Dog Agility - Indoors

[NorthernFocus]

Well for various reasons it has been quite a while without shooting any agility. This past weekend there was a three day trial about 50 miles from where I live and I was able to make one day of it. Of coure this time of year in Alaska it was indoors. So the photography was challenging. Low light, weird WB (mixed indoor florescent and windows), messy backgrounds, limited access, etc. But for a dog lover/photographer it's hard not to have fun spending a day shooting hundreds of dog photos. I'm always amazed at the variety of dogs that people train to run agility. Here are a few shots.

Oh, these are also the first photos I've ever processed with LR. Finally bit the bullet

[Shadowman]

I think the smaller dogs are trained strictly for the amusement, although they are perhaps more agile (barring high jumps) than most pets.

Nice series, glad you had a good shooting opportunity.

[Saorsa]

If you've ever seen a terrier after a rat or rabbit, the herders are slow motion.

[Loose Canon]

Dan, I started with the bigger dogs and thought to myself: “man, these are really good”.

Then I got to the little guy, pictured those little legs churning, looked at that cute face, and about fell out of my chair! Made my day and it has been a “dog” kind of day for me anyway!

Good stuff Dan! Did great in challenging circumstances.

[pnodrog]

I like the results but what do you now think of using Lightroom for the processing and export?

[Downrigger]

They are terrific, sharp and full of dog-earnest action. The appeal dogs evoke in some of us is no doubt irrevocably hard-wired. Good luck with LR - so far it's all I know, so I'm blissfully unaware of what I'm missing otherwise.

I imagine these were shot at high ISO which likely accounts for a bit of the noise one can see. Did you use the masking with your sharpening and the noise reduction (luminance) adjuster? - these can help but I expect circumstances limited their reach.

[IzzieK]

These are good action shots, Dan...you've nailed each one of them. I was hoping there would be a Jack Russell with them though...

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the comments and glad folks enjoyed the photos. The border collies pretty much rule at these trials. Aussies run a close second. There are a couple of breeders that have a line of small, lean, unusually high energy golden retrievers that hang right in there. The terriers put up a valiant effort but they just can't compete over distance. The jumps are adjusted for size but there is no time handicap.

I like the results but what do you now think of using Lightroom for the processing and export?

Using LR was quicker than my previous workflow. I was using Nikon ViewNX2 for culling and CaptureNX2 for basic editing in a batch process and to generate web rez jpegs to post up as proofs. Which is all I did with LR this time. Haven't tried any serious editing with it yet.

... I imagine these were shot at high ISO which likely accounts for a bit of the noise one can see. Did you use the masking with your sharpening and the noise reduction (luminance) adjuster? - these can help but I expect circumstances limited their reach.

These were shot at ISO 12,800. I did end up underexposing some shots slightly therefore the noise. I just used basic NR and the default capture sharpening in LR. Tried it on a couple of shots, saved settings as a preset, then applied them to a couple hundred images and exported to jpeg. Also applied the standard export sharpening.

When I have to produce prints from any of these I will explore the LR develop module in more detail. If no time then I'll revert back to PSE until I can learn the necessary LR skills. But it's already been worth it for the catalog features and being able to get to the proofs in a single afternoon. My previous workflow took eight hours to produce the proofs, granted much of that time was simply waiting for View/CaptureNX2 to crunch away on the files.

[NorthernFocus]

These are good action shots, Dan...you've nailed each one of them. I was hoping there would be a Jack Russell with them though...

There weren't any that day. Here's the closest thing. Those little buggers are hard to hit anyway

[Marie Hass]

Excellent shots. Made me giggle. I love watching agility. Those dogs are there because they want to be. All you have to do is look at their faces and you can feel the joy.

Good captures in a difficult situation.

Marie

[dabhand]

When I have to produce prints from any of these I will explore the LR develop module in more detail. If no time then I'll revert back to PSE until I can learn the necessary LR skills. But it's already been worth it for the catalog features and being able to get to the proofs in a single afternoon. My previous workflow took eight hours to produce the proofs, granted much of that time was simply waiting for View/CaptureNX2 to crunch away on the files.

Dan - if you are not already aware B&H produce some really good videos on Youtube re Lightroom - but I can recommend those by Robert Rodriguez Jr. at http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...lightroom&sm=3 and those by Tim Grey - http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...ghtroom+5&sm=1

Each lasts around an hour; sometimes they may appear to be slow in moving on, but I find that really helpful as it means I can 'practice as they preach'.

[terrib]

Thanks for the smiles this morning, Dan.

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you folks enjoyed the photos. It is really fun shooting the events and just being there.

Thanks for the links, Steve. I'll check out some of the videos.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Excellent photo series. I really enjoyed these and got some good smiles and laughs. Your love of the subjects comes through. Dan, it is my personal opinion that LR pales in comparison to Photoshop when it comes to really making photos shine. I will do basic edits and experiments in LR, but when I have some images that I want to "finish" I move over to Pshop. I will use LR first to do the key edits to the RAW like wb/color, exposure tweaks, etc, but when it comes to contrast, lce, noise reduction, sharpening, etc, LR simply doesn't have the control I need. Has nothing to do with my knowledge of LR, I've done a lot of reading and using the tools. IMO, they just suck compared to Pshop. But for efficiently editing masses of photos, LR does the job very well.

Oh, and also, LR of course is superb at actually managing the photos and metadata.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, Matt. I do enjoy shooting the dogs. It makes for a fun, low stress day.

Yes I'm already seeing the limitations of LR. They could put a couple more of the PS tools into LR and it could be a stand alone photo editor. But as is it has its limits for sure.

[PhotoByTrace]

Always love seeing agility photos! These are great for indoor lighting... always a challenge.

[flashback]

Dogs having fun, really what else do you need to see. Great shots, love the first one most.

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you guys liked the photos. Thanks for the comments.

[rpcrowe]

I was raised with large dogs and until I married Judy, I considered a Springer Spaniel to be a small dog.

Judy bred and showed Maltese and I have fallen in love with these wonderful little white dogs. We no longer breed or show and our life now revolves around Maltese and Maltese-mix rescue.

However, I have had difficulty shooting the little Maltese in Agility competitions; especially Sara! Sara was one of the last dogs that we bred. She is a top competitor in agility and was the first female Maltese to receive MACH AKC Certification. She is a darling dog and loves her owner/trainer but there is a standing rule that I am never allowed near the ring when she is in competition. She saw me one time after we had not seen each other in a year and stopped running the course and ran over to be with me...

[NorthernFocus]

That's a pretty girl, Richard. But clearly the two of you need to be kept apart and your banishment from the ring sounds perfectly justified