Sept 20, 2008—If your club or facility is planning a new dog sports arena or sprucing up an existing space, this series of articles can help you. Before you read this one, I suggest that you start with Article 1 and Article 2.

6. Equipment condition

Myth: No one notices if the tire jump paint is peeling or the colored tape on a jump standard is half scraped off. The only thing people really see is the dog.

Reality: Well, that may be true during the whirlwind of a run, but it’s not at all true in photographs. If you find the perfect tire jump that shows your dog centered in the tire, you probably won’t like it much if the tire looks battered and worn.

Nor will magazines like Clean Run be as likely to run your picture if the equipment looks shabby. Clean Run’s submission guidelines for photographs say this: “If the dog is performing an obstacle, the obstacle should be attractive and in good condition; that means no peeling duct tape, no warping wood, no rusty jump bars, etc.”

Suggestions: Keeping the equipment clean and well decorated is a good idea. And who knows? It may also be a subconscious incentive for the performers in the ring.

Cost: There is minimal cost involved in regularly sprucing up the agility equipment.

7. Photographer access

Myth: All a photographer needs is one spot at ringside where he or she can stand or sit virtually stationary and choose a vantage point on one or two obstacles.

Reality: The best agility or obedience photography comes from a wide variety of shots per run. For the greatest range of photo choices, the photographer should take dozens of exposures per run. The stationary photographer may get good tire shots for the dogs in a certain class, but nothing else. And tire shots are great, but what if you already have a box full of them at home? Wouldn’t you like some variety?

Related to this is course design. Yes, that may be a challenge to coordinate with the course designer, but some course setups provide few or no usable photo angles. Virtually every jump, tunnel, and exit contact may be facing away from the only place the photographer can work.

Also related are obstacles, such as netting or Plexiglas at the side of the ring, which is typical of indoor soccer arenas. Excellent photography isn’t possible through wire or metal mesh or through plastic.

Suggestions: Work with the course designer to lay out a course that fits your facility and provides room for the photographer to move about. For shot variety, the photographer needs room to move along at least one side of the ring (two sides are even better), outside the fence. The ideal is for the ringside area to be clear of people, chairs, and equipment, so that heads don’t keep popping up in the photos and the photographer doesn’t fall over things.

If your events take place at a soccer arena, see if it’s possible to have the visual obstacles temporarily removed, or set up the course so that there is ringside access inside the soccer enclosure. (For that, you’ll need fencing, of course, as the photographer works best when not actually in the ring with the competitors.)

For the spectators, it’s a great idea to provide bleachers. That helps to minimize the potential tangle of chairs at ringside, and it provides a clear view for a greater number of people.

Cost: Other than bleachers, these suggestions carry little or no cost.

In conclusion, by making your facility as inviting as possible to the best photographers, you will help ensure that your members and other competitors like the photos they get. You’ll also make your facility more comfortable for all competitors, both human and canine alike. After all, as dog sports gain popularity, there is more and more competition each weekend for trials and venues. In any given area, handlers and trainers often have multiple choices. Do what you can to ensure that they choose your club or your sports facility.

In the long run, designing for excellent photography is a plus for your organization, and it’s something you should promote on your website. Get help from a photographer that your club works with frequently to gather outstanding photo examples and develop website text about the measures you’ve taken to make your facility as photogenic as possible. Paw Prints Pet Photography would be glad to talk with you about that.

Finally, most of the suggestions I’ve made do have some cost. But for the biggest ticket item (three-phase electric service), spending a few thousand dollars could be offset by savings on utility bills and the economy of prolonged equipment life. As you make your facility more appealing, you might be able to add one or two events per year. In that case, think of the income you could generate. It might pay for everything described above.

The bottom line is simple: Through thoughtful planning, your organization could end up with a net savings—and greater success—in the long run.

The example photos below show two things: The first few show how the appearance of the agility equipment affects the photos. The last several shots demonstrate the wide range of interesting pictures that a photographer can get through easy access to several vantage points from outside the ring.

This concludes the dog arena series. If you have any questions about cameras, software, or photography, Virgil would be glad to hear from you. You can email him, you can call 513-779-8934, or you can stop by at an event and ask questions.