K9 Kaper

Today I got to experience one more of my "never thought I'd have the opportunity to do this" photography experiences.  Most of you will most likely be even more convinced that I am more than a little loopy.

I'm working on a "project" called National Tell a Police Officer "Thank You!" Day, which will be held on September 15th.  It's a grassroots project begun on Facebook by an attorney out of Chicago (Andrew Hale) who defends police officers against unwarranted lawsuits.  I'm working with members of our community to show the men, women, and dogs who protect us that we appreciate all they do for us.

Yes, we are recognizing our K9 teams, including the 4 legged members.  I could go on for quite a while about how amazing the dogs are, then probably even longer about the bond between human and canine officers, and definitely a good while about how much work and training it takes to have a good K9 team.

This brings me to my new experience that still has me jumping up and down internally.  I was able to spend some time this morning with one of our K9 teams.  Typically, they train on Wednesday mornings, but all of the other teams were tied up in court.  I didn't care, except that it meant I wouldn't get to spend as much time with as many dogs.  But, I did get to focus on one dog doing some search work.

Meet Sammy.  He's a 10 year old Belgian Malinois who LOVES his work!  He's searching for Officer Harlow's glove.

He's "alerting" us (OK, Officer Harlow) that he's found the glove.

Sorry, Officer Harlow, for chopping off the top of your head, but I love that I was able to catch Sammy's enthusiasm, as well as the treat being dropped from the glove.

When was the last time you were this happy at work??

The first thing I noticed on this picture is the muscles on this guy!  Yes, he looks a little on the skinny side, but I understand from my expert in the field (my wonderful cousin who trains K9s for the Ohio State Highway Patrol) that some Malinois are like that - a bit high strung and just don't put the weight on.  Then I noticed that only one paw is touching the ground.  Just one of those odd things I don't think I've captured before (and have been trying SO hard to do for many years (-;  ).

 Had to get one of Sammy and his shadow . . . I wonder if I'd been at a different angle if I could have gotten his tongue in the shadow?

I love this shot.  What a handsome dog with a proud and regal bearing.  I'm hoping that in 3 weeks I can have another opportunity to watch the whole group train, and then get more variety of type of shots, as well as the dogs involved.

And in just over a week, I'm looking forward to giving the dogs their baskets that PetSmart provided to thank them for their service to our community.

I am loving these new and unexpected photo opportunities!  I think part of the reason I love them is that I'm at least meeting some of my minimum standards for them.  There are a couple that have far exceeded any expectations I might have had, which is humbling.  There is so much of photography that is planned and set up, but there is much more than is left to chance.  A nanosecond difference in when the shutter clicks can make all of the difference in the world.  Timing, lighting, and composition matter, and sometimes, under the circumstances, you might have control over one of them.  That's part of the challenge I find in photography; learning from some of the "what if" occurrences and extrapolating into other situations.

It's kind of interesting to me that I do best with the very casual, unposed candid shots - the pictures I have the least control over.  I really hate posing people for pictures because most of the time they look like they're not having a good time; give me a goofy shot of a group of people laughing hysterically any day.  I do like my challenges and the payoff when I see I got the shot I wanted, or it was better than I imagined.

Stress Cop Does Huber Heights . . .

Wow.  It certainly doesn't take much for the calendar to fill up FAST.  I've got a super busy month coming up, and I already don't know if I'm coming or going half of the time!

One of the things I've been working on is National Tell a Police Officer "Thank You!" Day for Huber Heights.  The event will be September 15, so it's coming up FAST.  I didn't know about it until reading about it on Facebook way back on August 2nd!!  That's just over a month to plan (and execute) different ways to let our local police officers know they are appreciated by their community!

If you've followed my blog for a while, you know Dad is a retired policeman.  When I kind of stumbled onto the Facebook post from Whole Truth Project, I immediately volunteered to be a team captain for Huber Heights.  It's been a little disheartening at times, but when things start working, they really start working!

National Tell a Police Officer "Thank You!" Day is a grassroots effort (begun by Andrew Hale, Chicago attorney, and the creator of the Whole Truth Project) to have communities all over the nation honor their local police force in ways that are meaningful to them.  Because it's a grassroots effort that didn't really start until the middle of August (it took a little while to get some things together and then sent out from Chicago), most people know nothing about it.  Every visit to a business means re-telling the same spiel (although I think I've gotten it down to less than a minute now!).  I've created a Facebook page for the event, and in an effort to draw more people from the area to the page, I've begun a little challenge.

Meet Stress Cop.

Stress Cop and the business card were sent to me for being a team leader.  Stress Cop is helping me relieve stress by touring our fine city and posing for pictures at different locations.  Then I am cropping the photos so it isn't too easy to figure out where it was taken, and then posting them on the Facebook page.  We got stuck on the 3rd round, but I gave them time to think about it while posting the 4th round, which was guessed pretty quickly.  That's as far as we've gotten.

This is the one we were stuck on; they got FedEx after a hint, but since I gave a hint, they have to tell me what street the business is on, and that part of the answer was wrong the first time.  Second time was a charm.  FedEx on Executive.

This one was guessed right away.  Is it as obvious to you?
It was taken at our only Target store.

This is the one I started with.  I think it should have been the easiest to answer for the way I introduced it.
This is the sign at the entrance to the Charles C. Huber Community Park.
I tagged several high school friends as the park was where some of them spent class times in alternative activities . . . .

This is the drop box for videos/dvds at the Library (not a video rental store!!).
I figured using the book depository would give it completely away.

Yes, that is my red t-shirt in the ATM reflection, but I blurred out my face, and the name of the bank.
We all know it's an ATM machine, but I'll only be asking which bank it belongs to.
Fifth/Third (or 5/3).

This was an Hawaiian Ice "shack" in the parking lot of the shopping center with the Library and ATM.
I'm going to use them consecutively to see if anybody might pick up on that.
I also intentionally kept the building in the background to give a little reference.

Sadly, I wasn't able to keep Stress Cop in focus in this shot.
I don't expect anyone to tell me WHICH Speedway this is (we only have 4 of them in our little burg).
But if anyone wants to know, it's the one at Fishburg and Brandt.

I hope you'll all join me on September 15th, where ever you may be, and find a way to thank a police officer in your community.  Little things you can provide:  a hand written thank you note; if there's a bicycle patrol, offer a COLD bottle of water; don't forget the K9 officers (both 4 and 2 legged) - treats for the dogs with handler's permission and a cookie for the human officer; take a picture of your group or family with a poster thanking your police officers and take it to the station; bake cookies or brownies and deliver to the station; drop off a case of bottled water at the station; if you've had to rely on one of your officers for protection or investigation, let them (and the chief) know how you value their services; the opportunities are only as limited as your imagination. 

Remember, the day is about the men, women, and dogs who CHOOSE to serve and protect daily.  They know they are often ridiculed and derided and portrayed negatively more often than not by the media.  They know, that while not likely, it is entirely possible that each day they put on the badge could be their last.  And yet they still CHOOSE to put that badge on, walk out their door, and put their life on the line to keep me safe.  The absolute VERY LEAST thing I can do is to support them and thank them.