Wave over the images to see captions if you like.

Started out the month at Fox River Valley Kennel Club held at Woodstock, IL. Nice local show, only about 45 minutes from my house. Made it possible for me to quickly zoom through the images for Saturday and head back in time to catch groups on Sunday as well!

Dogshow 2016-06-04 Woodstock--094350Teal the Whippet shows off her lovely expression with dark eyes surrounded by her super dark pigment, I was enchanted! Dogshow 2016-06-04 Woodstock--101605Rush the Mastiff pointed out by Judge Doug Holloway as Best of Breed. Dogshow 2016-06-05 Woodstock--135628This charming Westie struck this pose for me (we must have ESP) while waiting for his Group Ribbon. Dogshow 2016-06-05 Woodstock--155136Jo the Havanese struts her stuff in the group!

The following weekend was another trip to Oak Creek for the Coursing Ability Trial. Jonathan wanted to play with the camera and new lens today, and since Coursing is a bit rather like spray and pray anyway, I said he could do some ... however it was EXTREMELY hot and sunny and I sat in the sportbrella most of the day while Jonathan took many many photos (which I had to edit!). These are some of our favorites...

Dogshow 2016-06-11 Oak Creek CAT--100632-5The eyes have it! Dogshow 2016-06-11 Oak Creek CAT--111453-3Even thought he's a Toy Breed, the Cavalier is all spaniel! Dogshow 2016-06-11 Oak Creek CAT--115720-9Penelope the shiba is taking names and setting records, I believe she is the fastest shiba currently in the US. Dogshow 2016-06-11 Oak Creek CAT--115434-2Mayday the Shiba is after his quarry and never gives up!

Which brings us to the Grayslake Cluster -- I nicknamed it the Kewl Cluster -- a bit of a takeoff on the Coool Cluster in January, and a bit of an homage to all the kewl cali people that came to visit us! I belong to Little Fort KC of Waukegan, and we were on Thursday & Sunday, International KC of Chicago joined us this year on Friday, and there were a plethora of specialties on Saturday, along with the Great Lakes All Terrier Association and Chicagoland Hound Association Group Shows. That day was ended with the Best of the Bests, judged by a surprise judge (George Alston), it was the first time I've ever attended something quite like this and it was really fun and great to see all the specialty winners lined up in a super sized ring!

Dogshow 2016-06-16 Grayslake--093025If I don't have some PDAs of dogs and handlers I just don't feel right, here's one of Tam the Beagle and Doug Belter. Dogshow 2016-06-16 Grayslake--141525and a sweet one during the group with Ivy the Boston and her handler Andrea Carter! Dogshow 2016-06-16 Grayslake--162215A little intermission for some dock diving with Jody Bogdan and her dock diving Berner (is this Beryl?), he was amazing! Dogshow 2016-06-17 Grayslake--111619oh here we are again with the PDAs, this was Best of Breed Greyhound on Friday, GCH Chaparral N Sovereign Dragon Fire with her handler, but I'm not sure of names so not putting any in! Dogshow 2016-06-18 Grayslake--113028-2Olivia the Bullmastiff with Holley Eldred. She must have good bait because she's always stealing it ;) Dogshow 2016-06-16 Grayslake--165146-3I don't know the name of this dog, but he won this event starting out at 17 feet for his first jump (which he made!) Dogshow 2016-06-18 Grayslake--131754Warning -- another sappy PDA between Bob Hutton and a Wire Fox Puppy Bitch. I think she loves him... Dogshow 2016-06-18 Grayslake--184135George Alston presenting BIS accompanied by Virginia Murray and Scott Pfeil to .... Dogshow 2016-06-18 Grayslake--175035Angus the Clumber Spaniel and his handler Erin Myers! Congratulations on an amazing win! Dogshow 2016-06-19 Grayslake--140644Cole the Yorkie took BIS on Sunday Photo Shoot 2016-06-17 Gracie Airedale--200417Funny moment during a photo shoot at La Quinta in Gurnee as some non-dog people passed by while we were shooting (we told them to go ahead, but the smiles were so cute...), Gracie the Airedale had a nice end to the weekend getting a major by going BOB over specials on Sunday. Dogshow 2016-06-19 Grayslake--142934-2GCH Legend's Cross My Heart of Lore strutted her stuff in the group on Sunday.

That's it for June of 2016. Next month I'll be bringing you some photos from the Greater DeKalb Kennel Club show and also from the Wonderful Wisconsin Weekend (Combined Specialties & Group Shows on Friday / Waukesha KC Sat & Sun / Burlington WI KC on Mon & Tues). Contact me if you are interested if doing a private photo shoot at the show or need ringside photos!

