Month: April 2010

Last weekend I photographed a beautiful Spinone Italiano puppy and his family.  The goal was to capture photos of the puppy with the children.  We found a spot that was filled with dandelions and the girls had fun running through the flowers and sending all of the petals into the wind.  It made for some fun shots….like this one.  Stay tuned for photos of “Rufus”!

I saw these iron steps and railing a couple weeks ago when I was driving to a business appointment.  Of course I didn’t have my camera, so I made a mental note of the location so I could go back.  Today was the day.  I was in the general vicinity again and was able to grab the shot that I wanted.  The rusty steps and peeling paint on the brick wall add texture and I really like all of the graphic lines and circles in the decorative ironwork. 

Isn’t this the cutest dog ever?  Okay, well I think ALL dogs are cute … no matter how big or how small.  This is a Yorkshire Terrier with a look that will melt your heart!  I’ve been trying to research the tradition behind the red bow.  The breed standard says that Yorkies will have their hair pulled up and tied in a single bow in the center or with the hair parted in the middle and tied with two bows.  I’ve only ever seen Yorkies with red bows at the dog shows I’ve attended, so I suppose the red color must be tradition.  If anyone knows the actual background on this, please fill me in! 

A popular spot at the dog show is the “Meet the Breeds” area.  Throughout the day dogs and their owners are on hand to greet visitors who can get up close and personal and learn about the breeds.  The kids especially love to visit here because they can get down on the floor, pet, and play with the dogs.  This Brittany was being very patient as a couple of children were petting him and playing with his ears.  At one point the little girl gave him a big old smooch on the mouth!  Obviously the dogs in the “Meet the Breeds” area have a very good temperament and love meeting people!  To see more photos from the Harrisburg Kennel Club Dog Show, visit:  http://www.betsydallasphoto.com/Dog%20Show%20April%202010.html

This weekend is the Harrisburg Kennel Club Dog Show at the Farm Show Complex.  Definitely a fun event that I try to attend every year.  Not only do I love seeing all of the different breeds of dogs, but I love to photograph them.   This year I tried a new approach.  In the past I’ve been experimenting with different lighting techniques, on-camera flash, bounced flash, no flash, etc.  Yesterday I photographed exclusively with my Canon 135mm f/2.8 lens [ & no flash] which was tough because there was no zoom.  I prefer to keep a distance from the dogs so as not to scare them, but the prime lens forced me to move around a lot instead of being able to compose more easily with the zoom in camera.  I tried renting a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 but it was just too heavy to carry around all day and a tripod/monopod just doesn’t work at the dog show.   I have a fair amount of images that I like and have posted them on my website here:   http://www.betsydallasphoto.com/Dog%20Show%20April%202010.html   They are the cutest dogs ever and I just wanted to hug them all!   The photo above shows a Tibetan Spaniel and handler waiting to go into the show ring.