In The Field

Just finished up a wonderful weekend just outside of Dillsburgh PA. That's close to Harrisburg. Spinner, our little one year old got two legs on her Junior Hunter. We're headed for Gettysburg for a tour there and then onto Hersey to taste some chocolate. The picture is of Spinner bringing home the bacon!

Better In The Water Than On The Plate

Just finished up an article on the ever disappearing Nassau grouper population. That's me taking a picture of a friendly Nassau grouper that we see often in Little Cayman on Donna's Delight. Nassau groupers are under severe decline as over fishing destroys the remaining grouper spawning sites. Although grouper is a wonderfully tasty fish, maybe we could pass up a few meals in an effort to keep these friendly guys from disappearing completely. Karen and I are on the road for the next week, so probably limited blogging until we're back.

Unexpected Guests

Well our apple tree is laden with apples this year and the dogs are beginning to put on a few pounds from all the apples they are sneaking out around the trees. We also have a few unexpected guests drop by to sample our crop as well. These include a big fat groundhog (obviously having been sampling our apples for awhile), plenty of birds and deer. The picture here is of one particularly cheaky devil who doesn't mind stoppping by for a few apples in the late afternoon after the dogs have moved back into the house.

Antelop Canyon

I was cleaning up some of my image files today and came across this photo from our trip out to Page Arizona last year. The photo was taken in Antelop Canyon a famous slot canyon just outside of Page. Light filters down through the narrow canyon reflecting off the sandstone walls picking up this beautiful rich orange color. The purple is from the blue light reflecting directly off the blue sky above the canyon.

Vet Hab - Rehab

Well, Zinger was off at agility trials this weekend and came up a bit short. We think she is having some trouble jumping - maybe a sore shoulder or something. Anyways it's off to our favorite vet rehab clinic - VetHab. Run by Dr. John Sherman this is the place to go if you have a performance dog that is having some physical problems. The place is amazing. A ton of equipment and more importantly alot of dedicated people who love dogs. Let's keep our fingers crossed on Zinger.

Asleep At The Wheel

Well about this time every year I begin looking forward to the start of trial season again. I really enjoy being in the motorhome and on the road. I think we have pretty much every weekend booked up until the end of November. Our dogs like traveling in the motorhome as well as we do. In fact we have named our home "The Chatmobile" after Chat who absolutely lives to ride. Zinger takes a more laid back approach to riding. This one is of her having a little snooze in her favorite spot on my captain's chair at the helm. No I wasn't driving at the time!

Definately A Bird Day

Well, up early and off on my weekend ride. My first turn puts me in front of our neighbour John's place. I guess it's his 50th today because there is 50 pink flamingos out in front of his house with a sign - It's Nifty John is 50! I do remember mine - a while back though. Continue on and run into our local flock of 8 guinea fowl on the road behind us. A mile or two down the road and I come across a rafter of wild turkeys. That's a bunch! No males in the group I saw but had to have been twelve of them. What's with all the birds today. Finally almost back home and I pass a gaggle of geese in a lot a mile or or so from home. Boy a pile of birds for one ride! The flamigos were pretty cool - Happy Birthday John!

Galapagos Here We Come!

Well, we're almost ready for our photoexpedition to Galapagos this October. We had all the folks that will be traveling with us out to Fantasy Lake last weekend for a heavy wetsuit checkout. Boy it's been awhile since I've had anything on heavier than a 3mm. We plan on using 7mm suits this trip. No we didn't see any turtles in the quarry. But I bet we'll see a few when we head out to Darwin country in October. This one is of Alan a couple of months ago when we were in Little Cayman. He got himself positioned perfectly for the shot of the hawksbill turtle. You can tell it's a hawkbill because of the scalloped edge at the back of the shell.

The Best Toscano In Town

Out shooting some pics for Counter Culture Coffee (CCC) yesterday. Went to a couple of their customers places: Pheasant Creek Coffee and Shade Tree Coffee. This one is of Geoff, the owner of Pheasant Creek Coffee, behind his custom built La Marzocco FB-70 Hybrid. A beautiful machine which with the right hands on the portafilter manages to pump out some of the best of CCC's Toscano in town!

Staying Connected

With today's email, wifi, cell phones, PDAs, etc., it's hard to just unplug for awhile. There was a time not long ago when I swore I would never carry a cell phone. So look at me now! Karen snapped a picture of me "staying connected" in my kayak just off shore from our house in Brac. It does highlight how nice an office I have in Brac but it also reminds me of how compulsive I'm getting about keeping up with my email:-)

Seeing Motion

I generally shoot performance dogs with a very high shutter speed. They are just going too fast to catch them with anything slower than about 1/1000 of a second. Pictures generally come out tack sharp showing all the details you missed because they happened so fast you didn't see them. Once in awhile I like to add a little motion back into the picture. Rather than pan with a slower shutter speed I find it easier to add it in after with a little help from photoshop. Here's one I did of Cider. A wonderfully fast golden owned by Bill Gates. You can just feel how fast she's taking the jump!

