Outtakes From A Herding Trial Weekend

This weekend, I shot two Herding Trials for Collies in St. Cloud, FL about 1/2 hr. from the house. With modest entries of 49 and 51 dogs, the trials started at 8 a.m. and finished up around 3:30. As always, there were great dogs, wonderful owners and handlers, fabulous weather and lots of rewarding work.

When I wasn't shooting the runs, I managed to squeeze off a few shots of the location -- Linden Farms which is owned by an AKC judge who breeds and runs Border Collies and Corgis. The facility is over 43 acres and one of the few places in the Southeast where you can run an Advanced Sheep C course which requires a LOT of room.

Here's dawn at Linden Farms. Personally, I think dawn is pretty much over-rated .



Between runs, it's nice to see stuff in the early morning light and dew.



And, where there's a puppy, there's a way. Here's Merlin, a 9-week old Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Forgive the legs, but I couldn't resist this really cool puppy.



Sometimes the place and the people (and dogs) supercede the actual work of shooting the Trials. Not that herding sheep and ducks isn't great fun to shoot but it gets pretty repetitive. But if you look around, you can find other cool stuff to stimulate your creativity.

Enjoy,

Jim

Hey Jim,

Those are really beautiful...all of them. I also really pike corgies. I shot two of them yesterday. Beautiful temperaments..they are 'big dogs' with small bods.:)

James

Beautiful shots Jim! Nice dawn photo love that time of day (but rarely get to see it!) I really like corgis too that is a CUTE pup, cardigans are my favorite.

Corgis are tough, short dogs; not small and this little guy is built like a tank. He laid in my arms while I was having lunch, on his back and totally comfortable giving my nose a lick every now and then. Great boy!!

Hi Dee Dee, it's wonderful to hear from you again. I have a panorama of the dawn photo that covers the entire Linden Hollow Farm which I'll share once I have it put together. What an incredible place especially at that hour of the morning. Wild turkeys, Guinea hens, chickens and roosters, tons of sheep (at least 2 dozen head) and dogs everywhere. I told the owner we were moving in .

Jim

A wonderful reminder that we all need to look around and 'see' things when we are at 'work'. Nice images, Jim.

I really enjoyed the first image, Jim... this is what it looked like a week ago on my way to Tampa to fly home, but I couldn't stop to photograph it.