Jumpers run on Saturday, his first run ever if I'm not mistaken, put a HUGE smile on my face.)

Levi Hatch and Mater

Enjoy the photos!

New & Improved Great Salt Lake Agility Gallery!

2009-09-21T22:00:00.010-06:00

(Or Keith Finally Gets Off His Rump and Posts Sunday's Photos)

Jorel

Hi all!

I was away all of last week without a good internet connection. (How we take it for granted.) Got home Friday in time to repack and head to Grand Junction for a DOCNA trial. More on that tomorrow, I hope.

Anyway, I FINALLY added Sunday's photos here: Great Salt Lake Combined Gallery.

Enjoy.

PS. I am swamped with orders. I'm trying to get caught up this week. I appreciate everyone's patience.

PSS. I seem to be posting too few photos lately. Let's catch up a little bit:

Emma

Trace Soaring

(Give that dog a cape!)

Ernie Page and Emma

(Could Ernie or Emma have offered some form of compensaton to be pictured twice in one blog entry? No comment!)

Zoomie

(and those great ears!)

Popeye

(Nobody, and I mean nobody works as hard as Melinda Gaines to get the most out of their partner!)

Great Salt Lake Agility Combined Gallery

2009-09-13T20:50:00.014-06:00

(Ben, Darlene Cologna's Havanese)

Here's the link to a gallery from Friday and Saturday: GSL Agility Photos

Whew! A three day trial three days after four days at Lynnleigh?! GREAT event but I don't know how you all (me too?) do it sometimes. I didn't even run Wyatt this show and I'm exhausted. Crazy from the sun maybe.

Big BIG thanks to the Geat Salt Lake Dog Training Club for putting on their usual well-run show. Amazing how it flowed. Judge Mark Upshaw had something to do with that as well.

Note that with this gallery prices for high- and low-res jpegs have returned. These were omitted from the last few galleries due to my (coding) negligence. So, my bad! Until I make the changes to the IKC/GIV trial gallery, know that you can get jpegs from those or any other show I've shot.

If you didn't stop by our display, here's the new style we're offering for 8 1/2 x 11 prints ("8x10" in the shopping cart):

These went over well at the show, so well that this will be a permanent option; feel free to order this style from older galleries as well. Just specify "with text" when placing an order. (Click on the photo for a larger preview.)

Thanks everyone! I enjoyed shooting your dogs!

Group IV AKC Agility Photos

2009-09-08T22:48:00.004-06:00

UPDATE: Hereare the photos for Monday. Apologies for the delay in posting these!

The link: Group IV Agility Photos, Monday, Sep 09

Here the link to Sunday's offerings for the Group IV trial. (Monday to follow.)

Group IV AKC Agility Photos

(MACH ADCH Lexie, Andrea & Pat Milburn)

The big news of the weekend was, of course, Andrea Waldon & Lexie's MACH. Pretty inspiring stuff. Congratulations!

IKC Lynnleigh Trial Photos

2009-09-07T06:48:00.005-06:00

(Kim Wabel's Daniel)

Hot off the press, Friday and and Saturday's photos!

Here's the link:

September Lynnleigh IKC Agility Trial

It's Monday morning as I post these and we're scrambling to get out the door for today's runs so that's all for this post.

Sprint Racing... or, Amazingly Fast Dogs

2009-08-30T15:53:00.007-06:00

I had the opportunity to shoot sprint racing this weekend at Jack and Mary Lewis' home track in Riverton. I don't think words -- or even photos -- do these dogs justice in terms of understanding just how truly fast they are; it has to be seen to be believed.

Breeds represented were Whippets (above), Borzois (below), Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Italian Greyhounds, Basenjis, Salukis and a way cute Pharoah Hound puppy -- a young champion in the making?

Hit this link to see photos of the races and (some) practice runs:

IWRO/LGRA Sprints

(Note: After the link, please ignore the paragraph at top of the page. This is from a template I typically use for Agility. I've used it in the interest of quickly getting these photos on line for all to view.)

Thanks very much to Liz Campbell for introducing me to the sport and to Jack and Mary for letting me come out and shoot!

Nothing afte the jump this post.

DOCNA Camp GittaQ Agility

2009-06-30T10:59:00.010-06:00

Here's the link to the Saturday and Sunday combined gallery: CampGittaQ

(That Christa has a way with words, no?)

