MrAlexTheDog

Billy Bob (racing name O Ya Billy Bob) 2012 All-American, First Team 23 Feb 2011 - 19 Sep 2020 He was the best boy. “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” — Will Rogers

In the window you use to write your post, you can either drag or choose a photo to attach to your post (provided it doesn't exceed 0.06MB in size), or click on the box at the lower-right corner labeled "Insert Other Media" and choose either "Insert Existing Attachment" or "Insert image from URL." I use the "Insert image from URL" option and get the URL for the photo I wish to show from my website.

Before I do a photo shoot I take a few test shots to check my exposure settings and then adjust accordingly. Every once in a while I get a test shot that I like as much as some of the "for-real" session photos. From left to right: Talent (racing name Talented N Giftd), Puma (racing name Duron Puma), and Maria (racing name WW Liebe Maria). They were getting themselves sorted out as I took a few photos. (Leashes digitally removed.)

Bean really didn't mind lying in it, either. I was told that when she was on the farm, she and her litter mates were often playing in the snow during the frigid winter of 2013-14 when the temperatures were below zero. They weren't out long, of course.

Billy Bob (O Ya Billy Bob) turned nine this past Sunday, so I made an effort to try and get some good photos of him and half-sister Bean. Billy Bob: Bean:

I have a number of pictures of Bean lying in snow, as well as sitting in it. It doesn't bother her at all. In the following picture, half-brother Billy Bob (left), Bean, and Spodee are waiting for treats. Billy Bob and Bean decided that showing off their sitting skills would help things along.

I met Ava at the Solvang Gathering in Solvang, CA, this past weekend. She's a wee girl (~ 53#) and officially schooled just twice before being retired. I had a fun time photographing her, trying to make sure I got both full-body and headshots. (Leash has been digitally removed.)

I had the good fortune of being asked by Kathy Wagner to photograph her galgo Sambuca and her during Saturday's sunrise at The Dewey Gathering.. Fortunately we got to witness what I think was the best sunrise during my three days there. We met about a half-hour before sunrise at the end of Collins Street at the south end of town and walked down to the water's edge. There was no wind to be speak of, unlike earlier in the week, and the twilight skies were spectacular. I took about 200 shots over the span of about 45 minutes while pausing occasionally to watch the sun rise. She wanted to acquaint Sambuca with the ocean but he was having none of that nonsense. There was lots of moments to capture as the sun cleared the horizon and the two of them paused, ran, and walked on the beach. There were a number of keepers in this session: this frame is one of them. I removed some of the haze and glare, increased the vibrance and lightened the shadows a bit but not so much that it would be obvious. Sambuca was watching someone walking their greyhound towards us when I took this photo.

Fenix the podenco and Benny the greyhound puppy were photographed at Sachs Covered Bridge during Greyhounds In Gettysburg 2019. Too flippin' cute.

No, Victoria does.

Seven-month-old Benny photographed at Sachs Covered Bridge during GiG 2019. Leash digitally removed.

They are litter mates. Both were whelped in Iowa. On at least two occasions that I've been able to find they ran together in official schooling: once in FL in August 2012, the other in IA about a year later. I haven't had the time to see if they ran together in official starts. What made this search so rewarding was that I was able to find the still-online video replay of their schooling race in FL, despite the fact that happened almost seven years ago and I wouldn't expect there to be any video still online. It was so cool to watch them run together.

Billy Bob (left) and Shazam, photographed together during my recent trip to MN.

Maria (WW Liebe Maria; Aerial Battle-WW's Kuniya) is a three-year-old brindle who was the subject of a name-that-puppy contest held by a local greyhound adoption here in SoCal. She was transported from Birmingham to Solvang, CA during the recent The Solvang Gathering in February. I was asked by her adopters to photograph her and her two pack mates.

Another portrait of Fernie the Guam greyhound (left) and his packmate Dixie:

I'll be outside shooting at the bridge as in past years; I won't be bringing any studio gear with me.

I too am a fan of his images.

This year at The Solvang Gathering I was offered the chance to photograph inside the Veteran Memorial Hall where the vendors are, rather than at a garden at one of the hotels where I have done mini-sessions in years past. This required a small investment in studio equipment: a more powerful flash, background stands, and a roll of seamless paper. This was my first time offering studio-like sessions at an event. I practiced off-camera flash several times off-and-on in the weeks leading up to the event. To keep myself from being too overwhelmed with too many new things all at once, I went with a bare minimum light setup: a single light stand, one flash, one light modifier. I also did tethered capturing (camera connected to laptop to import directly into my photo software) for the very first time. Tethered capture was a learning and valuable experience, but one big advantage was that I could see my results immediately and adjust exposure settings on-the-fly, so I'll be doing it again in the future. Ellie was my first client on Friday. After taking a few test shots I got this image of this dark brindle girl. I'm very pleased how her mini-session came out.

I think Fernie was four when he arrived in the US.

I took this portrait of Dixie (top) and Fernie during the recent Solvang Gathering in Solvang, CA last month. Fernie is 14 and may be one of the last surviving Guam greyhounds in the US. I carried him up the steps to the Veteran Memorial Hall's stage and tried to be quick about getting some photographs. Once on the stage he had little problem with standing on the black seamless paper I used for a background. Fernie has attended several Solvang Gatherings, and it's always good to see him. Fernie was later crowned "King of Solvang" at the end of Gathering.

I always try to focus on the eyes. I use a DSLR; I can't use a cell phone well enough to do that.

Yes, I plan to arrive on Thursday evening and leaving Sunday afternoon. If you'd like for me to photograph your pod, send me a message or contact me on FB.

A lot of that is how I illuminated his face. Here's a picture of Bean and him from last August: