The race is on

[Rita]

Today I went, for the first time, to see the Whippet races. Armed with my camera and the thought that I would get some good images and away I went. I knew that they were going to be fast but they proved to be much faster than I thought. Came away with a lot of images with partial or no dogs in them (oops). Action is not something that I normally do so it turned into a great, but frustrating, learning experience. It was a lot of fun though. Mostly what I found was that if my shutter speed was good for stopping blur then I didn't feel that my images had a sense of motion. Oh, to find the balance. The image I am posting I do feel has a sense of motion because the dogs are in various positions. It was shot at f8 and SS 1/2000. Don't know if I will have the opportunity to do this again but any suggestions for doing such a quick race would be nice. I also used ai servo.

[Digital]

Rita, in my humble opinion, you captured this image very well.



Bruce

[John 2]

The alternative would have been to pan with a slower shutter speed to blur the BG and leg movement a little but as I say, that's an alternative. This as it stands, is a really good capture.

[IzzieK]

Rita, I reckon you can freeze the piss spray of a dog at 1/2000 just like how you did with the spray of grass behind them. Don't ask me why... I can hear your laugh this way...

I was doing shutter speed yesterday in my course and then answering some fun quizzes guessing the shutter speed used in some photos I have only seen the first time, I reckon I got most of them good or one stop above and below the right answer. It was a good exercise. Anyway, on seeing your shot, I automatically thought 1/2000. I am guessing here but I think upward around 1/500 -- 1/750 will show movement blur better. Just a thought, 1/500 might be an overkill on the blur, a few stops over upwards I am sure will do the trick. This is not the only shot you took. Let us see some more. they are awfully sharp and getting them in mid-air, is brilliant. I love it.

[Shadowman]

Great capture of the strides of the racers.

[Rita]

Thanks Bruce and John.

John2 Thanks for the feedback. I did try a few with panning and I rapidly became aware that my panning skills need some serious practice time

Izzie, thanks for your comments. I don't know why you didn't hear me laughing, it was loud enough Will try and get some more images processed later today and I will post them when they are done.

[rpcrowe]

Wonderful shot, showing the athleticism of these dogs. Was this an event done at a dog show or under the auspices of a dog related organization or was it a commercial dog race.

I selected the BG and reduced the brightness a bit which put more emphasis on the dogs...

[RBSinTo]

Rita,
With respect to the subjects, the dogs, I think you've captured them well: nice grouping, with two of the four completely airborne, and the other two almost so.
Beside the question of selecting shutter speeds that will give you how much or how little motion blur, I think the biggest problem with the shot is the background which is distracting because to the depth of field selected.
Assuming you've got some ISO, lens aperture and shutter speed to play with on your camera and lens, you should consider combinations that will give you shallower depth of field as well as freeze, or almost freeze the dogs' motion, which in my opinion would improve the compositions.
Robert

[bnnrcn]

Great image Rita

[Rita]

Hi Richard, this was not part of a dog show, it was an event for the Whippet assoc. I have included the links here for the event.

https://allevents.in/a…/nawra-whippe...64855553882766
http://allevents.in/a…/nawra-whippet...36186490007350

I will look at gardening the background as you suggest. Thank you.

[Rita]

Thanks Binnur.

[Rita]

Robert, thanks for the feedback. I do hope that at sometime I will get a chance to try this again and I will keep your suggestions in mind. I may even look for some other action type things to do so I can get practiced up.

[RBSinTo]

Robert, thanks for the feedback. I do hope that at sometime I will get a chance to try this again and I will keep your suggestions in mind. I may even look for some other action type things to do so I can get practiced up.

Rita,
Why wait for "sometime" with dogs?
For starters, you can use cyclists, or even moving cars as panning targets to hone your skills and work out shutter speed aperture and ISO specs that achieve the looks you want in your photos.
Easy to do on a busy street or at the side of a highway.
Robert

[FootLoose]

I think that is a great shot, Rita. You have caught each dog in a different stage of its stride, and being 'airborn' there can be no doubt that they are in motion.

But as Robert says, you can practice panning anytime on any thing that moves. I sometimes sit on a park bench and practice panning and shutter speeds on walkers and joggers.

[Rita]

Thanks again Robert. I am going to practice the panning. Won't have much chance to get out this week but I will be working on it next chance I get

[Rita]

Thanks for commenting Greg. As the saying goes it is "Practice Practice Practice"

[Rita]

Ok Izzie, as requested here are some of the other shots from the races.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 And last one....who can refuse a cute puppy

[rpcrowe]

I feel better... When coursing dogs demonstrate their speed and agility as part of a breed association event, it is a delight to behold.

However, when I see images of commercial dog races (usually grayhounds) I feel sorry for these poor dogs who are dumped at the end of their career and very often euthanized (nice term for killed). There are several rescue organizations that specialize in dumped racing dogs... They make wonderful family pets...

[Rita]

Richard, I am right with you on this. Any of the dog owners that I was able to speak with all gave me the same impression. And that was that the dogs are family pets as well as racers. And you are right, this was a joy to behold. I don't think that I would ever attend a race that was commercial and taking bets as I would imagine it would be a totally different cup of tea.

[IzzieK]

All beautifully done and presented, Rita. Even at 1/2000 some of them, e.g. #6 has a bit of blur thrown in as he must have been travelling faster than the speed of (light) a bullet. Also #3 -- what a beautiful animal! I like his colour...You had some good fun there...