Going into August, I plan to be at Cudahy & Racine KCs. These are very nice outdoor shows, good food, lots of parking and some photo ops near Lake Michigan on Fri/Sat. I think that is likely to be my only shows in August unless someone makes me an offer I can't refuse :)

Please take a few minutes to check out our Frequently Asked Questions if you have any questions and can't reach me right away. 

Until next month, keep cool and be safe!

May is a month where it started out almost like winter, and ended up in summer. Such is spring in Chicago ... not much of it!

I was out taking photos two weekends this month.

First was a CAT event on May 11 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin sponsored by the Cudahy Kennel Club. CAT stands for Coursing Ability Test and it's the first time I've attended anything like this since the 70s when I had basenjis. By the way, my basenjis could have cared less about a white plastic bag, but we gave my malamute, Bambi, a chance and she was quite willing to chase!

Fast & furious and COLD were the buzzwords for the day. I'm sorry to say I wussed out ... the morning session went nearly to 2:00 and since I knew I had commitments that required me to leave by 3 (which would normally be the time the whole event would have ended), I skipped the afternoon session. Just as well, it took me hours to warm up! The was the maiden voyage of my new camera which had arrived earlier in the week. Despite the long distances I was pretty amazed at the focus but it was tough for me to actually get a lock on the dogs when they were far away (and they were quite far sometimes) especially if they were all brown or all black. I needed a zoomier lens to ever do this again!

If you ever get the chance to watch a CAT, take it ... dogs love it! One overanxious Berner actually took one of the fences down to get IN! Another dog left the Fast CAT area and infiltrated the CAT area somehow and it was quite an interesting 15 minutes or so before they finally caught him! I was pretty impressed with the shibas who all were easily leashed after their runs, considering it might have been forever for me to catch mine! :)

Here are a few fun photos, I don't know if they're anything coursing people want, but I love the water shots! http://lyndabeam.zenfolio.com/f60915580 (still working on this event actually, since photos are from so far away they require a LOT of editing!)

Dogshow 2016-05-14 Oak Creek CAT--093334-4Quin the Belgian Sheepdog at the CAT (note to self, still need to remove the cone from this one, Jonathan has promised to teach me!) Dogshow 2016-05-14 Oak Creek CAT--092350Leah Crowley and her best friend Loki

Dogshow 2016-05-14 Oak Creek CAT--090151-3Murray shows the big dogs how it's done! Dogshow 2016-05-14 Oak Creek CAT--121754-4and it seems that CAT can also be a water sport!

The other weekend was a trip to Michigan for the Nippo Classic (a show for the native Japanese breeds judged by a Nippo judge in the Japanese style). As some of you know, I have shibas, and have also owned and shown akitas so this is an event I especially enjoy shooting. Many photo ops for the dogs as they stand around posing a lot :) It's also a show where I get to reconnect with good friends from far away. http://lyndabeam.zenfolio.com/f255968432

Photo Shoot 2016-05-20 Michigan--122044Asst Judge Bill Fletcher verifies with a thumbs up that T&T (teeth and testicles) are all there on this puppy! Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--085144

Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--091115 Photo Shoot 2016-05-20 Michigan--131953The Nippo Judge takes photos of all the winners to take home

I was finished with the Nippo show soon enough on Saturday to be able to shoot groups and BIS at the Genesee County Kennel Club held on the same site. http://lyndabeam.zenfolio.com/f269500872

Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--161522-4 Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--140521-2

Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--143247 Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--154031Ripcord was excited to win the Working Group! He also was BIS!

It was fun to see dogs and people I haven't seen in a while. I realized that I had not been to Michigan since 2001! Every town I passed brought forth memories of good times. 

In between the Nippo Classic and the groups, I also squeezed in a portrait session for Kiko the Shiba! Watch for these two ladies at upcoming shows! Thanks to Caitlin and Deanna for hiking all over the grounds to find the perfect spots!

Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--132021 Photo Shoot 2016-05-21 Michigan--131241

On deck for June ...

Fox River Valley KC (June 4 & 5) is likely if the weather is good -- no fun to sit in the mud and rain, and realistically not much to shoot!

If it rains at Fox River Valley, then the new lens (Sigma 150-600) may make its debut at the June 11 CAT in Oak Creek. I don't know that I'm ready to commit to the whole day yet and would need to get permission, so might just go and shoot my friends for fun and to get some practice using the Sigma lens.

I will also be at the Grayslake cluster every day (June 16-19), although I will be ring stewarding at least for the Little Fort shows on Thursday/Friday so will only do groups those days most likely. I have a request to take candids at the Staffy specialty on Saturday. 

