The Hike

I took my dogs to the state park on Sunday.  It was very warm but cloudy. I didn't hike as much as I usually do because it was so warm. I thought I would just hike out to the river and back.

I almost tried to kill  myself.  I was on this part of the trail that has a slim path and a drop off on the side.

If you look down there, you can see the creek at the bottom. So you don't want to fall here.

Anyway, these ladies came by. They got off the path so I could pass them.  So as Im passing, Guiness stops in front of me, I step on him and start to fall forward. Ack!!.  Some how I managed to stay upright on my feet. Thank goodness. All I could think was Im going to hurt my dogs or break my camera.  Lucky, none of that happened.  We made it to the river without any more problems.

Java was the only one who would go down on the rocks.  It was slippery. The water must have recently been up and covering all the rocks.

Once I brought out treats, everyone was much more accommodating.

Tons of turtles were out.

Anyway, we made it back to the car without anymore problems.

I really need to go here more. It much better physical activity for me and the dogs than the other park.  All the hills are great.

A Fall Day

We went to the state park today. I wasnt sure how much leave colors we would have and it was cloudy when we got there.

To get the colors in the back ground, I had to take picture with the dogs on the ridges. There is no real color on the ground yet from leaves falling.

This area was great. But the path is narrow and you can't see people coming because its high up and both ends of the path curve. So not great with trying to get dog pictures if you have one dog  that thinks taking pictures is boring.

My husband is taking the shots while I was trying to get Java to "pay attention". LOL The dogs are looking at me.

This was the best we got.

Oops!

"Looks who's not paying attention now?"

Then Guiness fell in the water. Well, just his back end. Java went to help him out. He could have just gone a little ways down and got up on some shallower rocks  but he was freaked out and just kept trying to get up in this same spot.

"Help me up Java".   

Dont worry, I pulled him up.

"Notice she couldnt put the camera down to help me out, sheesh"

"Crazy lady!!"

Tried again to get all three in the picture. I guess Guiness is still mad. LOL

 Then we went home.

Photography

I keep forgeting to post this.  There is a dog photographer who is posting tips on getting better pictures . She also talks about the different camera setting ect.  Here is her link.Carol Beuchat  You will have to look back at her post  to go to the first post  on photography. The series is  called "Shoot the Dog"  .  Some stuff isnt knew to me, but I did learn a few things.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

When I went to the park yesterday I wanted to take pictures with this green spigot.   I think its cool looking. But I wasnt very happy with the pictures when I got home. I wanted to get the top of the spigot in the picture. To do this the dog had to stand on a cinder block to give them height.  The dog doesnt look happy and the lighting wasnt good.  It was morning and probably not enough light. So I went back around 11 am to retake some shots.  I just took Miley the second time because I was going to the club afterwards to work on some agility stuff.  Guiness would be more comfortable at home.  Anyway, when I went back to the park I took Miley's bed. 

Yes that green ottoman is Miley's bed.  I got it at Good Will.  There was no chair.  It really was to be used to help the dogs on and off the bed.It sits right next to the bed , near my side of the bed.   Miley decided it was to be her bed. 

 I like these pictures so much better than the other ones.  Lucky there was only one other family there so see this crazy lady carry an ottoman to take a picture of her dog. LOL

Miley's foot still isnt better.  I really do think something is in her foot or there is a deep bruise.  I probably shouldn't have taken her to this park. To may uneven surfaces. I had to carry her sometimes because of the rocks.  I wanted to go to the flat park with the cement walkway but they were have a "Dam Race" that ended at the park. So I didnt want to deal with all those people.   Im not sure what do about her foot.

 Oh, yea here are a few tree pictures. I think trees look so cool. Esp. the dead ones. Sometimes the way the light hits the trees is just beautiful.

agility and Photograpy

Thursday I drove up to NC for an agility class.  Well, I rode up.  A friend of mine drove, so that was nice.  I went to the novice class and masters. Here was part of the course for the novice class.

I was up first.  Miley crashed the jump #5. It was horrible. She flipped several times and slid across the grass on her back. Ugh.  But she seems ok. She took the jump again and she crashed again but not like the first time. She landed on the bars.  So Meagan came over and bent down so she was seeing like the dog.  Well, the field was shaded except for this tiny sun spot which was hitting Miley right in the face so she couldnt see.  We moved the jump over, did the course again. No problem.  Such a tiny thing, a sun spot, could have taken my dog out for good.  Im soooo glad she is ok.
For the masters class there was a slight change of the course.

