You just never know

My latest picture was taken at Dogstock last year. While the original photo was ok it just never jumped out at me. I dont know why but I tried a quick out of bounds on it to see what it would look like and was very surprised. It turned into a very nice focus on the helper instead of the dog. I have to remember and just try a few even when the original doesnt catch my eye.

Bulldogs!

I was so pleased to get a picture of my mother's Bulldog, Sarge, with enough quality to enlarge it to a 16x20 picture. It's been about 30 years since I've done my own mat but after shredding a couple I got 'er done. I have to admit this is probably one of my best. The picture here just doesnt do it justice. It's always extra special when you get to do something special for your mother!

Long haired dogs

I just finished my first really hairy dog. I'm not sure if I would do many of them though. As beautiful as they are trying to get the hair to look natural is so time consuming and my fingers feel as if they are in a permanent cramp holding the pen. I am very pleased with my first attempt and found a few tricks to help keep the hair natural looking.

New Out of Bounds

I've been busy lately so I have not done much to keep up on this. I've been doing several of the pages on Facebook so it's time to get back to keeping my blog up to date. Some of the time it's been hard to find inspiration and I feel like I'm starting to fall into a rut. Then I come up with a picture like this that makes me love the out of bounds technique all over again.

This is Pax von der Mohnweise from our dog training club. He is owned by Jim Lempner and you can visit his website at http://www.jimlempner.com. They are a great team to watch and I expect to see them doing well at National and, hopefully, International competions.

That Others May Live

I know that phrase has probably been overused these days but what other phrase can you use for these dogs and what they can do for us. I just love to work on any pictures I'm able to take of this dog. He is handled, owned & trained by Mary Lehman. You can visit her site at Eagle Eye K9.

Phoenix's breeder can be visited at Valkyre German Shepherds.

Dogstock 2009

Dogstock 2009 this year at Placer County Schutzhund Club in Lincoln is now in the books as another successful yearly event. PCSC puts on the event yearly as a way to bring lots of helpers and competitors together for training, discussion, camaraderie and just plain fun.

Previous years have had people coming in from all over the state and this year was no exception. While we missed the San Diego group that always comes up we had contingencies this year from Oregon and even Canada.

There will be a more detailed write up on the Placer County Schutzhund Club website soon but I wanted to get a few of the images I was able to capture online for people to see.

We not only got to watch the training of the Schutzhund competitors but we also welcomed the Police Service Dogs for some brush up training.

There were a dozen helpers from around the state and Rob Dunn & Jessie Gabriel come all the way from Texas just for Dogstock!

I have so many shots this year that turned out well I very pleased. These are just a few of the ones I have finished sorting and cropping. More to come soon!

Busy Days

I've been busy the last month with my pottery site. I have the site up and have had a chance to enjoy throwing so new work. I hope to be able to split my time between my photography and my pottery. The pictures for my pottery and capturing how they actually look is more difficult than my Out of Bounds. Lighting is critical!

I expect to have some more samples soon but here is one of my favorites from a dogshow I had the pleasure to photograph. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun.