Julia Earns Her NACSW NW3 Elite Title

Julia earned her National Association of Canine Scent Work NW3 Elite title on January 9, 2022. She found all 9 hides and overall it was a great day. Unfortunately, on the first container search, after clearing all containers, I turned around and went through the containers again. My gut told me it was blank but I just had to run it again and got a false. Trust your dog. Yet another lesson learned. Either way, she was able to earn her NW3 Elite with 1 error and a qualifying score of 90.00 on the day.

Thank you to Absolutely Spot On Dog Training for hosting, CO Peter Ensch, judges, volunteers, and other competitors for a super fun day!

NACSW NW3 - Elkton, Florida

Julia tried for another NACSW NW3 Title in Elkton, Florida on November 9th. Unfortunately, no NW3 Title this time around. She did get her NW3 Element Title for containers though. That was pretty cool.

She found 10 of 10 hides (pronounced in exterior) on the day and did an excellent job. Me on the other hand, not so much. During the vehicle search, I froze after a head turn and crowded her a bit which caused a false alert. With that bonehead move, it eliminated us from contention. One more blank vehicle and we would have had it. There’s no woulda, coulda, shoulda though. This truly is a team sport. She gave it her all and I couldn't have asked for more.

We had a blast and it was great to spend a special long weekend with my dog, see old friends, and meet new ones. Huge shout-out to the hosting club, judges, volunteers and other competitors.

Below are videos of each search of this trial. After watching the videos, I know that I should have trusted Julia more. She caught everything on the first pass but yet I was compelled to go back and double-check. I feel videos of searches whether in practice or in competition are important. I learn so much as hard as some are to watch in hindsight. (BTW, exterior video is cropped tight on the right and doesn’t show Julia alert on the hide after the start but she got it).

julia-nacsw-nosework-trials-elkton-florida.jpg

Julia Wraps Up Her Overall AKC Scent Work Advanced Title

Super fun time at the Scent Work Club of Brevard County's debut trial held at Canine Star Training Academy in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Thanks to the judges and volunteers for all your hard work.

Julia finished her AKC Advanced Exterior Title today which completes her overall AKC Advanced Title. She was 3 out of 4 runs over the weekend and picked up two 1st places and one 2nd place. So proud of my girl.

Advanced exterior results for the weekend -

Trial 1 - 48.90 seconds / 1st place

Trial 2 - NQ

Trial 3 - 34.75 seconds / 2nd place

Trial 4 - 19.75 seconds / 1st place

Julia Completes Her AKC Scent Work Excellent Container Title & Advanced Buried Title

Julia and I attended the AKC Scent Work Trials at the Dog Training Club of St. Petersburg on Saturday. She completed her Excellent Container Title placing 1st and her Advanced Buried Title placing 3rd. This girl never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks to the hosting club, judges, volunteers and other competitors. Super fun time!

Special thanks to Kim Langevin at Crystal Creek Designs for the action photos.

Intentional Camera Movement Photography - Revisited

Back in 2016, I started experimenting with intentional camera movement photography or ICM. You can read the original post here. I wanted to briefly revisit the subject and share a few of my favorite new images.

As I mentioned in my first blog post, the idea of intentional camera movement photography is to introduce blur into the photograph using a slow shutter speed. Shutter speed should be somewhere between 1/4 of a second up to a few seconds while moving the camera vertically or horizontally. This technique can create some wonderful abstract photos.

Tip - When pressing the shutter button, move the camera slow for a shot and then try it faster. Results vary tremendously, so experiment, try different shutter speeds, and move the camera at a slower or quicker motion. This is a total trial and error process. Have fun!

Now more than ever, I find intentional camera movement photography a super-fun way to try new things with no rules. Most times, multiple images are required to achieve “the shot” that I’m looking for, but it’s all worth it.

California Pacific Ocean Abstract - 2.4 seconds at F10

Florida Seascape Abstract - 0.5 seconds at F36