Puppy pick and mix

Spent some time with friends and their puppies this weekend. I think the pics speak for themselves…

Focal point

One of the reasons I’ve not posted recently, along with all the usual seasonal stuff, is that I’ve really got into my photography this year. I do have a bit of a dilemma though – what do I do with it, where do I go with it?

I’ve often been asked why I don’t join Flickr. To be honest, I don’t see the point. What’s the point putting your images in the public domain so you get a load of comments saying “wonderful, join our group” or “Fab, have 6 gold awards”. Pointless drivel. Then you get all the “etiquette” arse! “Oh, I commented on yours so you have to comment on mine”. Fine, quite apart from the fact your comment was pointless, and that I don’t have the time, I’d tell it as it is. If someone gave me 10 “awards” but I thought their photo was rubbish, I’d say so.

Actually, it might be quite fun to join and see how long it took me to get thrown off. What’s it they say, truth hurts! The fact is, I’d be happy to join if it was geared to constructive criticism, and yeah, if the image is shit for God sake let me know! I wouldn’t do it for a slap on the back, some kind of social therapy, I’d do it to learn, to challenge myself.

So, for the time being, the images stay on the computer with occassional outings to The Club, The Forum and (you lucky people) The Blog  : )

Right place at the right time

I love taking photos – the more I take, the more I want to take.

I’m no expert, I still have tons to learn, which is probably one of the reasons I enjoy it so much – I’m always learning. I find most of my best shots come from being in the right place at the right time, with a little bit of knowledge thrown in.

This shot was engineered – throw the ball to the other side of the water and the dog’s bound to take the shortest route:

Then it’s just a matter of tracking the dog and keeping it in focus.

This however, is more a case of luck – lucky the cat was there, lucky the camera was to hand and lucky the mouse was hungry!