Later on in the summer, look for us to be at DeKalb, Wisconsin Wonderful Weekend & Cudahy/Racine if weather permits. Please contact me privately if you'd like a private session at any of these shows and I'll do my best to accommodate you. I'm also able to do private sessions on off weekends as well. Best times are very early morning or just before dusk to get the best light.

See you at the shows!

I'm in the process of selecting some of my favorite photos of 2013 and they will be featured for the year on the front page slideshow.

I look forward to my first shows of the year ...  will either be Winnegamie/Oshkosh KCs next weekend if I can make it or the 3 shows at Grayslake (Chain O Lakes/Park Shore KCs).

I look forward to sharing some new photos with you!

In the meantime, please enjoy this photo that I took at the Chicago Botanical Garden in early October. It's nice to imagine how warm it was then when it's below freezing outside! The rest of the photos can be found at http://lyndabeam.zenfolio.com/p231595734

Mondelez International Launch Party

In any case, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity over the last two years to photograph some absolutely amazing dogs and I hope to continue to do so. 

Watch out for news of our sale soon!

Saturday I was at Elgin Kennel Club and it was a fun day, ring stewarding mostly for toy breeds. They are all so CUTE! But it is difficult sometimes to keep the ring on time, through no fault of the judge! I really think the superintendents should probably calculate less dogs per hour for a few reasons. 

1. They're small and they take longer to get around the ring
2. They're small so sometime people bring more than 1, sometimes 6 and it takes time to get armbands changed and dogs into the ring
3. Toy people are very sweet like their dogs and often have no sense of urgency LOL

I was a very forlorn ring steward as I stood holding Japanese Chin armband #18 and found that Miss Mimi Chin was in Houston (where she had a very successful weekend nonetheless) and she would not grace our ring that day. I think her owner thinks I'm kidding, but ask anyone ... I had a big sad face for about 5 minutes ;)

Some photos from Elgin:

Vicki DeGruy who spends most of her time behind a lens ventured out with her new puppy Neo and took Best of Breed and this was his first time in group, doesn't he look like he has the whole thing down already!

Another young class dog that made it to group was this smooth fox terrier, 
he managed a Group II to a wonderful Russell Terrier. Really nice moving dog as well!

Team Tiger takes Best in Show #3 on Saturday and
repeated the group win on Sunday I believe.

Group First both days and Best in Show on the second (naturally when I wasn't there!) was the malamute bitch Ruby!

And last but not least, loved this mini poodle shown by Sara Brooks who won a Group IV from the classes.

I've seen Sara show some spectacular poodles!

So what's next? 

Was planning on taking a trip out to Ames, Iowa for Labor Day weekend but decided I just have too much to do at home, dog related and non dog related as well. So ... maybe next year. It sure sounds like a fun time and some of the members actually invited me and I HATE to turn down invitations.

Kenosha and Freeport are solid maybe, depending upon how much I get done over Labor Day.

I will be at Manitowoc for at least one day because of the Puli National. Nancy Powell asked me to come months and months ago. I've been practicing a lot on every pulik I see, especially the dark ones, so I hope I get some good shots for them.

In October I will be going to the Shiba National as the official win photographer and I really want to be completely caught up before I go because last year I took about 20,000 photos of shibas (more candids than win photos :)) and that took quite awhile to process!

That's enough for now, so be safe on the roads over the holidays if you are out and about.

Till next week...

This past weekend I did not attend any shows, went instead to visit some good friends in Wisconsin, and then worked on editing. You might notice I actually did some more of the Wheaton show! I'm darn near to the Pyrenees specialty if anyone remembers it, again apologies for the length of time it takes me to do things, but with a full-time job, a rather long commute every day and my husband and dogs, there's not been a lot of free time. So again, if you have something you are looking for and have a deadline or anything like that, please let me know and I'll give you priority. Was planning on going to Iowa for Labor Day, but really really need to stay home and work on photos and getting organized at home. We were planning a move and started packing, but unfortunately that did not come to fruition, so no shorter commute and need to get some boxes out of the garage and into the house before winter or we'll be clearing snow off Lottie the Highlander all winter.

This weekend are the Elgin KC shows where I will be doing groups and Best in Show only since I'm a club member and will be ring stewarding. I think I will be doing the toy ring so stop by and say hey :) This year is very bittersweet since our long time President and one of the founders of the club (I think), Ed Haas, passed away earlier this year. This show is being dedicated to his memory. His tireless efforts and yearly "howl" at the club meetings will not be forgotten soon by any of our club members. I know his wife Peggy will do her usual wonderful job of taking care of details, but we will still miss our fearless leader.