Among my favorite captures this time around is this simple shot of Linda Newby and Wunder. I've been roundly chastised for posting unflattering people shots -- and YES, dear agilophiles, I'm trying to do better! But in this shot Linda looks as cool as the other side of the pillow. And Wunder's got that muscular, Doberman-black-sheen thing going on. Oh yeah, he's a good looking boy! (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

On the other side of the spectrum is Daisy Mae, Shannon Paulson's All American. Her signature weave 'dismount' is a sight to behold. I got lucky and caught Miss Daisy at the right time here. I wasn't as lucky on one of her equally spectacular teeter dismounts.

And how was our weekend? Well, it was the best of times and...

Wyatt and I had our best day ever on Saturday: Double Q and easily our best Jumpers run EVER at 5.29 yps! (Dang you Christa for going 5.6 or something amazing like that with Annie on Sunday. We have a little corgi rivalry going on.) But more importantly, Wyatt was happy to be there. Perhaps we should've quit while we were ahead because on Sunday, oh my, we did have our problems in both standard runs. I blame myself. We got some of our enthusiasm back for our final jumpers run though. And it was still a great day at a great trial!

Oh, and lest I forget, Suzie and Little Miss Josie had three really nice runs on Sunday. Josie pretty much nailed her weave entries in Standard (a first) and but for one jump that somehow got right in Josie's way, they would've had a clean Jumpers run as well. Big Thanks to Jim Mills for some great and timely handling advice for Suzie prior to those runs. I think it helped. A lot. (We'll both be attending Jim's seminars in Grand Junction come September.)

Enjoy the gallery!

Four Star USDAA Trial

2009-06-22T21:08:00.005-06:00

Here are the links to galleries for the Four Star USDAA Agility Trial held at Lynnleigh this past weekend.

Team (Friday)

Regular Trial (Saturday and Sunday)

Briefly:

I don't think I've ever seen as many extremely high-level handlers at one event...

One of my favorite shots...

I'm starting to see a pattern here with the rain. (Let's hope for clear skies for DOCNA this weekend!) It wasn't the greatest weather to shoot in at times but I do like what the rain added to this chute shot. (Click on it for a slightly larger view.)

As for Team Wyatt, in P I Jumpers, the young man gave me his absolute best run ever. It was fittingly the very last run of the trial and was judged by LaVar, who has been full of encouragement for me and W since our debut in March.

Big Congratulations to both LaVar and TJ Mazur for their judging debut.

I'll try and post a few of my favorite shots this week. Some phenomenal weaves and pretty cool broadjumps come to mind.

It was nice meeting a bunch of you and seeing new/old friends.

Thanks for visiting.

Great Salt Lake Trial Combined Gallery

2009-06-08T22:54:00.011-06:00

Sunday was WET. Hats off to everyone who toughed it out.

I shot very, very little but came away with a few keepers, including this CUTE shot of Forrest exiting, no, make that floating, out of a tunnel! You go Forrest!

I've combined both days in one gallery -- something I hope to start doing regularly. And it's here: GSL Combined

Thanks to Wendy, Melissa (and the Chihuahua Crew), George and everyone at the Great Salt Lake Dog Training Club for putting on another nice event. Looking forward to their September trial.

Also, special congratulations to Adrianne Belger and Dune on their Novice Standard title! That's them here:

I leave you with a shot of Derby that just makes me smile! (Click on it for a nice big view.)

Great Salt Lake AKC Agility Trial

2009-06-06T20:09:00.005-06:00

Here's the link to today's shots: GSLDTC Agility

The courses seemed to lend themselves more to jumps today. Lots and lots and lots of jumps.

Here's one of my faves:

We began printing on-site today, which went over pretty well. Folks seem to like the idea of ordering and receiving prints on the spot. Weather and technology permitting, we'll do the same tomorrow.

See you then!

Game Over!

2009-05-25T16:47:00.004-06:00

And what a nice trial it was.

Thanks to ALL the GOOD folks at the Group IV Terrier Club for putting on this event. Thanks as well for allowing me to shoot.

I only shot Open and Novice classes today. And there weren't really a lot of participants to shoot...

Here's a link: Sunday Photos

Sunday's shots

2009-05-24T19:42:00.004-06:00

Today's shots: GIV Agility

Kristin and Gyp were awesome today. I like this particular shot for what it is visually and because it reminds me of Kristin, an EXCELLENT young handler who seems to have these sort of intense conversations with her dogs during her runs, moreso than most of us. I believe they gained something like 85 speed points today. I'm not really sure what that means but I think it's good. (Laugh at me tomorrow if this is some impossible number or simply for my sheer lack of knowledge on the subject!)

