Tossing the stick

There are a bunch of dogs at Crissy field that LOVE to chase sticks into the surf. I loved the view of this kid getting ready to toss it to the dog, who is at least twice as big as he is.

Ziggy's little friend...

We went on a beach walk with a small dogs group at Ocean Beach this morning.

Among the other dogs there was this one. She and Ziggy hit it off beautifully.

Look at that face though -- how freakin' cute can one dog be!?!?

Introductions...

Introductions...
Originally uploaded by pfranson365

We took Ziggy and Clementine to the dog park.

Ziggy was much more social than Clem. He had to make his introductions to a standard poodle (about 4x his size).

You can feel the intention of the moment -- the lighting and the colors. The whole "nose to nose" thing is just too cool.

My first OOB photoshops...

A user on Flickr named Serrator wrote a very good tutorial on how to create an Out of Bounds (OOB) picture in Photoshop. Using that tutorial, I was able to crank out these 2 pictures in less than an hour.

It's fun, and you can create some pretty interesting stuff with the technique. Check out the OOB Flickr Group for some ideas of what some of the more creative folks are doing with this technique.

Dedicated to the task...

VERY COLD WATER. This is a really dedicated pooch. He chased out into this FREEZING COLD WATER to get a tennis ball. That's right, a tennis ball.

Did I mention that this water is a tad cool. We're talking about 45-50 degrees top. Surfers wear wetsuits cold.

And yet, this little Jack Russell Terrier (who belongs to our trainer Fawn) just jumped in.

I Thought Mastadons Were Extinct...

Click for a bigger picture (if you dare!)

Pulling out of the parking lot of the local grocery store, I ended up behind these people. I had to grab my camera and snap a picture cause, well, frankly, I was struck by HOLY CRAP -- THAT'S A BIG DOG!!.

I mean, seriously, this dog has to duck when the car goes through underpasses. He has to affect their mileage. On the bright side, if they do run out of gas, they can ride him home -- better yet, he can pull the car to the nearest station!

Ok, enough really big dog jokes.

There is one more pic on the Flickr page of this guy.

One last chase ...

I went to visit my son today (he's at UC Davis, which is about 70 miles from here). On my way home, I was still trying to find that great picture to take, when I noticed that the sun was going down, and, if I hustled, I could get to the beach in time to get a sunset picture.

Of course, I didn't count on the backup at the tolls on the Bay Bridge, so, alas, when I got to Ocean Beach, the sun had finished its journey below the horizon. Dejected, I turned the car down Great Highway and started home. At a stoplight, however, I looked out at the ocean, and saw a surprising site.

The beach was still FULL of people. Many were starting to wind their way back to the parking lot, but litterally hundreds of folks were still out on the beach -- a fair number of them with dogs, still splashing around in the surf.

I hurredly parked my car, grabbed my trusty D70, and headed down the sand.

I particularly like the fact that I caught the little guy completely in mid jump. I also liked the way the shadowy reflections in the wet sand blur the line where the people end.