Of course it happens, but why did have to happen on THIS picture.

Meet Rain. He decided that the A-frame was just a jump and basically cleared the thing from contact point to contact point. The crowd gasped and the photographer hung his head as he reached for the playback button knowing full well the shot was gone!

I had been shooting two cameras one with the 200-400 and one with the 70-200. The A-frame was the only thing I was using the short lens for on this run, but this dog came out of the previous three obstacles much quicker than I expected. So . . . I didn't have time to switch to the small lens and I managed to lock the focus on the background instead of the dog!

Of course, as luck would have it, as we were huddling under the roof during a torrential downpour, folks wanted to know if I "got the one where Rain jumped the A-frame . . ."




Ugh!

Anyway, here's a vid from Animoto showing some of the more successful shots of the day, but it is never those we remember is it.

http://animoto.com/play/d7AQvYyigf4XP9ICQ0LDQA

It is because of shots like this that I started following the dog with my lens keeping the dog in focus at all times. It is the consistant capture of the unexpected shots that people remember you as a great agility photographer. I find it easier to follow the dog with my right eye in the viewfinder and my left eye open, watching the event. This allows me to see the unexpected starting to happen and gives me some lead time to get the shot. I still miss them from time to time, but not very often.

For the most part, I was tracking the dogs for the first day.

Then on day two, (accept for new dogs that day) I started focusing on specific obstacles with a narrow aperture and getting a series of images of the dog on the obstacle. I've got a great run of 8 images of a dog approaching, clearing the tire and landing on the other side.

I almost always shoot with both eyes open, but tracking motion with the left eye only works from left to right from the camera's perspective since right to left blocks the left eye's view with the camera. I guess I could learn to switch eyes. Being left-eyed actually has some advantages according to Joe McNally.

For the most part, I'm really happy with the day and only want to kick myself over this one image which isn't bad considering the quantity of images from the event.

This is an excellent shot of the facilities and local flora, my one nitpick is the blurry, furry object in the shot that my eye is drawn to.

LoL. I'll have to redeem myself later.

Thanks for posting it...its good to see someone else's miss once in a while. Could have been a lot worse...could've been one of those UFO's.

I hear ya. Sometimes I forget that the rest of you out there probably miss a shot now and then too. We had a thread of "near misses" over on a nature forum I hang out at now and then. It was quite interesting.

LOL, we all miss...I am just glad that some folks have the courage to show it. Sadly, I get more misses than I get keepers on many days.

James