seems like...

forever since i've actually been able to sit and write something.  i have folders of new scans and haven't had time to look at them.  not only .. there are processed and scanned photos at the lab waiting...

and 12 rolls waiting to go to the lab.

feels nice to be home for a while.

as much as i'd love love love to sort some scans and export them to blog-sized photos ... well ... i'm gonna post dogs. :)

went out to st. louis to shoot the incredible dog challenge.  they have ... dunno ... four or five regional competitions throughout the u.s. during different times of the year and it all culminates out in the country 45 mins outside of st. louis.  we got to hang out with some friends in st. louis and it made it even that much better.

i don't think j or i could own any of the breeds competing.  i mean ... seriously ... lazy-ass dogs are way better.

i know from training m ... you really want to see them looking into your eyes.  little m when he's heeling and not sniffing new stuff and pulling will just trot and look up.

watching the agility dogs was pretty amazing, too ... there's a handler to the right pointing at the next obstacle.

there was no branding at all at this event, though.

i couldn't quite imagine m doing the weave pole.  not even.

requiring one to get wet for "the shot" was the diving dog competition.  one of them went over 35 feet.

yes, i was splashed.

but i didn't get the brunt of the water as much as some other photographer.  i let people stand in front of me so i could duck. ;)

love the look on his face...

splashdown. 

and as much as he has a bit of trepidation on his face...

all he wanted was his toy.

m is more about the crack-cocaine-of-the-dog-world ... chicken.

humans even get into the action ... woman vs. dog.

the woman, laura wilkinson, is an olympic diver, though.  little jack russells, though, are very tenacious and don't like losing...

seems like espn and abc and their seven fucking camera positions didn't like the position i'd taken.

i pretended as if i didn't hear their guy the first time; i wanted two passes.

;)

i got what i needed.

i would not want to be chased by a pack of these little bastards.

it's one thing to put the leader as the focal plane ... but ... i wanted to see the tenaciousness in the eyes of the second, third or fourth dog...

forgot this one ... you can't get splashed here! :)  except you have to wrap your right arm around a stage support and still try and shoot.  i'm sure espn got the acrobatics on tape. :)

you're welcome espn. ;)

whats so funny about the majority of the camera operators -- i dare not call them videographers -- is that they listen to their instructions from "the truck" as to which shot the director wants.

not only but they seem like totally disenfranchised union guys.

or how guys who edit porn feel about sex. ;)

the dog jumping got the new world record, actually.

forgot another photo ... i've been so in the middle of all sorts of shit ... unless it's aperture or photo mechanic (not camera mechanic as wank referred to it as) ... a photobucket gallery just isn't the same...

laura and her canine-competitor, nemo.

and, no, i'm not going to learn how to center stuff with html tag bullshit.

blogging here sure isn't friggin' uber.

it's like writing a dA journal. (you have to click on that dA link) ;)

love dog-handler-owner-moments.  that dobie was fast-fast-fast yet a bit distracted this time out.

when homeboy "took the field," as it were, he just attentively stayed and waited for the next instruction.

and then did amazing stuff.  i still can't believe they enjoy jumping after discs so well.  damn.

ending with a dog-owner moment.

look at his face.  nice to have long heavy glass for this event! handheld, bitches. ;) i know. i'm a prick. this was one of my favourites.  first, because it shows a lot of attendees.  second because there's scale going on as to how high pups was jumping.

look ... even in midair ... he was looking right into her eyes!  i think that's amazing.

i like dogs.

guess you know that, though.

i consider a 300/2.8 something you can totally handhold.  funny when i see others with this lens and they're knocking into everyone else -- in tight places, mind you -- with "their stick."

i think they "want to look like photographers" ... much like wank.

a 400/2.8 or a 600/4.0, yes, a stick is needed.  and when you shoot a show from a long-throw it's nice to have the proper head and tripod.

i will say my arm was a bit sore.  at least i didn't knock anyone ... just pissed off an espn producer. ;)

got to see some st. louis after finishing shooting.

we also found some places where ... well ... don't run out of gas there.  trust me.  not that we did but you really wouldn't want to be stranded there for damn sure.

got home for about 10 hours or so and then got on another plane and went to shoot ...