Because of the rain and because I ran Wyatt (who did GREAT today), I only shot Excellent Standard. Apologies to other classes.

It was great visiting with folks who came by the tent today to check out photos. I'll fill orders tonight and welcome anything that comes in next week. The online ordering process is pretty straightforward. I try to turn orders around in less than a week.

Hasta Manana

More Group IV Terrier Club Agility

2009-05-23T21:20:00.003-06:00

Today's shots are up and here's the link: Saturday's Photos

I ran Wyatt (above) today -- and Suzie ran him twice. Hmmm. He is supposed to be my dog now. I guess if you define 'mine' as one-third of the time, then yes, Wyatt's my dog. (Mind you, she's also running Josie!) That girl just can't let go!

Not a Q in sight but we had FUN. I've heard from several friends so far this weekend that getting little pieces is fine but that it's frustrating when it's just little pieces time after time. I hear you but I guess it's all about perspective... Wyatt had flat out had enough at last weekend's ASCA trial in particular and more and more in general lately. So to get the little pieces (big pieces, actually) that we got today was a lot better than the alternative...

See you on site tomorrow!

Group IV AKC Agility Photos

2009-05-22T20:40:00.005-06:00

OK, here are some shots from today: Group IV Agility

A little heavy on the weaves -- my weakness -- but plenty of jumps and other stuff as well... I think this is one of Nona's briard's again. Don't you just love that hair!

You can either order online or find me at the trial if you're interested in a photo -- I can print a small number of shots each day -- or if you have a specific 'want' for your dog.

Enjoy!

Jessie - with a dog's point of view!

2009-05-21T12:41:00.017-06:00

So, what are they thinking when you plop 'em down in front of the lights??? Well, here's a recent conversation with Jessie, Dot's striking dalmation...

Me: Jessie, hey. Good to see you. We'll have you sit right here.

Jessie: Here? Let's get this over with. [Yawns] Already bored!

.Me: Aw, c'mon, Jessie. It'll be fun.

Jessie: Not listening Mr. Photographer man. Going to sleep now.

Me: Would you do it for a cookie?

Jessie: Hmm. Where do I look?

Jessie: How's this?

Awww. Thank you, Jessie!

Hee hee. Truth be told Jessie was far from uncooperative! We actually had what we needed in the first few shots. It was only later that we caught that great yawn and the precise moment of the blink...

Merlin -- The Cat?

2009-05-20T08:23:00.022-06:00

Yes, that's right: Merlin is a cat.

This is apparently clear to everyone except... Merlin, an 18 year old domestic long hair who has been with his owner, Denise, all of his life, and more than half of hers. But after our "sitting" you'd think he's a much, much younger man.

When Denise asked me to shoot Merlin, I had reservations. I thought there was no way a cat was going to sit for the camera, especially for any length of time. But after Merlin got comfortable with strangers in the house -- Suzie gaffed (controlled the lighting) for me -- Merlin did in fact sit pretty, on his terms, in his favorite spot on the couch.

With the late afternoon sun coming through a window from the right, this shot almost lit itself. I just added some fill flash from Merlin's left. So the cool thing here was that Merlin, being the boss of me in this particular situation, actually helped/forced me try something new.

The stalking shot is the one that most resonates with Denise though. It reminds her more of the active, dare I say something of a Bad A** Merlin was in his prime: a houdini, who could unlock kitty carriers and open doors, a thief, of jewelry and all things shiny, and an antagonizer of dogs.

Truth be told, I'm not entirely happy with the online versions of these shots. We went for -- and got -- some truly dramatic stuff. The Print of Merlin in the grass is, if I do say so myself, amazing. Surprised me, even. (Picking up a portrait at the lab, having that first look, is a such great feeling.) If you know Denise, don't take my word for it. Drop in on her and check it out -- she'll ply you with her latest batch of homemade cookies and you won't want to leave!

(Nothing after the jump this post.)

Agility crops... I'm starting to get it.

2009-05-18T10:33:00.007-06:00

Both at the trial and in a few orders that came in this morning, I was asked about cropping photos. Here are two crops of Trace, Laurie Spease's very quick little corgi, which Laurie just ordered. Pretty good stuff. I especially like the jump. These examples are very tight crops of shots in which handler and dog were on the far end of the course but they will print up nicely.

So, yes, I can do crops! There's a comments section in the online ordering system where you can state your crop preference, or you can call or email and let me know what you'd like done.