As you can see, your dog has to take the back side of that jump after coming out of the tunnel.   For the pass few weeks Ive been practicing getting my dog to come into me when coming out of a tunnel.  I would set this up;

I would change it up by sometimes having her take the jump that she sees coming out of the tunnel or running this backwards.  It has taken a lot of work to get her to come between the jump. Ive had lots of failures and successes. Then went I went to "T" 's house, I set it up again and it was like she hadnt seen it before. But eventually she got it.   So how would she do with Meagan's course when I needed her to come into me between the jump and the weaves and then take the backside of the jump.   Well, SUCCESS!!  She did it.  I was so excited.  She got a big jackpot after that.
 Yesterday I took the dogs for a long hike at the state park. Lots of hills.  I had certain shots I wanted to set up. 

She is to far away in this picture but otherwise I like it.

I wish the leash wasnt on Guiness in these pictures.  I was to scared to take his leash off in this area. He cant be trusted.  Its not like I take the leash off and he bolts. Its just that if something caught his fancy, like a bike, deer or squirrel, he would bolt.  And not listen.

What I dont understand about photography is why sometimes the dog looks so crisp and other times not. Now I realize the amount of light has something to do with it but the first pictures of miley on this post, she is just so crisp , but this picture she isnt.  It might be hard to tell on the blog. Its more noticeable on my computer. I looked at the camera setting but that didnt tell me much. Then I read about the "sweet spot" in your camera lens.  So Ive been trying to look at all my pictures and the apertures, that didnt help me figure it out either.

Then there was this big bone.  It doesnt look big , I should have put something next to it for reference.  Its some type of femur bone.  Hopefully animal.

We havent had any rain so the creeks to the river are dry.  I hiked a different way and usually water is here for the dogs. But not this time. So we needed to keep going to the river. I knew the dogs were hot and I felt we were closer to the river than the car. So I kept going.

 When we got to the river it felt wonderful.  The wind was blowing and we all needed that.  The water is so low that I could cross to the big rocks in the middle of the river. This bird was fishing so I got some nice shots.

These arent what I wanted either. I think the wind blowing and then none of the shots where both dogs looking at the camera.  It would have been great if they had both been looking. Plus the rock looks great and the picture loses something as you look up at the dogs to the sky.

Sometimes it was really windy!!

This  picture is very cute. Usually these rocks are covered with water.

Now crossing back to the land you need to pay attention. This picture isnt from us crossing but it gives you an idea of how big some of the rocks are.  When crossing back, Miley stays right behind me. But not Guiness. I guess he thinks he knows better. Any way, I was trying to get him to come my way,instead he tried to jump down and either couldnt support himself or slipped. He fell and jammed his neck on a rock. That was pretty horrible too.  But he got right up and seemed fine.  He almost hit his face. Thank god that didtn happen or his throat. I would have really had a problem then. Im not sure I will take him out on the rocks again.  If something had happened I was 2 miles from the road. ( they are on a flexi lead so he does have to come  with me but it gives them room in case I or they fall we dont pull each other down)
This morning it was beautiful outside. I stopped at this little park on the lake. Its not really a good park, just a small one that people can put their boats in the water.  It was 7am and the guy who collects the money wasnt there yet so it was free to park.

The color on the lake was beautiful but I didnt have enough light for the dogs.  So their color isnt good.  I tried to use the flash ( not noted on this picture) but I couldnt figure out how to tone the flash down. It was driving me crazy, how hard could that be.  If I used a flash, the dog had good color but it washed out the back ground. When I got home I looked it up. The camera automatically adjust the flash for the lighting but because of the contrast of light and dark it wasnt right. Now I know I have to click this one setting and then change it to manual and then adjust the flash.  LOL, my other camera I just clicked the button to adjust the flash.  This one has so many steps I hope I remember them.
Then a small sun spot came thur the trees. I set Miley up and I really like how it turned out.  This was to close to all the squirrels and stuff for me to set Guiness up and be trusted.

Again same lighting problem.  Soo disappointing.  I wish I could have figured out that flash. Ugh!!

My son went to college today. We are empty nesters.  Now we just need to get them off the payroll. LOL