Before the new year starts, I thought it would be fun to look back on some of the most viewed and most “liked” posts on this blog. I may also throw in a couple of my personal favorites that may have not received that much attention their first time out. For some of these Year in Review stories, I may add other photos or additional notes that have similar subject matter but did not run in the particular post the first time out. I will also provide a link to the original version.

For those of you who missed these posts the first time out,  I hope you will enjoy  them.  For those long timers  I hope you will enjoy taking a second look. Over the next week or so I will also be running new posts as warranted so please keep an eye on the ISBAA dailies.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made this blog a success. Please see more text and photos below.

This post originally ran July 1, 2013, the first version can be found at DockDogs I really enjoyed photographing this event, it returned me somewhat to my photojournalism roots. I also love dogs! These images also segue nicely into this week’s weekly photo challenge One, as these all have very clear points of focus and interest. I shot most if not all of these photos with a 200mm lens employing relative shallow depths of field. I want to say that the folks who take part in DockDogs are some of the nicest people I have ever met. If you have a dog in your family and want to meet other  dog lovers in a very fun setting, DockDogs is the group for you. 

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Eastern Regional DockDogs Championships at the WISP resort at Deep Creek Lake in McHenry, MD.

When I saw that the weekly photo challenge was “Companionable,” I could not think of a better group of my pictures that would illustrate this theme than what I photographed at the DockDogs event. (Please do not miss the slideshow at the bottom of this post to see even more images from this outstanding event.)

Everyone and every animal truly seemed to enjoy this competition.
The championships consisted of different events where dogs were judged on their longest leap into a pool and on how fast they could retrieve an object after diving into a pool. Please see more photos below.

What struck me most (in addition to the pure athletic ability of these dogs) was the bond developed between the dogs and their human companions evident during every part of the event.

What always drew me to sports photography when I was a working photojournalist was capturing the human emotion of a game or competition, even more so than just getting the action.

I was pleased with some of these photos because I was able to combine the athleticism of the dogs as well as the excitement of their “coaches” in one frame.

If you have the opportunity to attend a DockDogs event in your area, be sure to do it. It is really a lot of fun and you will meet a lot of nice people who really love their dogs. I hope you enjoy some of the other photos below.

Post Script, Friday, July 12, 2013–After the great response I received to this post, I went thru the couple of hours of photos I shot at the Dockdogs Eastern Regional in Deep Creek Lake and found some more photos you might enjoy for the following slide show. Thanks Rob

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