But I say this with a caveat: if there is an ocassion where the crop is just too extreme, I'll tell you I'd rather not do it -- and I'll work to get you the shot you want next time. Why? Because frankly, I've just seen too much inferior quality stuff over the years, stuff you all have paid good money for. Stuff that, in my humble opinioin, shouldn't have been allowed to see the light of day. And I don't want to be that guy...

Posting some portraits later today or tomorrow. Stay tuned! And rest up for Lynn Leigh!

Muddy Paws, Day 2

2009-05-17T18:21:00.007-06:00

Here's the link: Day 2 of the ASCA Muddy Paws Agility Trial

(See the entry below or look under "Sites & Galleries" for yesterday's link.)

I didn't shoot nearly as much today. If you didn't trial Saturday, I tried to get you today. I shot the snot out of this briard (above); couldn't help myself!

On a personal level, Wyatt and I didn't have such a good day. The young man just did not want to run. Suzie and Josie did okay though. Methinks Josie is one to watch. It's gonna be a little while yet, but she's getting there!

Thanks for looking!

ASCA Muddy Paws Agility

2009-05-16T21:34:00.008-06:00

Here's the link: Day 1 of the ASCA Muddy Paws Agility Trial

I think I shot too much...

More to come tomorrow. Enjoy!

All the way from Ohio... meet Toby

2009-05-05T19:10:00.010-06:00

What to do on vacation, on the road, far away from your comfortable home studio environment, when you want a portrait of a very important person.... err, companion animal, who means the world to his family, and who happens to be... family? You enlist your brother-in-law to serve as set designer (yeah Jeff!), throw up a few sheets and turn an ordinary foyer into a home-away-from-home studio.

The end result is this shot of Toby, a three year old Corgi of the Pembroke variety. Hard to believe it, especialy when you spend a little time around him, but Toby was actually given up by his first owners and became a rescue dog before landing in his forever home with Jeff, Lillian, Catherine and Michael.

And since we think of them as cousins, we couldn't pass up the chance to get a shot of Toby with Wyatt (our corgi).

As corgis go, they couldn't physically be more different, with Wyatt's long, lean body and that fluffy coat, compared to Toby's stocky linebacker-like build with his beautiful short hair. Surely there's not a female corgi who wouldn't absolutely drool over one or maybe even BOTH of them!

Probably the most remarkable thing about Toby is his drive. We had serious discussions about whether to whisk him away in the middle of the night and make him Super Agility Corgi but for some reason we thought better of it...

(Nothing after the jump this post.)

Agility Photos!

2009-05-01T17:59:00.008-06:00

It took much more work than I thought, but I've finally built an online 'storefront' for last weekend's USDAA Agility Trial in South Jordan!

Here's a link to the gallery: Agility Photos!

It was a wet but fun weekend and we had a blast. Wyatt, our litte bundle of paradox, (above) ran much faster than usual, probably because of the cool weather and the fact that we are now running him at 8" instead of 12". Had I not been guilty of some poor handling at a key moment in Steeplechase, we might've even finished in the money!

As for the photos, the site is organized in sections; select your class and go right to it. I'm new to the crazy world of html (code) so please, please let me know if there are any issues.

We are now only taking orders by e-mail, telephone and snail mail but we hope to be set up with PayPal soon.

Enjoy the gallery!

Cesar

2009-03-06T16:54:00.005-07:00

This week we were able to sit down with Cesar, a standard Schnauzer.

Cesar and his owner Marianne have been a fixture in local agility and obedience circles. He is currently working on his UD in obedience and a MACH (Masters Agility Champion, I think). Advancing this far is a pretty big deal, especially for a schnauzer.

For our shoot all that training and discipline meant "Ceeze" could hold a pose, like, FOREVER!

We tried several different lighting set-ups and came away with an extremely high number of keepers, thanks to his spectacularly good looks.

Here's a second shot:

(Nothing after the jump this posting.)

Tia & Callie

2009-02-26T17:14:00.017-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I really nail a shot while at other times it really is all the dog. This photo of a pair of Australian Shepherds, Tia, on the left, and Callie is one of my favorites so far. That amazing look of Tia's gave me goose bumps the first time I pulled it up on a monitor.

Hit the 'read more' link for two more shots.

More Tia. So photogenic! Most of the shots of Tia that didn't turn out were errors on my part - bad focus or underexposure. It happens. But we came away with so many 'keepers' that Tia & Callie's owners, Coleen and Kevin, and I had a difficult time paring things down to a select few for printing.

