Greg, both belgian shephards belong to my girlfriend. She does train a lot with the Malinois (Amy). Lumi (the Tervueren) is still a bit young and immature so she just gets the fun program right now.
We just got ourselves a GoPro cam, so dog training videos will be next on the "to-do" list
Even though we live in Germany and folks would expect otherwise, there is very little understanding for Schutzhundesport. Acceptance is very low and even though we live in a very rural area and are pretty much the last house in the street, followed by a few miles of nothing, our neighbours already give us looks because of these dogs. If we would actively train Schutzhundesport with them I'm quite sure there would be no end to the grief we would get from our neighbours.
the solitaire wrote:
Greg, both belgian shephards belong to my girlfriend. She does train a lot with the Malinois (Amy). Lumi (the Tervueren) is still a bit young and immature so she just gets the fun program right now.
We just got ourselves a GoPro cam, so dog training videos will be next on the "to-do" list
Even though we live in Germany and folks would expect otherwise, there is very little understanding for Schutzhundesport. Acceptance is very low and even though we live in a very rural area and are pretty much the last house in the street, followed by a few miles of nothing, our neighbours already give us looks because of these dogs. If we would actively train Schutzhundesport with them I'm quite sure there would be no end to the grief we would get from our neighbours.
They are wonderful friends I am sure regardless of which activities you choose to engage them in. Here in the USA the sport has a very sparse following. I am fortunate to live a short distance from one of our National Training Directors. He has won the Nationals in tracking two years in a row, he has been team captain at the World Championships, handled the Universal Sieger though he prefers by a large margin Schutzhund, and just imported the two time National Champion from Spain. It has been a privilege to get to train with him and these wonderful animals. My neighbors also give me the same looks at times that you describe....but none of them try to come to my house when not invited :-))
I will post a couple of my friends soon!
Thank you for your response!!
Greg
Beautiful dogs and beautiful pictures George. My girlfriend really is sold to Belgian shephards. With Lumi, her 2nd and my 1st Belgian shephard I must confess that I'm now sold to.
My ex girlfriend took care of a German shephard police dog for a 2 year period, and when the police officer owning the dog decided to move from Germany to Australia we thought about adopting the dog for a moment.
Now a fully trained ex-UN munition search dog and fully trained drugs sniffer is a completely different experience as well as a task that comes with great responsibility.
Other then humans, the dog is always aware and always at work, so there are commands one can not use when walking the dog in public. We once had a situation where the dog started to search a car (my car luckily) for drugs or weapons. We also had several occasions where the dog sought out folks positively carrying drugs when we were travelling by public transport. Not always easy situations to deal with and not always without danger, but it was a one off experience I would not want to have missed, and in hindsight lots of fun was had.
I have just found this thread - beautiful images of beautiful dogs.
Just wish that I had the know-how to get some great shots with my D800 / 70-200 F2.8
I don't really have too much problem when it comes to stationary subjects but run into problems with the fast moving type.
Could some of you let me know your favourite AF mode e.g. d9, d21, 3D, auto etc? I shoot in AF-C and usually at around 1/1500 sec but just seem to get it right.
She mostly uses either:
AF 85mm f1,4D or
AF 180mm f2,8D
AF fine tune is a critical factor with 36 Mp. We mostly adjust AF fine tune for each shooting because temperature plays a role in where the focal plane ends up.
Her settings are:
A1 - focus and shutter
A3 - 1
A7 - 51
AF-C - 51 points
4 FPS and shoots in 3-4 photo bursts
Jack Crouch wrote:
. . . Could some of you let me know your favourite AF mode e.g. d9, d21, 3D, auto etc? I shoot in AF-C and usually at around 1/1500 sec but just seem to get it right.
Any help would be appreciated.
Jack
Hi Jack - I use a D750 and 85/1.8G but I posted an answer to a similar question upthread. Your 70-200/2.8 should be faster focusing (85/1.8G is not known for focus speed). Selected quotes:
". . . Good light and . . . It helps to start focusing before the dog is in optimal range so that the focus system has a chance to lock on to the dog's head.
. . . I used auto-ISO with a minimum shutter speed of 1/1000 (most were at 1/2500 or 1/4000), f/5.6, AFC-9, and shutter set to continuous low. Don't know if those were the "best" settings but they worked."
Solitaire - Kudos to your GF, great action shots of what I'm sure are fast-moving dogs.
I won't get a go at working with dogs for a few days but tomorrow I am photographing a bunch of volunteers who are raising funds for the Air Ambulance. They will be put through a tough army assault type course involving the usual swings, runs, climbs, swims in muddy rivers etc, against the clock.
While not exactly like live active dogs I guess that the same principles will apply. So, I will try to take onboard your suggestions and hope that I can get a better grip on the focusing elements.
Solitaire, please tell your GF from me that her pictures are brilliant!!
Bruce_T wrote:
Solitaire - Kudos to your GF, great action shots of what I'm sure are fast-moving dogs.
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Jack Crouch wrote:
Hi Solitaire / Bruce-T,
Solitaire, please tell your GF from me that her pictures are brilliant!!
Thanks again,
Jack
The girlfriend says thanks for the kind words. She's amember here as well but does not post too often because her english skills still need a bit of improvement (working on that. It's a self-consciounce thing )
)