Friday at Crufts #2

Second day in and I don’t think I’ll ever get my bearings. I keep saying it, but it’s huge and the trade stands just go on and on. I’m trying to resist not spending all my money. No Barney, you have a bed already. But they look so comfy. No, stop it. I have bought him a flea comb though; he’ll be pleased about that. Or maybe not – it’s a bit like receiving socks for Christmas – practical but not very exciting. Might just have to get him a glow in the dark collar though.

It’s funny in that although this is a big dog show with lots of dog displays, breed showing in the various arenas, heelwork, flyball, demonstrations etc, I still find myself more drawn to just photographing the dogs around and about. Sort of hanging out, snatched pictures and informal portraits. To me, I find this more interesting.

Lots of people are going on to the blog at the moment as the word gets around. If anyone has any requests or would like me to stop by in the next two days, feel free to get in touch and I’ll see if I can find you. Having said that, I didn’t manage to meet up with my pug contact from Tunbridge Wells, but I promise I’ll get some pug shots to make up for it.

Next blog post will be from the main arena for the Group Judging and Presentation for the Gundogs.

Mugly, Chinese Crested – I was told that Mugly is considered the most ugly dog in the world – I’m not so sure. He’s a real crowd pleaser and this Pets As Therapy dog lots of attention. Not surprised when you get carted around a pushchair.

Dare, Working Cocker Spaniel. Had to get this lovely lady on the blog – Barney will appreciate it when he logs on this evening.

Byron, Golden Retriever. I went and took a close up of Byron afterwards and although I was staring at him through the lens, when he let a loud woof, I jumped out of my skin. What a wuss.

Whiskey, Scottish Terrier.

Alfie, Working Sheepdog.  Alfie and the next two were competing in the Advanced Obedience.

Indy, Working Sheepdog. Love all the good luck cards, charms, balloons etc. This seems to be the thing to do for the dogs in this competition.

Ricky, Border Collie.

Yoda (right) & Vader, French Bulldogs. In amongst all these people and dogs, I come across one that I’ve photographed before (at Discover Dogs).

Vader (right) & Yoda, French Bulldogs

Dom, Toy Poodle

Dom, Toy Poodle (left) & Gizmo (Lhasa/Terrier X)

Tito, German Shepherd. Lovely light-coloured Pets As Therapy dog

Much Nattering, Not Much Snapping

Had a walk with some of the Southborough School mums this morning and got this posed team group at the end.

Thank you ladies – always good to have a gossip.

Talking of nattering, don’t forget to listen to BBC London’s Barking at the Moon program tomorrow night (Thursday) at 10pm as I’m going on the show. Eeekkk!

Archie, Honey, Maisy, Holly & Jess

Jess, Cocker Spaniel & Holly, Labrador

Jess, Cocker Spaniel & Holly, Labrador

Jess, Cocker Spaniel

Archie, Honey, Maisy, Holly & Jess

Oh Dear, How Sad

Managed to slip over on a slimy tree root before taking these. One minute I was standing there, the next I’m a pathetic mess on the floor. Most importantly though, I kept the camera up…hurray.

Once the dogs had stopped laughing at me, I got to work.

These two are Smudge, an 11 year old Shih Tzu and Meg, a 14 month old Border Collie.

Dog Agility Training

A couple from Hastings were at Dunorlan Park at the weekend, giving some agility training to their two Border Collies, Sami (Black dog) and Ruby.

It was very impressive to watch the two dogs working in tandem and under complete control. They attend various shows across the country meeting up with other trainers and dogs doing the same thing.

dog photographer Tunbridge Wells

Lovely, lively Leah

Quick one for Sunday evening. This is one of the dogs I photographed last week. Leah is a young Border Collie and of course, she has bundles of energy.

Dog photography in Kent

So here’s Bailey, who was out with Lily (who featured yesterday). Bailey is a Cocker/Border Collie cross, about six months old and is plenty bouncy.

Pictures of Lily

…so sang The Who. Probably didn’t have a Border Collie in mind when they wrote the song though. But it is a lovely name and every time I hear it, I do think of The Who song.
More dog photography whilst out and about in the Tunbridge Wells area. Lily was with Bailey who I will feature very soon and like most Border Collies, Lily really had a great turn of speed.
Love the typical lying down pose…very Border Collie.

Get down Shep!

Ahhh, “Get down Shep”.  Blue Peter and those immortal words uttered by John Noakes. Brought me right back to my childhood.
And this Border Collie is indeed called Shep. I do like to see a dog with it’s head out a car window. Admittedly, the car was stationary at the time while I was speaking to the owner, but nothing makes me smile like seeing a dog being blown in the wind. I expect that’s quite un-PC nowadays and I do remember seeing it more when I was younger. Then again, we’re all strapped in to cars nowadays, unlike my childhood where my brother and I used to slide around in the back of my dad’s Ford Zephyr. Happy days.

“Hello, can I photograph your dog?”

This morning, whilst walking Barney, I bumped into three mums (and five dogs) I recognise from the Southborough School. Obviously, the dogs had to be photographed for The Dog Snapper blog, but which one(s) to snap?
I only get a brief moment on these dog photography encounters. At the moment, these are just dogs that I’m coming across on my walks with nothing set up or planned in advance. A brief introduction with the owner along the lines of  “Hello, would you mind if I photograph your dog for my blog?” is, I’m pleased to say, usually met with “of course you can.” Not wishing to hold everyone up for too long, I get on with it as quick as I can.
Now, some owners are beginning to ask me whether they can buy prints etc of the dogs that are on the blog and also whether I will be doing dog photography sessions around Tunbridge Wells. The answer to these questions is yes and yes. I will be blogging about this very shortly.
So, back to this morning, I photographed two of the dogs that happened to belong to one of the walkers and below we have Archie, a two and a half year old working Cocker Spaniel, who (apart from looking huge compared to my Barney) I’m told is both greedy and loopy. Honey the Border Collie on the other hand is rather aloof and one of her favorite things is to bark at foxes.
As for the other dogs in this group, please don’t feel left out….I promise I will photograph you soon!