Not Just Show Photographs
When at a show the photographs that are mainly taken involve a dog in the ring at the end of a lead, where it be standing or moving. Last year at Crufts that is what I did, I took photographs from ringside of many of the Welsh Springer spaniels in the ring. However this year I decided to change it up a bit, as I was focusing on my project looking at the Welsh Springer Spaniel.
When at Crufts I decided that I would take photographs both in and out of the ring. I ended up missing the first few classes of the breed due to showing and getting my own two dogs ready, however once I was finished I grabbed my camera and headed straight to ringside. From then onwards I photographed the dogs within the ring, be it them standing infant of the table or them moving round the ring.
To the right is one of the photographs that I captured in the dog lineup. This was taken just after the dog was awarded the Challenge Certificate. I wanted to capture the emotion between his handler/owner/breeder when he got the reward. Later on that day his was then awarded Best in Breed and got to represent the breed in the group ring.
Below is another of the many photographs I took on the day. This was taken in the judges lunch break, when the judging had been paused. I went around the benches and decided to take photographs of the dogs relaxing on their benches. The photograph below shows exactly what I was aiming to capture, a dog resting after being in the ring.
So when you go to a dog show to photograph the dog, don't just photograph them in the ring standing or moving, look for a different and unique photo that you can capture. If you are going to Crufts to do this go round the benches and capture the dog relax, but do remember to ask the owners permission. I was lucky as I only photographed dogs who I knew their owners.