 

nick cannon's birthday hosted by his wife mariah in vegas.

dirty vegas.

and i mean ... a tuesday-friggin-night ... and hundreds are out drinking and spending money on over-priced drinks like no global meltdown has happened at all.

get in the booze business right now.

trust me.

i'd missed shutter-draggin. ;)  sorry to drop the g and sound like friggin' palin.

at least i won't say "my friends ..."

i've always thought that sounds conde-fucking-scending

then again, mccain's an angry old man.  between his voice and palin's voice ... dunno how republicans can sell that package to themselves.

pictures.

no politics. ;)

nick loves to dj.  loves. he was there to also direct his wife's next music video.  hope that goes well.

and that cake.  wow.  like, really, wow.  who knew.

so, yeah, busy-busy-busy.  kinda missed blogging.  miss the uber interface even more but ... i don't like going back and forth between platforms and communities.  i'll check in on uber every once in a while -- like i do/did with dA -- but ... active?  dunno.

okay ... i'm hungry and all i've had was a power bar and a smoothie.

where is the damn chinese delivery?

hope you're all well!

cheers from the seems-like-its-on-broil la.

EDIT:  basically, typepad kinda sucks but i have nothing but uber to compare.  i know the photos aren't resizing down so ... next time i'll adjust aperture to do max 600x600 on the export.  sorry, guys.  had no idea.

Comments

[Dan]

Great photos. That shot of the dog eagle spread jumping into the pool was hilarious.
Only thing is all your photos seem cropped. The page format crops the right off so your watermark just reads 'Chris'.
Dunno if it's just my screen though, I tried resizing the Firefox window but it didn't help.
Anyway. Great photos again.

[Brian Webb]

27 days 'till they tear out the bowling alley and put a basketball court in the white house.

*giddy*

[Brian Webb]

BTW, I love that 2nd to the last shot. Wide, in close, and in focus always works for me. LOL

[Sam Oksner]

Ah, good to see you posting again, damn dogs are amazing, I've only tried the 300mm once on a friends 5D, but it's amazing lens... I think i heard somewhere that it's very good as a short portrait lens.
That is one sick shutter drag... is that 1/8th of a second with low power flash? Absolutely superb technique, whatever it is.

Oh, i though uber was extended for another month and that we were all supposed to go back and post like hell so they could get more funding (prove to whoever that it's worth supporting).

Looks like our 72 year old "Maverick" and all his "friends" are gonna loose this one. C'est pas trop tôt! (It's not too early) ... Although it definitively is too late.

[Shane Leonard]

Holy crap, brother... I would never have thought so much great shit could have been caught at an event like that. I mean, I know you gotta keep your mind (and lens) open, but still... those later pics of the dogs look like they're just defying gravity and flying all over the place. Between the vicious teeth in that one shot, the kept-gaze in the other, and the insane height in a previous shot... it makes me wanna check out one of these shows.

I think my favorite was the first dog-jumping-to-the-water shot. Insane, man. Loved them all!

[peter]

it's a dogs life we seem to spend so much time structuring
everything to work perfect we got two guys wanting to
knock the white house into touch..
thanks for what seems to be your whole world in
a nutshell
the focus in the pictures really great

[carlos Larios]

Nice Pix as always!! Talk to you soon!

[Riccardo]

oh, you surely had a doggy day... :)

[zabong]

>>
i'll check in on uber every once in a while -- like i do/did with dA -- but ... active? dunno.
>>

Hey, you were the reason to join for me... would not have tried it otherwise.

But I see, maintaining several photoblogs is a pain.

Great pictures, as always.

