DOG AGILITY PHOTOGRAPHY

DOG AGILITY

Most people know how much I love photographing animals, ANY animals it doesn't matter but last year I was introduced to DOG AGILITY by a very good veterinary friend of mine and she simply said "you should really have a go at photographing agility - HOW HARD CAN IT BE?".

SPEED

I shoot motor bikes on a track doing 150 mph, I shoot race horses at the point to point going mach 2 over a brush and to be honest I've never failed to get the right picture but then I started on dog agility and found out how incompetent I can be - these dogs are the only animals that have ever caught me out and made me look absolutely stupid. Of course that was last year and things are different now because I've been practising and there's no way those little buggers are going to make me look a pratt!

Anybody who has tried to photograph a collie that understands far more about agility than his handler, will know exactly what I mean - these dogs cannot be predicted - they never ever jump a fence the same way twice - they know nothing about strides like a horse in show jumping because they can easily tear round the course on one leg - they don't jump when you think they will and they turn 360 degrees in mid flight, how can anybody take great pictures of dogs when they do this?

Anyway I have found a perfectly good method of taking more than acceptable pictures, pity it doesn't work all the time because some of the little gits still catch me out and they do it on purpose, they communicate to each other - I can see it in their faces when I'm near the start line, "RIGHT BOYS LOUIS'S HERE AGAIN WITH HIS CAMERA - TAKE OFF EARLY ON NUMBER 3!!!
That's why I love this type of photography and there's nothing better to test a persons professional competence than AGILITY!! So my Professional RESPECT goes out to all agility photographers.

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