James Newman
Member
I went to the new Discovery Green Park in Downtown Houston this morning where they were holding the Dock Dog competitions. I have been a bit stagnant as of late and having a hard time getting motivated to shoot. I just bought the new Nikon D3 camera about one month ago and you might think that just that fact alone would have me out shooting at every available moment, but it was not that way. My day job has gotten me so down and out lately that the creative juices almost stopped flowing completely. It changed this morning however, thank goodness, and the desire to shoot came over me once more.
I have never tried any kind of sports or action photography until this morning. The D3 was made for that kind of photography and I was finally able to have a go at it. The camera did all of the work. I was just hanging on to the back of it. The dogs were great athletes, most anyway, and they really do love doing what they do. Their handlers could hardly control them and keep them from diving into the water before they were ready. There were some young ones too, three months old, just getting started in the sport, and they were a bit hesitent. They knew what they were supposed to do, they just couldn't quite bring themselves to do it. I stayed for only an hour because Houston, at the end of June, can be unbearably hot and humid. In that time though I was able to get in some good practice and I came away with some photos that I really liked. I still need to work on my panning and keeping things framed properly but with some creative cropping I was still able to salvage shots.
These are two shots from the same jump. The dog's name is Cricket and she was a very young but talented entry. Her handler was also the youngest in the competition. They worked well together. She ended up jumping around 18 feet. The longest I saw was 22 feet and just for a reference, the world record is a little over 28 feet. That is quite a leap.
James Newman
I have never tried any kind of sports or action photography until this morning. The D3 was made for that kind of photography and I was finally able to have a go at it. The camera did all of the work. I was just hanging on to the back of it. The dogs were great athletes, most anyway, and they really do love doing what they do. Their handlers could hardly control them and keep them from diving into the water before they were ready. There were some young ones too, three months old, just getting started in the sport, and they were a bit hesitent. They knew what they were supposed to do, they just couldn't quite bring themselves to do it. I stayed for only an hour because Houston, at the end of June, can be unbearably hot and humid. In that time though I was able to get in some good practice and I came away with some photos that I really liked. I still need to work on my panning and keeping things framed properly but with some creative cropping I was still able to salvage shots.
These are two shots from the same jump. The dog's name is Cricket and she was a very young but talented entry. Her handler was also the youngest in the competition. They worked well together. She ended up jumping around 18 feet. The longest I saw was 22 feet and just for a reference, the world record is a little over 28 feet. That is quite a leap.
James Newman
