Clovis" 2026 Images

[clovishound]

Yes, I see turtles alongside and even on top of gators all the time. Alligators will eat turtles, so it is a risky maneuver to sun themselves along with the gators. It may be that since the good sunning areas are scarce in this pond, the turtles are willing to take the risk for the benefit of being able to get their bodies up to temp and be able to forage for food. Perhaps they just don't taste that good and the gators will only eat them when really hungry.

[clovishound]

Another slow day at Magnolia. The rookery is heating up, with the Great Egrets sitting on eggs, and a few of the Great Blue Herons have small chicks. I suppose most of the migrating birds that stopped temporarily here have moved on and many of the birds that spend their summers here haven't arrived yet.

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[markiver54]

[CT_Shooter]

Your portfolio is awesome, Clovishound.

I love the composition of the Cardinal, the stop action of the Egret landing, and the contrast in DSC-259. Of course, I'm a sucker for reflections and that turtle is just beautiful. Nice work.

[Hatchdog]

Totally agree with CT’s comments.

[brm4450]

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[clovishound]

The Pup and I went to the Dock Dogs competition yesterday. Here are a few.

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[CT_Shooter]

[markiver54]

Love it!

[Hatchdog]

Wow, some great timed shots. The middle two pics show so much emotion in the dogs expressions. Love it!

[clovishound]

Well, to be honest, there really isn't much timing involved with this type of shooting. I prefocus on the dog when they are getting ready to make their run. As soon as he starts running, I hit and hold the shutter until he splashes down. Unfortunately, at 20 frames per second, I end up taking home a whole lot of images to sort through. I normally only edit one or two per run, if any at all. I came home with over 3,000 images for this event, and spent some time deleting the after splash down shots in camera at the event to keep the shutter count down. I do take some shots of the dog and owner interacting before the run, and a few of the dogs in the water swimming.

Several of the competitors approached me Saturday. That was the owners, not the dogs. They were interested in getting some of my shots. I told them I'm not selling photos right now, but am happy to share them with the owners. I set up a photo hosting site so they can see the ones I've edited and either download the low resolution files, or contact me and I will send them higher rez files for printing. My only caveat was to credit me if the photo is published somewhere. One of the individuals said he could likely get me and the Pup press passes next year to get better access to the competition.

[CT_Shooter]

Several of the competitors approached me Saturday. That was the owners, not the dogs. They were interested in getting some of my shots. ... One of the individuals said he could likely get me and the Pup press passes next year to get better access to the competition.

That would be great. I hope you guys get to do that. Cool.

[clovishound]

One thing I noticed when editing Saturday's images was that some of the best images had the owners acting very, even overly, excited when the dog was barreling down the runway. If I could coordinate with the owners and get them to be sure and show that excitement when they know I'm shooting, I think I could get a higher percentage of above average shots. There might be some good interaction moments behind the scenes that I wouldn't otherwise have access to. I'm looking forward to seeing how the owners feel about my images. The Pup might be good at that.

[clovishound]

Thought I'd post a string, just as they come from the camera, only downsized. This is an 8 shot string, which should be less than 1/2 a sec. The position of the dog's body and facial expressions happen way too quickly. By the time you recognize a good body position or facial expression, the moment is gone. For this type of shooting you need to set things up, as far as backgrounds, exposure, focal length, angles and trajectories, then hit the shutter when the action starts and do your best to track the subject until it's over. This is a technique known as "spray and pray". It's not elegant, but pretty much a necessity for this type of activity. Yes, I could do my best to time things for just a couple single shots on a run, but I would come home with far, far fewer above average shots. Sometimes the difference between a mediocre shot, and a really interesting one is just a momentary change in the facial expression of the dog or owner.

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[CT_Shooter]

[clovishound]

Cypress Garden. Mom had her babies out today.

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[markiver54]

[CT_Shooter]

[clovishound]

Here's a couple more.

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[CT_Shooter]

The reflected view from the squirrel's eye is cool. Nice shot.