[Scott]

I agree about the 300/2.8.. borrowed one and handheld..

actually sold my stick.. dont neven need it at fashion week.. hurts my arms.

great dog show, some AMAZING shots... love the low ones during the race

[zoeller]

I don't mind someone using a stick with a 300mm, its the guy using a stick with a 70-200mm or even a 24-85mm. Every football game you see one.

Don't know which pic I liked more, a different style of photos from what I am used to seeing from you.

[Cassie Jones]

300 is fun, but a heavy bastard indeed.. after a day of lugging it around.. ugh. I'm glad when I was doing weddings, I had the luxury of mostly shooting prime, being second shooter.

Fast-fast-fast though for sure! Awesome shots! Love the dogs jumping hurdles in muzzles.. dunno what kind of dogs they are.. but love #2 dog in focus and #1 out.. good stuff!

Like the shutter "drag" pumping the zoom during the shot, hehehe, right on!

Haven't "felt" Uber lately too much either.. dunno why. Wish it were the same.. too bad this kinda sucks for photo posting.

Cheers, love! -Cassie

[Daniel Gomes]

Uh... Flying dogs... Awesome!! :D
Typepad gotta fix this photo-cropping-page CSS.
Love the shots, and the dogs too.

Thank god you didn't spend your time reading all that bitching on uber - you don't deserve it. Also, if they aren't bitching here, it's coz they aren't reading anything either... ;)

Is that cake edible?
Hope you are well! :D

[Rastislav]

Aaaaamazing pictures of the dogs! Really enjoyed the lab’s face as he’s about to do a bomb :) I can see you’re a dog lover by these shots... some fantastic moments like the eye contact in mid air and the altitude some of these dogs got!

Hope you’re doing great!

[C Weeks]

@ratislav: thanks, mate. and, yes, i'm a dog person as opposed to a cat person. ;) glad you liked the photos!

[C Weeks]

@daniel: i'm just gonna make the photos smaller. typepad is alright but not great.

most of the people bitching, i'm told, weren't really "contenders" as it were. ;)

the cake is indeed edible yet i've never seen anyone eat any cake. :(

[C Weeks]

@cassie: yep ... this place kinda sucks for photo posting but i think i have the hang of it ... just have to downsize the photos. all good, though.

you lugged the 300? and you handheld it??? damn.

[C Weeks]

@zoeller: the dude with the stick on the 70-200 is indeed the funniest site. and as you pointed out ... the mid-range zoom guy with a stick is even more laughable.

different style, eh? hmm...

[C Weeks]

@scott: i haven't sold the stick; it was very expensive but is definitely collecting dust.

i never used a stick during fashion week but i'm not the runway guy for every show. i only did the good ones. ;)

glad ya' liked the dogs!

[C Weeks]

@zabong: i know. i wish uber would have kept on "the intended track" without getting the carpet pulled from under.

it's just when i knew it was gonna end i had to make a move. i don't have the time to maintain multiple sites with responses or content.

hope the best for the outcome of uber, though.

[C Weeks]

@riccardo: yes, in fact, i did. :)

[C Weeks]

@carlos-the-designer: thanks, man! hope we get to have lunch or dinner in vegas soon. or l.a.

[C Weeks]

@peter: thanks, mate!

[C Weeks]

@shane: thanks, man. i think when you enjoy shooting a certain subject matter you may see more moments than if you didn't like or love what you're shooting.

i love dogs.

[C Weeks]

@sam: glad you got to shoot the 300! amazing piece of glass.

yeah, you could use it for portraits but ... honestly ... the 200 is more than adequate even though i'm more inclined to use the 85/1.2 with the canon platform or the 75/2.0 asph apo with leica.

honestly, i have no idea what that whole thing about uber was. i did what i could and well .. i've moved on.

the flash, yes, i dial the flash down -1. i've done it for a while and know what conditions whichever technique i use work best.

yes, the mccainiacs are apparently losing. :) very nice indeed.