Australian Shepherd Dog Show

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Bob Buchanan

Bob Buchanan

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2005
Posts
3,038
Location
Philadelphia, PA
Was asked to photograph an Australian Shepherd Dog Show yesterday in Santa Nella, CA. Was not that familiar with this breed prior to the shoot, but was certainly impressed. They are extremely friendly and intelligent -- and have no tails. The black and white puppy kept asking me to take him home, and I almost did. Yikes!!! Fortunately, his mommy was a champion that commanded super high prices for her kids that I couldn't afford.  :)

HERE are a few of the images.

The shots were done in bright sun in the late morning - creating a lot of high contrast. So I tried to do most in the shady areas using flash for fill and to even the contrast -- plus catch lites. Some cropping from the Raw, but no other post processing.

Canon 50D, 28-135mm IS kit lens, 580X Canon Speedlite flash.
 
Nice photos Bob. We previously house sat for some friends who have 4 Australian Shepherds, momma and 3 pups. Gorgeous dogs. Wish I'd taken more pictures, but here's what I posted previously.
 
Tom said:
Nice photos Bob. We previously house sat for some friends who have 4 Australian Shepherds, momma and 3 pups. Gorgeous dogs. Wish I'd taken more pictures, but here's what I posted previously.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link -- I had only read the first few notes on that thread. From your pics and from this show, they for the most part seem to have the same markings, tho some had very unique and different coloring.

Some of the owners were doing a thing with their dogs that I had not seen before at a show. They would first put the dog in a "sit", then walk about 20 to 30 yards away. The dog wouldn't move until the owner did a hand command that obviously meant come to me "really" fast. The dog would then do zero to 60 in about 10 seconds getting to the waiting treat. It wasn't part of the competition, just something various owners did during the day. Perhaps part of their herding training.

I wanted to put my 50D in AI Servo mode standing beside the owner to see how well it maintained the focus in full burst mode with the dog coming straight into the camera -- but unfortunately, did not have the time.
 
I can imagine that the dogs would show very well. Our friends don't show theirs, but we could see the herding instinct every time we drove onto the property; They'd "herd" the car towards the house.

I wanted to put my 50D in AI Servo mode standing beside the owner to see  how well it maintained the focus in full burst mode with the dog coming  straight into the camera
Click to expand...

The results of that would have been interesting to see.
 
Bob Buchanan said:
I wanted to put my 50D in AI Servo mode standing beside the owner to see how well it maintained the focus in full burst mode with the dog coming straight into the camera -- but unfortunately, did not have the time.
Click to expand...

When I had a 50d it was always in full burst mode and AI Servo. When ever I photographed something coming straight at me it worked flawlessly. Canon uses "Predictive focusing" in that mode. Once it has about two shots in then it starts to predict where the focus will be. Providing there is no radical change in the speed of the dog it will focus perfectly. Those Canon engineers are clever fellows. I have also seen dozens of focusing tests and it always works as it should.
 
Bob, You know an Australian Shepherd. My parents dog, Jessie, is an Aussie. Don't know if you were there or had already left a couple of years ago at Quartzsite when we let a bunch of the dogs loose and Jessie tried to herd Jake (Saint Bernard), Charlie (standard poodle) and Gordon (labrador). She wasn't getting much accomplished but she kept at it !

Wendy
 
Tom said:
The results of that would have been interesting to see.
Click to expand...

I may have posted this on another thread, but HERE is an AI Servo mode test comparing the new Canon 7D to a Nikon D700. The object is an auto coming straight at the camera (on a tripod) at 60kmph (37.5mph). The Canon burst is 8fps and the Nikon 5.

The frames in the video were taken from the test to note the focus on each.
 
Just like I said, it works perfectly. I have never seen a Canon fail that test.
 
seilerbird said:
I have also seen dozens of focusing tests and it always works as it should.
Click to expand...

Shortly after getting my 50D I looked at a lot of tests on line and was amazed -- that we now have cameras with precise Artificial Intelligence (AI) built in. At first I didn't think I would even need it as I don't do BIF that much - but quickly things started cropping up such as the dog show I just did.

Have never seen a dog move that fast before.  :)
 
Wendy said:
Bob, You know an Australian Shepherd. My parents dog, Jessie, is an Aussie.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Wendy -- no, I didn't realize Jessie was an Aussie. Of course, at the time, I was not even aware of the breed. This show was especially nice for me in that I learned a lot about the breed not only from their show training, but from the other stuff they were doing between segments of the show.
 
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