This shot of Tia didn't make the cut -- for Coleen and Kevin anyway. It's one of my favorites though so I thought I would

share.

What do you think?

Meet Mitzi!

2009-02-23T09:23:00.014-07:00

... and David and Erin, too.

I tend to focus primarily on the dogs themselves but I also like shooting family portraits; either way, without fail, a sitting becomes a window into the love and affection we have for our companions. And in this case there was the doting -- lots and lots of doting -- over Mitzi. It was priceless. I knew it going in but our session confirmed that Mitzi means the world to David and Erin.
More after the jump.

Mitzi's a Miniature Schnauzer. She was 4 months old at the time of this photo. ~~Many~~Most dogs are just plain cute. Some have a sort of regal air about them. Mitzi has both. At her young age she hasn't spent a lot of time around other dogs, so it was great to see how she reacted to our Wyatt and Josie, who are both pretty gentle around younger animals. (I wonder if they feel the same sort of emotions we do around human babies?) It's thought that Mitzi may actually believe she's a person, so no telling what she thought of these two other... beings. She seemed a little timid at first but before long she was romping around, play bowing and having a blast with her new buddies.

Note Cards

2009-02-20T13:57:00.026-07:00

Starting in March, I'll be adding note cards to my photographic quiver.

I'll use Josie here to illustrate the style -- very simple, just Jose against a white background.

(Full disclosure and shameless plug: Josie is our girl. She's a big time cuddler with serious herding 'cred' in her lineage. She's two now. She almost killed us with abject fear last year when she ate a rug and had to have it surgically removed. This was no ordinary meal -- she ate the darn thing Lady and the Tramp style (think their spaghetti date). She unraveled it into a strand that ultimately went from her mouth all the way to her, hmmm, other end -- in one piece. I wanted to ~~kill~~ hug her and never let go.
More after the jump.
I got the idea for the cards this past Christmas after getting comments about a really hastily thrown together Christmas card:

We got so much positive feedback from this that we will be taking orders for Holiday Cards in September, possibly earlier. Here again, it's just shot against a simple white background, nothing to distract the eye from our subjects.

(I've already introduced Wyatt and Josie. On the left is Digger. In January, just two weeks shy of his 15th birthday, Digger left us. I still can't 'talk' about it beyond that. We miss him a whole lot, but sadly his time had come.)

I'll leave you with this last example, a shot of Craig, a beautiful border collie. He's from strong herding stock as well (like Josie, from Idaho). Craig belongs to Marianne, a very good friend of ours.
We'll be taking printed note cards of Craig, along with a few other samples, to our next agility trial. I think that will be the DOCNA trial March 14/15 at the Legacy Center in Farmington. I'll add a note to this post when we know for sure.

Thanks for visiting. I'll try and have another post up by Monday.

Enjoy your weekend!

Wyatt

2009-02-18T07:57:00.018-07:00

I envision this blog as a means to share images and talk about some of the great dogs I am lucky enough to photograph. It will also allow me to talk about agility (dog obstacle course) and herding, as well as our family's pack. With this first post, I think I'll go there -- to family, and Wyatt, our Alpha Dog.

Wyatt's a pembroke welsh corgi. He's five. If you're thinking he doesn't look like other corgis you may have seen, you're right. He's a fluff. He came to use from Phoxhaven Corgis, in Mississippi, when he was just six months old -- and still small enough to fit in a carry on bag.

Luckily for us, his long coat disqualified him from conformation (think 'Best in Show'), and his breeder liked the idea of him going to a home where he could herd and run agility. Otherwise, our paths might not have crossed.

Wyatt's smart and pretty athletic, a good thing for performance sports, but he is also spoiled rotten. That's not a good thing for sports where drive and obedience are required. We're working on that...

The shot above is of Wyatt patiently posing for me while I tried out a new flash. Those are his eyes at the top of the page. And over on the far right is a link to his website. Feel free to check it out and meet the other members of our brood.
Wyatt's a GREAT poser, capable of sitting in place for long periods. He's my go-to guy for trying a new technique or standing in for other dogs when I'm getting set for an actual shoot.
In fact, it was Wyatt who first showed me I can actually make nicely lit portraits. This shot was my very first attempt at doing so. He may be spoiled but he sure spoiled me by being such a willing and, if I do say so myself, handsome model! I shared this image with some friends and, through word-of-mouth alone requests and referrals for sittings began coming in.

So thank you, Wyatt!