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for a reduced price?"
answer is "no, I do not". I sell my digital images at the same price as prints, and I would like to
explain my reasons for doing it this way.
A digital image from a professional camera is not "print ready". You don't just take your
memory card to a store and plug it in and order a bunch of prints. Each images requires
processing to make it the best possible image it can be. This is why I changed from film to
digital, to have control over the quality of my image. Each image is evaluated and then the
necessary steps performed for a top quality image. That includes cropping, sharpening,
adjustments made for color, contrast, and density, and sometimes other things for an optimal
quality image. I may lighten the shadows on a dog's face or even remove a small, distracting
element. Only then is the image ready to be printed or used as a digital file.
All of this takes time and, as in any business, time is money. There are the long days of
shooting the images at the trial, I am usually one of the first to arrive and always the last to
leave. I hire an assistant to provide almost instant viewing of your images after you run and to
assist you with decisions and purchases. And then many hours afterwards spent uploading
the images to the web for people to view who did not get a chance to see them at the trial.
Then the trial orders are all processed, printed, packaged for shipping and mailed.
When you buy a CD at a trial within minutes of running your dog, you will get unprocessed
images. That leaves it up to you to do all the work that is needed to get good prints from the
digital files of your images. And exactly how many truly good images did you get for your
money? When a person concentrates on getting as many shots as they can of each run, it is
usually not possible to get any truly exceptional images. Most anyone can follow a dog around
a course and hold the shutter button down, there is no great skill required to do that and why
not just hand a camera to a friend for those kinds of images. They might be out of focus, have
distracting backgrounds or poor timing, but they will be cheap.
I concentrate on getting shots that are worth paying for. Along with being a photographer, I am
an artist, a dog lover, and a dog sport exhibitor myself. I use my knowledge of how the course
will run to plan where I can get the best angles. I use my technical photographic skills to plan
the best possible composition of the image and to use the abilities of my professional
equipment to capture the best possible image for the conditions. I do not sit in one place and
shoot whatever I can get. Many times I am kneeling on the ground or leaning around a pole, or
running from one vantage point to another. Different courses offer different possible shots,
some better and some not. Along with the classic agility shots, I am always looking for
something new or unique to offer the seasoned exhibitors.
But most of all, I want my passion to show in my work. I want to show the essence of my
subject. Agility is about action, excitement, enjoyment, intensity and teamwork. (although most
people prefer not to be included in their dog's pictures) We surround our lives with animals for
companionship and the joy that they bring us. With my images, I hope to capture a small
moment in the time they are bringing us such joy so that it can last a lifetime and beyond.
Thank you for reading and I hope to be able to serve you at a show or trial in the future.