Close To The Action

Spinner is our young pup. One thing that I find very funny is her daily feeding antics. She gets fed twice a day. We feed her a raw diet - email Karen if you want to find out more about raw. Anyways, when we are getting her food ready she always jumps up beside us and closely monitors the complete process making sure we do everything absolutely proper.

Our Motley Crew

Karen just arrived back from Cayman Brac on Thursday. Of course I have been insanely jealous of her being there while I was stuck here. The only saving grace being that I had the deluxe pleasure of looking after our three goldens for the week she was gone. For any of you who don't know who they are here is a picture. Chat is on the left, Zinger is in the middle and our newest addition Spinner is on the right. Chat, the smartest, has figured out that if he acted dumb and refused to learn anything he would never have to work too hard for his supper. I that he has succeeded! Zinger is our champion and she carries the title OTCH MACH2 Hideaway's Red Zinger UDX JH. At 10, she is slowing down a bit but has more than made up for Chat's less than stellar training regime. Spinner is a wonderful blend between Chat and Zinger. All of Chat's wild enthusiasm for the field and Zinger's trainability. She is taking up a good portion of Karen's time now with field, agility and obedience.

More Good Things About Summer

So hummers may be my favorite summertime creature but fresh, ripe tomatoes are right up there as far as food goes. Our cherry tomato bush is overflowing at the moment. Those plump, little red berries are wonderful in salads. We also have some hot chili peppers ripening nicely. They add a great little nip to our summer salsas.

Little Bird - Big Appetite

For me summer has some of the worst and best things of the year. The worst - poison ivy. Auchh, I always get it around August. The dogs run around the yard and into the natural areas, run through poison ivy and then rub up against my legs when they come back. Man I hate that!

One of the best things - hummingbirds! I absolutely love these little creatures. This year has been a good one for hummers. We regularly get five or six fighting over the food that we hang out on our back porch. Wow what an appetite. Right now I'm filling their feeders about once a day. That's a lot of sugar for a little bird.

Underwater City

Karen is back in wonderful Brac this week. A really cool thing going on there is the Atlantis project. Foots, one of the local artists has been building and sinking an underwater city modelled after the infamous city of Atlantis. If you ever have the chance to get over to Cayman Brac. This and the wreck of the Captain Keith Tibbetts are must sees!

Espresso My Other Passion

It amazing what a photographer will take pictures of isn't it? Take me for instance. Karen puts up with my somewhat overzealous passion for espresso. I belong to the Triangle Area's "Coffee Geeks". We meet weekly at Counter Culture Coffee, a wonderful specialty roaster, in fact my absolute favorite roaster in the country. If you have never tried fresh beans then do yourself a favor. Find a local roaster and give it a try. Like Morpheus said, "Once you take the red pill ..."

Fish Pics Above Water

Karen and I recently had a chance to visit and shoot an art exhibition by Alan Bennett. The Bennett Fish Show is being held at the Cedar Creek Gallery just off Creedmoor Road between Raleigh and Butner. Alan does an incredible job of recreating life sized clay sculptures of the underwater marine life. This is a must see if you can get there. Besides this has to be the first time I've shot fish without getting wet!

Lure Coursing - Speed Demons!

If you are a speed junky then you will love lure coursing! An event designed to test the physical prowess of the site hound breeds. This event has a course set up in a five acre field that simulates a hare zig zagging around the field to avoid pursuit. It was a hot weekend in late July when we were there but the dogs sure put up a show.
Our thanks to the MAHA club for inviting us to cover their trial.

PWG Trials

We covered our first Portuguese Water Dog Trial last month. What a treat! The trials are designed to emulate the work the dogs were originally bread for. To Quote the Dog Breed Info Center "Developed from working dogs brought by invaders and settlers to the Iberian Peninsula, the Portuguese Water Dog has aided Portuguese fisherman for many centuries. He herded and caught fish, carried messages between ships, retrieved anything that fell overboard, and guarded the catch and boats when in port. The dogs were valuable enough to be considered part of the crew and were given their share of both the fish and the money earned for the catch. Retired fisherman would often rent out their dogs to bring in some extra money. Gradually technology replaced the Portuguese Water Dog. Radios sent messages and winches pulled the nets. By the 1930's the breed was almost gone. Luckily, a wealthy shipping tycoon, Vasco Bensaude, took an interest in the Portuguese Water Dog and set out to gather fine specimens and start a breeding program. United States interest in the Portuguese Water Dog began in 1958 with the importation of the first pair. The Portuguese Water Dog Club of America was formed in 1972 and the breed was accepted for AKC registration in the early 1980's. In the United States, the highly intelligent Portuguese Water Dog is primarily a companion dog, but also excels at water trials, obedience, agility, and as a therapy dog and assistance dog.". Here's a picture from the training sessiion leading up to the event. Also thanks to the Movers and Shakers for having us.