I recently made a visit to my hometown. I traveled to Vegas for a convention and got to spend the weekend with my family. My brother and his wife have been remodeling a house out on Sunrise Mountain – right now it’s a work in progress, but there is one part that is ready to go. Right off the patio there is an oasis in the desert – a practically perfect pool.
Growing up we were never “pool people”. On our block there were two families that had pools – one was at a white house with white carpet – they were a fancy-schmancy family with wrought iron and sparkly stucco. I was always too grubby to even pass through their door, let alone be invited to play in their pool. The other was a doughboy pool that the kids a couple of years older hung out at – it was like swimming in a balloon, not my cup of tea.
The only pool I have ever owned was one of those kiddie pools you buy at Stuff-mart, I bought it for my dog. He loved it and I have always gotten a kick out of seeing a dog enjoy the water. I kayak with my terrier and my goldendoodle loves to play in the lake, so when I heard that we were taking my brother’s dog over to the new house to play in the pool, I was super excited to get a chance to capture her in action in the water.
A word about the dog – Cammie Lou (Cambria Louise) is an english pointer. She is an avid hunter and borders on being OCD when it comes to birds, or toys, or sitting in the passenger seat in the jeep. She cannot rest when these things are in play, she obsesses and pushes and works herself into a frenzy. It makes for a spectacular hunter. Apparently she also obsesses about swimming.
We let Cammie out into the backyard and she leapt into the pool and immediately began swimming laps non stop. She also made an excited crying sound. After about a dozen laps we would have to stand on the steps at the end and urge her to get out for a rest. She was so excited that she would jump right back in and start swimming again. This dog adores the water. Her joy is palpable. She was amazing to shoot.
To capture Cammie I started with a fairly high ISO – 2000. In the bright sunlight you could push it a lot higher if you needed to. I started with a shutter speed of 1/640 second and pushed up to 1/1000 after about 20 shots. In 10 minutes I shot about 150 frames and with these shutter speeds I only had about 4 that were out of focus or where I lost her in the frame. I focused on her eyes. Click through to get a sense of the motion of Cammie swimming.
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Very funy and good photos !
Thank you!
It’s supposed to get up to 102 degrees here today. Your pup makes that pool look really good! Gorgeous shots.
I hate it when it gets that hot. It was over a hundred the day Cammie took this dip. Thanks so much!
Cammie is so freaking cute. And she’s SMILING for the camera! As always, wonderful photos—I can practically hear the splashing and romping!
She is pretty cute, and she’s a princess – but in the pool she’s a monster. She practically hyperventilates with excitement over swimming. I’m glad my camera is weather sealed.
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Its so great to see our little friends enjoying themselves! Enjoyed …thanks for sharing!
She looks like she’s Smiling! What fun photos! I love watching dogs play, it’s relaxing.
I could tell if she was laughing or crying, my favorite shots of her are always her going full out.
That’s just pure joy right there. The doggie is great and the pics, the blue of the blue water, really nice.
The essence of joy truly captured, I agree
Thanks so much. She’s a dog who loves her work. ☺
A dog with a love of water like that deserves a pool of her own !
Thanks for sharing her joy.
Well, when she’s around she does have a pool of her own 🙂
Such joy! Thank you for capturing and sharing it!
Thanks for stopping by Russ!
Welcome back! I thought as soon as I saw the pics on my reader that the dog reminded me of a dog we used to have, and Irish Setter named Gizmo… if she’s an English Setter, that would explain the similarity 🙂 Great shots, and thank you for sharing the settings… that’s really helpful to us who are kind of ‘stupid’ in the manual settings of our cameras!
Thanks – she’s an English Pointer – a bit shorter haired than a setter, but the coloring is the same. I had no idea she loved water so much. I know she had retrieved ducks, but swimming laps, that was a surprise. I set up my galleries to show the settings – it’s a good point of reference for me too, learning the limits.
Gizmo loved the water, too! Any chance he had, he was going in!
Apparently I really want to play or else I didn’t see that my comment did get posted after all!
LOL – I have done the same – sometimes from my phone or iPad. I thought you were anxious to come out and play 🙂
Can I play, too?
Oh, I want to play, too
Welcome home….and delightful pics, esp on this extra warm day! Adorable! I bought a pool for my “girls”. They thought it was for baths and would have nothing to do with it. I gave it to a neighbor! 🙂
None of my current pups have been in a pool, but Sunshine loves the lake or any stream or river. I have been thinking about getting him a new one. I bet he would love Max’s pool – he’s a water dog.
Mine like to go to the pond and stick a nose in …..that’s about it. 🙂
I missed you and wondered where you were at! Great photos, shows just how much that dog enjoys her water! Makes a person smile! 🙂
August and September are crazy busy times in my work, so I have had to step back a bit. She really does love the water!
Das gefällt mir sehr gut! 🙂
Thank you!
Great shots!
Thanks so much!
Pure bliss!
Exactly 🙂
What fantastic photos!!
Thanks so much!
I can almost feel the sprays of delight!
Well, we all got wet standing around the pool 🙂
I just LOVE these shots!
Thanks Dianna!
This was soooo worth the wait. I wondered where you were. Now I know. Bliss and Speed are my faves. Cambria Louise, that is priceless.
Well Cammie is priceless, or is that “princess” 🙂 This is my busiest time at work all year so I have not been blogging or even reading as much. I’m hoping to catch up a bit today. Bliss and Speed were my favorite shots of the day too – that dog is so expressive.
Now that is one excited, happy dog! What great photos – and glad you had a visit with your fam. K
Thanks Kathleen – it was a great visit. I’m going back in a couple of weeks for a wedding. I love this dog, she is such an enthusiastic girl.