U-Fli Championships
One of my favorite events to shoot is U-Fli Championships at Purina Farms. U-Fli is one of the two flyball organizations in the US and Canada. Each year the event is held at Purina Farms, in Missouri, and teams travel from Canada, and all over the US, including Alaska to compete. This year was even more exciting because it was the first year back since Covid.
The event is huge, with teams running in various divisions based on their speed. It's awesome to watch the racing, do a little shopping at the vendor booths, and of course, catch up with all the flyball people I haven't seen in ages.
Dog Event Photography
Unlike many other dog sports, flyball is usually held indoors, on mats for the safety of the dogs. The dogs are crazy fast and the lighting conditions are less than ideal for action shots, making the photos a little noisy (colorful grain). Add to that all the clutter of a typical event, fencing, chairs, people (yes, I'm calling people clutter), start tree for the lights, start gates, buckets, etc. You get the idea. It's not like shooting a portrait where all that can be controlled. For events, you just have to take what you get and make the best of it. People want photos of their dogs doing the thing they love to do and the clutter is what it looks like, so people don't mind.
Another aspect of shooting events is to be pretty invisible, out of the way, and in no way a distraction to the dogs or handlers. Flyball dogs are generally pretty focused on their task and not easily distracted, but it's still important to avoid crowding or applying pressure to the dog by being too close. Some dogs have bigger bubbles than others and with the speed and precision needed to safely execute their run, it's best to back off. If I'm shooting on the ground, I'm either at the end of the run back or in a spot where I'm by a chair, or other clutter and I can blend. You can see the angle of these images is much different from my typical images, which is for all the reasons stated above.
So Many Photos!
So how many photos did I take at the event? Kind of a LOT. I took around 25,000 images, that includes the portrait sessions I did while I was there. That's with slowing my cameras burst down. I intended to go this year and just grab each shot without overshooting. In my head, it was a good plan. It held up for about 3 minutes during the actual shooting. I don't shoot flyball enough to be able to pull that off just yet.
How many photos did I post? I culled down to just over 10,000. This is why after an event, you won't see or hear a peep from me for days. I'm buried in photos.
Events are a ton of work, definitely something to do only if you love doing it. Otherwise, I think burnout would happen quickly. As a former competitor, I love shooting flyball, because I have a history in the sport, and with many of the competitors, making it fun just to be there.
14 Comments
Nov 5, 2022, 12:18:18 PM
Nicole Hrustyk - Thanks, Jessica. Definitely, so much fun!
Nov 5, 2022, 8:21:45 AM
Jessica - I love all the crazy eyes and focused expressions! This had to have been so fun and challenging to capture!
Nov 4, 2022, 11:42:25 PM
Nicole Hrustyk - Flyball has a lot of mixes. The most common mix right now are Border Collie x Whippets. One of the images looks like a BC X Whippet + something small. Also, Staffy mixes are popular. :)
Nov 4, 2022, 3:14:06 PM
Carol - This event looks super fun, but I can totally imagine the amount of work! Also, is that a catahoula I see?!!
Nov 4, 2022, 10:08:39 AM
Holly - First of all....10,000 final images? Girl! Secondly...Purina Farm is on my bucket list of places to shoot. 😁 Your photos are amazing and full of action and color and excitement! Flyball is so much fun! Love this!
Nov 4, 2022, 9:14:47 AM
Nicole Hrustyk - Thanks, Holly! Purina Farms is amazing, but funny because shooting with you is on my bucket list! haha
Nov 4, 2022, 9:09:38 AM
Terri - Oh my goodness - that last photo!! It looks like a lot of fun shooting this event.
Nov 4, 2022, 8:57:45 AM
Angela Schneider - I get the idea Mals love to have things in their mouths. :D
Nov 4, 2022, 8:19:55 AM
Nicole Hrustyk - It is a ton of fun!
Nov 4, 2022, 8:19:09 AM
Nicole Hrustyk - haha, they do!
Nov 4, 2022, 8:17:02 AM
Nicole Hrustyk - Thanks, Kim. I agree, the clutter helps tell the story, but it still kind of hurts my brain to see it. lol
Nov 4, 2022, 8:16:07 AM
Nicole Hrustyk - Thank you, Ina.
Nov 4, 2022, 5:50:50 AM
Kim Hollis - omg I love these! These events have to be so fun to photograph. To me the clutter helps tell the entire story.
Nov 4, 2022, 5:22:24 AM
Ina - These are awesome action photos Nicole!! That first one OMG!! Love it