First of all I would like to say a big hello to you all.

This is my first post even though I have been registered for a little while now.

I concentrate on working gundogs here in the UK, being present at field trials, shoots etc.

Things can get very difficult in the winter with low light due to overcast conditions and also being under the canopy of a copse or wood. Perseverance is the key in such circumstances and I usually manage to pull off a few sellable images at the end of the day.

Here's a couple of examples of my work.









Many thanks

Steve

Steve,
nice shots overall and especially nice action shots. I would imagine the shooting conditions would be difficult but you seem to have them worked out just fine. How many Gundog Events do you shoot each year?

Jim

Thanks Jim

I cover roughly 20 gundog trials throughout the short shooting season (4 or 5 months depending on the game) but I also do commissions for shoots where by I cover the guns etc.

Out of season there field tests, which differ from trials because they are held out of season and therefore dummies are usually used. I am booked up for 23 of these next year.

What with covering gundog training clubs and rural sports stock photography I would estimate I am out at least 4 days a week on average, but winter is the busiest as this is the shooting season.

I am a little limited to what I can publish on forums etc. because part of my contracts with clubs and societies restricts my usage of images even though I retain the copyright. there is a very active, and sometimes troublesome, groups of ant-fieldsports groups who try to disrupt shoot days and gundog trials so we tend to highlight ourselves to highly.

On my way to one shoot last year I was followed by a mini-bus full of undesirable looking people and had to head in the wrong direction to lose them before turning up at the shoot. All good fun.

Steve

England has gotten very PC also, hasn't it?

Nice photos with the last two being my personal favorites

Steve,
Is that a Clumber in the middle two frames?

Jim

Unfortunately it has Julie. The big problem is people from the cities have lost contact with nature and the ways of the countryside.

Someone asked me recently why I kill pheasants to eat rather than go to the supermarket and buy chicken that did not have to be killed? Ask some kids where milk comes from and they haven't a clue except the fact they can but it from a shop. Sad indictment on some of our parents and schools.

Jim, yes they are working Clumber Spaniels. I have 2 myself plus an English Springer Spaniel. The dog in the second picture is the sire to both of my Clumbers and is an extremely good trial dog.

Steve

Steve,
I love Clumber Spaniels. The ones I see in AKC Conformation tend to be much, uh, beefier and I get the impression they don't actually work them much. But yours are lovely and I really enjoy seeing dogs doing what they've been bred to do.

The sporting events for Sporting Dogs here in the states are under pressure too. On some levels, I understand it but once you see a true working Golden Retriever or Spaniel, you understand why they were bred to have that conformation.

I have Rottweilers and we try to make sure they are worked in Carting and Herding which are two of the activities for which they were originally bred. They were also bred for protection work but in today's society, doing bite-work with a Rottie isn't going to help stem the tide of breed-specific legislation. So we refrain from that type of work with ours.

Thanks for sharing these images and please send more. Lovely dogs and great images.

Jim

hahahaha! Go to the store and get chicken that doesn't have to be killed! Too funny. The stupidity baffles me. We buy half a cow from a friend every year to put in our freezer. We know how that cow lived, how it was butchered and what it ate. Granted, we just get to see it wrapped in plastic, which is good by me.

I get eggs from a friend who has chickens in her yard and they do taste different. I'd love to be able to afford free range chicken, but, its out of my reach $$$ with the amount we would go through.

Its like being a vegetarian on moral basis, but wearing leather shoes. Do what ya want, just leave me out of your crusade

I have whippets and people find it cruel that we lure course them. That we are "racing" them because the only thing they know is greyhound racing. never mind my dogs are chasing glad bags and think it is the best thing EVER. Oh, and that they are not rescues is a bad thing too

It is PC gone wild. People eat up the AR sentiment with a spoon and wash it down with a little crazy talk to boot

Here are my abused whippets that we make run



He won the open division this day


the whippet in pink is the #1 in the nation. Had he stayed a little more true to the lure, he would have won BOB

Welcome Steve. Thanks for posting images of your dogs in action. Love the happiness on the first ones face!