Canine Agility - Trial last week

[NorthernFocus]

After having the May trial cancelled due to flooding from melting snow, it was nice to get outside last week on a clear, hot day and shoot some dogs. Not used to shooting in bright sunlight/high contrast so I tried something new this time. Shot JPEG rather than RAW, activated D-Lighting, and left auto ISO activated rather than all manual. Blew a few highlights and forgot to change my compensation a time or two, but overall things came out OK and a lot less work afterwards in PP.

Shot with two rigs, D800E/200-400VR and D7100/70-200 2.8VR. Mostly used the D800 on tripod in fixed postion with a remote trigger.

My cover shot for the event was an emotional favorite for me, a GSP.



This club uses a red chute which makes for some great shots. Feet off the ground coming out of the shoot is bad form but makes for a cool photo.







These tunnel shots were all done with the remote trigger while I was standing across the ring by the chute.







This is a friend's Belgian.



Between runs I try to walk around and take some candids of both dogs and people.

[John 2]

A really good series Dan. I find it difficult to pick a favourite. If I had to, it would have to be the second to last but only because of the "Ah" factor. Great action shots.

[Donald]

Excellent stuff, Dan. I'm learning from you!

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, guys. An agility event is definately a target rich environment. Like any new subject matter one takes up, it takes a few events to figure out where/how to set up. Ideally the dogs should be turning towards the camera so you get dynamic body position plus face/eye contact. You have to know how the course will be run and where the handler is most likely to be when the dog reaches your target area. I watch the handlers walk the course just before the event starts. Of course I didn't post any of the shots where the dog/handler goof up and turn the wrong way coming out of the chute/tunnel.

Ironically I'm finding that I get better shots when using the remote trigger well away from the camera. I think because I spend more time to think about it and set up the shot knowing I won't be able to adjust once the run starts. Plus I don't second guess and change mid-stride like I do when the camera is in my hands. I'm also learning to take less, higher quality shots and not to rely so much on high fps bursts with multiple culls from each series.

[NorthernFocus]

One frustrating aspect of shooting these events is that the backgrounds are usually pretty messy. There is only so much you can do with how you set up to minimize distracting elements. This border collie and his handler are two of my (very few) regular clients. She wanted to use this shot of Rumble for something a little different so I worked it up for her. Simply cleaning up the BG a bit and applying a modified Topaz portrait preset made a huge difference. Here are the two versions.