Using Cell Phone Cameras for Dog Show Photos
Recently, husband Ron and Ivory (GCH CH Wüstefuchs Ivory Mesa CGC RATI RATN RATO) participated in four days of dog shows at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The show grounds and RV parking, covered with neatly mowed grass and shade trees, had an adequate selection of vendors and food trucks nearby on-site. With the cool weather and friendly people (and dogs), we couldn’t have asked for a better show experience or better conditions for photos.
The Thursday and Friday shows were sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Combined Specialties Association. On Thursday, Ivory participated in the North Star Working Breeds Association’s show, restricted to Working Breeds only. On Friday, the Heartland Standard Schnauzer Club of the Greater Twin Cities held its Regional Specialty Show, where Ivory won 2nd place in Veteran Sweepstakes Ages 9–11. Her prize was a check for $6.40 and a set of cute stone magnets hand-painted with paw prints. An informal dinner and raffle followed the HSSC show. The St. Croix Valley Kennel Club’s all-breed dog shows were held on Saturday and Sunday, where Ivory supported the club <grin>. In the four shows, 20–30 Standard Schnauzers competed, depending on the day—a lovely weekend for taking dog show pictures of our breed.
Ron and I had upgraded our cell phones in July to Samsung Galaxy S8 (http://amzn.to/2wKdEjp), partly because the improved camera capabilities enabled me to take photos of our dogs both at home and at dog shows without my losing track of the action in the ring. In addition to its photo capability, e-mail is a breeze. Several other useful apps make our new Samsung smart phones a great improvement over my old voice-and-camera-only LG.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 phone is both lightweight and easy to use for quick snapshots, but the photographer (me) couldn’t hold the phone steady enough while pressing the button to take a non-blurry photo (what was that about walking and chewing gum at the same time?). So I hunted around on Amazon.com and found a lightweight (less than a pound) tripod for me to carry to dog show rings.
The Peyou aluminum 50-inch tripod with a universal smart-phone holder-mount (http://amzn.to/2x6Gf27) works perfectly for my purposes. It’s easy to tote it in my wheelchair from our RV or grooming area to ringside. It’s also easy for me—mechanically all thumbs—to set up. The smart-phone holder for mounting the phone on the tripod is adjustable enough to fit just about any smart phone. It’s easy to attach to the tripod; a regular camera will fit on the tripod mount as well. Another nifty feature included in the tripod package is the wireless remote control for the smart-phone camera’s shutter. The tripod and shutter control fit neatly into the carrying case for over-the-shoulder (or over-the-wheelchair-handles) transport. This compact, lightweight tripod package is great for hikers, backpackers, skiers, travelers, or RV campers like us.
I’m a novice when it comes to photography. Ron is the photographer of our family. He has a few of those cameras you have to fiddle with to get them to focus, and he has a bunch of special-effects lenses, too. For me, just being able to capture an image quickly with a minimum of fuss is ideal, and a real bonus is being able to figure out what the image represents afterward (too many of my photos are of the ceiling or the inside of my fingers). To this end, I highly recommend the Samsung Galaxy S8 (http://amzn.to/2wKdEjp) and the Peyou tripod package (http://amzn.to/2x6Gf27). If it works for a rank amateur like me, it will work for anyone.
At the same time, I also bought a clip-on microphone for when I learn how to make videos with a voice-over, but I haven’t become tried that yet. I’ll tell you about the microphone another time, so stay tuned!