A perfect picture

At the Blur of Fur run at the Greyhound Gang's event both Sadie and Katie participated. Both girls ran twice. For Sadie's second run she would run after me. I had the "advantage" of starting before her, as well as starting further down the run. I was sure that it wouldn't take much to get her to chase after me. All I had to do was run for all I was worth away from her and she would automatically go. That's her nature. And I knew she would have no trouble overtaking me before I got close to the end.

Gayle stood at the end of the run to take our pictures. I had my D300 set to shutter-priority and added one stop of exposure because the sun was at our backs, otherwise the shadows would be too deep.

At the signal I took off. Then, after I had run for a few seconds, Sadie started after me. I thought she might try to jump on me as she passed. You see, we jog sometimes during our walks. And when we jog she gets playful: she jumps alongside me, or clamps her mouth around the back of my hand and tries to lead me down the street. But not this time. She kept her eye on me as she passed, then turned around and waited for me while Gayle kept photographing.

I'm glad that Gayle took this. I've looked at this picture many, many times. The picture shows something that I cannot put into words. The picture shows, in one moment, the relationship that Sadie and I have. The picture is perfect.

(Shot with the Nikon D300 using the 18-200 zoom lens; shutter-priority, with shutter speed set to 1/2000 second; camera chose aperture of f/5.3 at ISO 1800; +1 exposure compensation, auto white balance; normal JPG.)

Watching the girls run

The girls get very, very few opportunities to run within an enclosed area. So photographing them running as only greyhounds can is a rare thing.

One of those times was during the Blur of Fur run on Sunday morning, the last day of the Greyhound Gang's 2009 Kanab gathering. Claudia had an enclosed area set up at the Kanab Elementary School (a block over and across the street from the motel where we stayed). A local police officer clocked each entrant with his radar gun. I stood at the end of the run, set my camera to shutter-priority, 1/2000 sec, and added +0.7 exposure compensation because I was shooting into the morning sun. Each of our girls ran twice: first Sadie, then Katie. Sadie was faster than Katie: she ran at 31mph on her second run. Katie topped out at 25. The winner of the run was clocked at nearly 40. But for me, watching both girls getting the chance to run was the real highlight.

(Shot with the Nikon D300; shutter-priority; 18-200mm lens set at 170mm; 1/2000 sec @ f/5.6; ISO 1100; exposure compensation +0.7; normal JPG.)