Posted on April 20, 2012 in Animals, Pet Photography
Say hello to my new friend, Australian Cattle Dog, Hedi [Jems Cool Blue Diva]. I had the pleasure of meeting Hedi and her human family in Harrisburg last weekend. What a pretty girl! You can’t see it in this image, but Hedi has an amazing tail! Her coloring is just gorgeous! According to the AKC website, the ACD originated when “In the 1800s, Australians began crossing Dingo-blue merle Collies to Dalmatians and Black and Tan Kelpies. The result was a dog identical in type and build to the Dingo, only with a thicker set and peculiar markings – and also an excellent worker.” Australian Cattle Dogs are members of the Herding Group and they are best known for being cattle herders and livestock guardians.
Posted on April 19, 2012 in Animals, Pet Photography
Choose your background first! That’s what I’ve always been taught as a photographer! You don’t want to have distractions in the background or around the edges of an image that detract from the subject. I’m a stickler for this and photographing at a dog show – with all of the chairs, people, other dogs, vendor booths, crates, etc. – just about drives me nuts when I see a great image, but there is “clutter” in the scene. As a result, I hesitate to photograph ring shots a lot of times when the dog and handler are in a position where there is a lot going on in the background. If you’ve seen any of my images, you’ll notice that I like frame-filling shots. Sometimes too frame filling as I don’t leave enough room on the edges for cropping if necessary in order to obtain a particular print size. I compose in camera – not in software after the fact. So, this very pretty Vizsla was waiting to go into the ring at the Harrisburg Kennel Club show last weekend and I loved the color of the dog against the pattern of the handler’s skirt. In this case, a “busy background” was a good thing!
Posted on April 18, 2012 in Animals, People, Pet Photography
Australian Shepherd, Jack [Ch. Wyndstar’s Honorable Mention], was on hand in Harrisburg over the weekend to “paw-tograph” copies of the book written about him by Josh Dean titled “Show Dog: The Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred”. In addition to signing books and meeting his adoring fans, Jack was also in the ring winning ribbons! He is adorable and I highly recommend this book! Thank you to Josh for taking a moment to pose with Jack for this image!
Posted on April 17, 2012 in Animals, People, Pet Photography
It was early morning on the second day of a three-day show. The smell of coffee was in the air and folks with their dogs were gathering around their designated rings for the start of a new day. Cliff Steele and German Shorthaired Pointer, Scarlet, [GCH. Skypoint’s Our River Runs Free] were scheduled to be in the ring at 8:30. While waiting to be called, they walked around the show hall together – Cliff chatting with friends and Scarlet checking out all of the toys and bones in the vendor booths! “Hey Cliff…will you buy me a new toy?”
Posted on April 16, 2012 in Animals, Pet Photography
She’s currently the #1 dog in the country all breeds and she was in Harrisburg, Pa. on Friday picking up another Best in Show ribbon – her 12th of the year. She’s Fifi, Ch Protocol’s Veni Vidi Vici. What an impressive dog! Congrats Fifi!