a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: Focusing In--

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Focusing In--

SUMMARY: Camera and weaves.
Lenses arrived yesterday for my new camera! Yay! Started really playing around with things today. Getting a feel for the first nonzoom lens I've ever owned.

Spider has a brand new web that's much neater than the previous one. Yesterday morning she was showing me her underside.

Today, no sign of Ms. Spider at all. Trying to get a dark background to view the complelte web, so it's at an angle here (instead of looking roundish when straight on).


Autumn--cyclamen are blooming!

And the rain lilies.


Have been working on proofing weaves. For about a week, I ran them straight into an area between a tree and a bench to make sure dogs would keep going even if I didn't and even if there was nowhere (obvious) to go after that.


Now I've got them sideways along the far side of the yard, with jumps lined up more or less towards either end, about 18' from tunnel to jump, 18' to jump, 18' to weaves to get a good running speed (and that's about as far as I can get in this yard). This way the dogs approach the weaves at a right angle or even greater than a 90-degree angle at full speed and have to make the turn into the weaves.

It has been an interesting couple of weeks. Oddly, Boost who has trouble managing these things in competition (and in class last week), is doing great. Tika, whose weaves have almost always been lovely, has been popping out early or missing her entrances. Not often--but I think more often than Boost.


The training never ends!

Random pollinator on rose, violating rules of macro: hand-held in shadow with a plant swaying in the wind. Wonder why it's not perfectly sharp?

2 comments:

  1. Beauteous pictures! Really nice Tika coloring! Are those cyclamen picotee, or is that the lighting?

    One of the "tools" I keep handy near my camera equipment (at home) is a spray bottle of plain water. When a spider web hasn't collected dew or mist, I can drift a fine mist across the web so that it shows up better. And, when the sun hits the droplets on the web, it really pops!

    We now return you to your Fun With Lenses.

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  2. Yep, have sprayed plenty of spiderwebs and flowers in my time. I've been pondering doing that; I just don't have a good background for it even so. (It's up high in a position without much in the way of anything behind it except sky. How rude of the spider to put it there!)

    The cyclamen do indeed have white edges, if that's what you're asking. They've been here for so many years now I don't remember whether a variety name was ever mentioned.

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