We'll be doing the Borzoi Lure Coursing Nationals in 2 weeks (the panic over which is what brought me to this forum in the first place ). I am afraid it is going to be full sun which means not very good shots during the middle of the day anyway, does anyone have any suggestions to get the best shots possible....are there polarizers, techniques I can use, etc?

Position the sun to your back to keep the shadows under control on the dogs face. Shoot with your camera set to low contrast to help with the high contrast situation. PRAY FOR A CLOUDY DAY!!!!!!

Our lure cousing days almost always have terrible sun coming straight down onto the dogs and creating lots of shadows. I also put my camera on low contrast and that did help. I found that I could fix the shadows up pretty well in photoshop in those where I had to shoot right into the sun. Here is an example of one that is fixed up as well as I could, this is direct sunlight.

I have used polarizer’s to shoot bright subjects in full sun light, but mostly to slow the shutter while still maintaining the depth of field that I wanted.

For that long glass, you'll have to get a small circular for the 300 (I think canon has a rear filter holder) or a screw on type for the zooms. . . Buy good quality, the cheaper Hoya (even their pro stuff is junk) are not good investments. Buy nikons or B&W's - they hold their value very well! The cheap one's WILL come apart on you and they will do so at the most inopportune times! Also, the thought of having a thin polarizer is attractive, but make sure you can put a REAL lens cap on it, otherwise you will have to rely on those cheesy friction covers that always fall off!!!!!!!!

I'd try it, what can you lose!

By the way, I’m back early. I came up empty but I’m headed back out in a bit to give it another go in a different area!

LOL David, I like the "pray for a cloudy day" tip the best! I didn't think of setting the contrast lower in the camera, I'll do that.

Great pic Tess... a lure coursing pit bull! I have a good friend who rescues pit bulls and trains them for law dogs, I take a lot of pictures of them doing spring pole, schutzhund, the jenny, tread mill, frisbee, etc but she hasn't done lure coursing with them. Yet! That shot looks great for a sunny day!

I was surprised to see you here Tony I figured you'd be out with the wildlife! Hope you have better luck in the next area. Thanks for the polarizer tips, I think you are right about the rear filter holder...both the 300 and 200 have those funky leather covers rather than a real lens cap which is a pain since they always fall off, or half off, no matter how tight you sinch them up.

I was going to suggest the same as Tess, to set the contrast lower. Other than that, I think you just try to keep the sun at your back.

I tend to try to use -.3 exposure compensation too, though, that can create more post processing work

Thanks Julie, I figured out how to lower the contrast in camera so I will try that a few times before the actual shoot. I see there are different settings, so will have to play with it to see which works best for the lighting conditions. This is a good example of why a studio setting is sounding good lol.