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.

Head in the Clouds

Yeah, I'm cheatin'.  I'm using the pics I took yesterday while watering the plants for today's post.  When it's still 100 at 8 p.m. in SW Ohio, that's way too hot for me to be out doin' anything.

But, last night's pictures were so completely serendipitous, surprising, and fun that I have to share them with y'all.  The clouds were amazing enough, but then, the added surprises in the back yard practically had me singing one of the talented Billy Joel's songs (I Go To Extremes).

Not that I have to be at one extreme or another, but I do tend to find it happening a lot.

Last night is a great example.  I hadn't planned to take any pictures, but as I watered the plants and looked up, I saw the beautiful cloud formations and colors.

Of course I went inside and grabbed the camera to try to capture some of the texture and colors I was seeing.

I took several shots, then had to go back and check on the plants I'd left the hose on, only to look down and see this little guy.  Maybe he's not that big of a deal to you, but this is the first time I've snapped a grasshopper!  And gee, let's see . . . I went from looking at the expanse of the multi-colored clouds in the sky down to the little green grasshopper resting on green leaves.

Of course, I had to look back up, just to see what the clouds looked like "now."  Oh, so very glad I did.

That pink hue was pretty out in the front yard . . .

And a different kind of pretty in another direction in the back yard.  Yes, I was facing opposite directions when taking two of the previous shots.  I didn't realize that until now (hadn't thought about it until now, either!).

Then it was back to the plants, and checking on the mandevilla I'd just put in the ground last week. It seems to be doing very well, even with the extreme heat.  Once again though, I went from looking up, to looking down.

If you haven't noticed, I couldn't keep myself from looking up at the clouds every few minutes!  They were mesmerizing me with the light/shadow and changing colors.

 But neither could I help looking down at the plants (it's hard NOT to look at them when you're watering them).  I'd noticed these clematis bloom remains a couple of days ago, and thought they were interesting to look at.  Now I'm having a hard time deciding whether I like the bloom with the petals or without the petals better!

Not only was it an evening with my head in the clouds (at least watching them), but I think I was suffering from a case of temporary Adult Attention Deficit Disorder . . .  but then again, if I got pictures like these, was it really suffering, or being blessed with the opportunity to see a variety of subjects and take advantage of it?  I'm going with the blessing - there's enough suffering in the world that I can't do anything about.  I can accept this blessing and be thankful for it though!