Going to the Dogs

[Bill Mattocks]

I don't know if this embedded slideshow will work, so just in case, here is the link to the photos I took today:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wigwam/sets/72157618610506491/show/


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[MA-Caver]

Bill, those photos ... they were ... just... awesome. Really enjoyed that what a great start to my day.
Your timing of capturing the dogs just at their apex of the jumps was great. Not an easy thing to do especially with the "target" coming straight at you and trying to maintain focus. The slight blur gave that sense of motion which helped the photos.
Liked also how you interspersed the action with "down time" photos and people and their dogs were just enjoying the day.

Great job!

 

[terryl965]

Very nice pics.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Great pics Bill. Looks like a fun time, I like to watch those competitions when they have them on TV.

 

[Cryozombie]

Did the best dog win that Giant Bottle of Beer in the background? Cuz I'd SO make mine share it with me.

Hehe.

Cool pics!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Did the best dog win that Giant Bottle of Beer in the background? Cuz I'd SO make mine share it with me.

Hehe.

Cool pics!

Thanks, everyone! Because my wife and I are forced to live 800 miles apart (by circumstance, not by choice), I try to spend my weekends doing something fun and different that I can share with her later on the phone and over the web. Michigan is great, they have tons of weekend festivals all over the state.

Frankenmuth is a touristy little town whose schtick is that it's a 'Bavarian' recreation. So they wear lederhosen and sell knockwurst and bratwurst, and lots of German (and Dutch) beer. There is some basis for it, most of the town's founders were Bavarian.

I got pretty wet taking photos of the dogs, but it was pretty easy to keep the camera dry, I just waited for the splash and turned my back to it. The focus was nearly all auto-focus - I quickly found that I'm just not fast enough to manually focus on dogs moving at those speeds.

I always learn something photographically when I go to things like this. One lesson was that my 70-300 manual focus lens stayed in the bag, should have brought a slower AF lens in that range. Well, live and learn!

 

[MA-Caver]

Did the best dog win that Giant Bottle of Beer in the background? Cuz I'd SO make mine share it with me.

Hehe.

Cool pics!

You can share with the dog... as long as you drink out of the same bowl at the same time... so stick your face down in it and start lapping... :uhyeah:


(yes, I'm talking about the beer dammit!... :lol: )

 

[Carol]

Great pics!

Do you have your dogs with you in Michigan? Did they get to jump?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Great pics!

Do you have your dogs with you in Michigan? Did they get to jump?

No, my dogs are still at home in NC - house is there, and I'm in an apartment here in MI. Our dogs could well benefit from that bath, though, they're filthy dirt-dogs who love nothing more than to roll on their backs in the dust that is our back yard after they finished with it. I seriously doubt I'd be able to get them to go off the end of the dock, though!

I would dearly love to TRY to get them to leap off a dock!

 

[Sukerkin]

Some nice shots there, Bill :tup:. Some nice dogs too - particularly liked the Collie and the Shepherd, tho' the Labrador was a happy looking fellow too ..

 

[ShelleyK]

SOme of those shots were fantastic!!!