I pre focus on dirt, mostly. if you follow rodeo enough you get to know the stock, and the contestance, plus I once rodeoed myslef, so I know the sport very well.

On bare back, I'll pre focus on the gate, or if I know the horse, I'll pick a spot on the dirt, for calfs, steers, both wresteling and ropeing I'll pick a spot on the dirt that I know they calf will be caught, or the steer will be turned and bank on the spot. Side shots are not an issue, even slow lenses can keep up with side shots, that includes bull riding too, bulls dont usually run off, and if they do, I dont even wast a shutter click on them. I never show wreck shot exept to the contestant. . .

as per horse races, I pick a spot on the rail, just before the horses get there, that's way I said f 5.6 because there's enough depth of field to compensate for the slight mis que of the shutter reliese, or the hores not in the "right" spot!

for each event, I have a plan and almost always pick a spot where I know I want the action, if it does not happen, then it does not happen, that the breaks. . .

I use a older bogan, the three section one with the half-wing, they're about $60 bucks U.S., and top it with an RRS reciver, and all my lenses have rrs plates.

How do you turn the focus control off? Do you mean switch to manual focus?

If you focus on the jump itself wouldn't the dog still be out of focus when it comes along?

most people leave the focus tied to the shutter. I do not. I focus with the focus button and NOT the shutter. that way I can focus on my subject and shoot whenever I want. You also dont have to know neccessarily where the subject will be, within the frame, so long as it's the correct distance away,(hence the pre focus) and you dont have to try to move the focus selector when the action is hot, or rely on the lens to keep up. However, nikon predictive auto focus is so good that many times the picute comes out in focus, even when it's not in focus in the viewfinder (predictive auto focus is another subject). If you leave the foscus tied to the shutter then the camera focuses when you push the shutter, and if it's not set to focus on the subject, you mis the shot becauce you just told the camera to focus on the image that's behind the focus point, and often it's not the subject, especially if the subject is moving fast or eraticlly.

My cameras have 9 independant focus points, but somtimes you cant move them fast enough to catch the action and if you push the shutter and it's directed to foucs on somthing in the background, you mis the shot again.

check your mannual. what kind of camera do you shoot?

The dog will NOT be out of focus if it's in the focus plane and you have enough shutter speed to stop the action. If you shoot at a slightly wider apature, you get more depth of field, and more chance of getting a sharp subject. If you can time it right, you can shoot f4 (with pre foucus) and get great backgrounds and a sharp subject.

if you can figure out how to turn the focus OFF the shutter and put it on the focus button, or the AE lock button than I'll bet once you get used to it, you'll never go back to shutter focus!

Takeing the focus OFF the shutter does not make it manual, it only moves the focus to an indipendant button. It still is auto, only, when you hit the shutter, it wont focus, it just activates the shutter. On my nikons it's a custom function and my vertical shutter release also has an independant focus button.

Check your manual.

Give it a try, if you shoot wildlife or action it's the only way to go. You also can hold the foucs button down and shoot only when you want a photo, all the while the subject stays in focus.

I hope that made some sence. . . .

Interesting info there thanks, I'll have to look into it as never heard of doing that before.

I have a Canon 30D. Not sure if it's possible on it.

This was on my first day of photographing Flyball. There were 2 teams from Canada, 2 teams from North Carolina and 2 teams from Alaska. Very small event compared to Dog Agility. I found it fairly easy to photograph. I postponed my Denali trip due to weather and came home to take care of orders.

Nice shot David, good swimmer's turn and his eye already on the first jump. And good getting plenty of orders from a small event. I'm glad it was outdoors, doesn't look like sunshine though. If you can find the time to post some more flyball shots it would be great (and some exif, if possible). Bad luck the weather cutting your trip short, slightly annoying when summer-time turns bleak.

Bright sunshine is absolutely the worst time to photograph Dog Trials. The light contrast is too much for film or digital to handle. Black dogs become blobs of ink. The shadow on the off side becomes too dark to see detail. The color of the grass looks washed out instead of deeply saturated when photographed under cloud cover. I prefer all my events to be overcast for these reasons.

Totally agree on all points: I was mentioning the weather only as it was obviously controlling the rest of your planned trip. We just about pray for a bit of cloud cover on dogsport days, but are not often that fortunate and black dogs' eyes are lost plus blown out highlights on light dogs. (Have to say I don't like rain though either).

I was looking at your Iditarod gallery and wondering about the difficulties of shooting dogs in the snow. We have very few sledding races here, and not high entry numbers. But I'd like to go to at least one of them this winter, any tips there would be welcome.

I have no secrets about the Iditarod, just aperture priority and matrix metering and shoot away. I shot some "tourist" Fly Ball shots. The teams not from Alaska wanted me to shoot from a low position to include the mountains in the background. They knew their dog would be small in the photo, but wanted the shots anyway to "prove they were really in Alaska." The judge even allowed me in the ring to take these shots. I was right inbetween the start lanes in front of the electronic starter (lights). I will post some of these later after I finish working on my orders.

" was right inbetween the start lanes in front of the electronic starter (lights). I will post some of these later after I finish working on my orders. "

Hey David,

That is really cool. I cannot wait to see your photos.

James