Great Salt Lake Agility Gallery

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.