I will also share with you a couple of my favorite photos from last year. This one with Bryan Martin and Yahoo is the second in my "Dancing with the Stars" series and made it to my Favorites of 2011 group.

The Kerry Blue portrait was also taken at last year's show. His breeder/owner Reita has had some wonderful wins with him and you can certainly see why!

I hope some of you will be entered and stop by to see why Elgin KC is one of the nicest Chicagoland area shows!

My next show after Elgin will mostly likely be the Kenosha KC show in Wilmot. If you're coming up for these shows, there are actually some really nice restaurants in town. One is the Stage Stop just down the street from the show. They serve you a nice steak but it's the potatoes that I love, served with about a quarter pound of butter! You can also do a tour of the Stage Stop's upper floors which is rather spooky to me. It really was a stagecoach stop at one time. You can see the rooms and the next hotel you stay at will seem like a palace in comparison! Other options for food, the Twin Oaks Country Inn in Wilmot is also not far and serves really excellent and somewhat upscale food. The other kennel club I belong to, Little Fort KC of Waukegan has held our club's holiday dinner there twice and it was quite yummy. A little further away in Genoa City is Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction which has a really great fish boil. You would swear you were eating lobster instead of cod which is also served with BBQ Chicken & Ribs, but I always just get the fish because it's so good. The price is quite reasonable and all you can eat along with boiled potatoes/onions and cole slaw and dessert. I can't remember for sure, but $14.95 rings a bell... All can be found easily with a Google search if you are interested.

Till next week ... be safe on the roads :)
 

I think my best purchase in the past two weeks was the SportBrella, it's like giant umbrella that you can set on its side and stake down (and I needed those stakes sometimes!). Kept me out of the sun and more important on Monday, DRY! I think it was also a placemarker for the judges on Sunday as they kept sticking the table right in front of me! But sometimes adversity makes for some good shots so we'll see!

I will get to these as soon as I can, but as some of you know I'm still in June photos, so if you have a need for something because of a deadline, please let me know and I'll pull your photos out for you. They might not be edited, but it will give you an idea of what I have and then we can refine those photos you like.

Till next time, here are some of my favorites from the weekend (Sunday and Monday anyway, as Saturday's are still processing)

	Just take a look at the wonderful lineup for BIS on Sunday at Greater Racine KC. Judge Rempel had her work cut out for her.  Best in Show was the Doberman, Fifi and one of her best pals, London the Standard Poodle was Reserve Best in Show.
	From a photo shoot on the lake around mid-day. When a bullmastiff wants to lay down, everyone with him has to lay down too!
	Holley may kill me, but this was too funny not to share. What are the odds that I could get Holley and Daphne with this expression ever again!
	From the Sunday show, the puppy dog gets a hug from his owner while waiting for his win photo :)
	The German Shepherd Dog bitch I would have loved to take home. She won the group from the classes on Sunday. Just gorgeous. Kent must be in great shape though because the breed judge had him go around the ring twice with every dog he showed! This photo was taken as most of the photos for Monday groups .... in the rain!
	Look at this Smooth Collie show off in the driving rain, it's no wonder she picked up a Reserve BIS on Friday.
	Whiskey the flying mastiff wasn't afraid of a little rain either and apparently neither was Chris Jones!

This past weekend I had no shows, but that doesn't mean I wasn't working hard on editing photos and trying to get caught up, because that is pretty much what I did most of the weekend and finally finished off Scott County KC  (Rock Island, IL) and did most of Fox River Valley KC, my local show only 15 minutes from garage to parking lot even if I got lost!

I will add a couple of my favorite photos from those shows below along with a few from a photo shoot that I did in the evening at the Botanical Garden place next door to the show site. 

In addition to the built in photo op next door, the Scott County KC has a lot to offer, some great food, and ice cream cones! They had a best puppy competition one day and best veteran on the other, and a duck toss! What is a duck toss, you might ask? One could buy a chance at the "pot" by purchasing a small plastic duck (these were also in the shape of various dog breeds) and at the appointed time (when there was a ring available) everyone tossed their ducks at a small target on the ground. It was like a 50/50 raffle, only more interactive!

This coming weekend I will be heading up to Wisconsin once again for the Cudahy and both Greater Racine KC shows near the shores of Lake Michigan. Talk about a photo op! Weather is predicted to be outrageously nice ... must be because I ordered a giant sportbrella for shade ... you can thank me now ;)

Starting off with some photos from Scott County Saturday

Duck Toss - Scott County KC I May 12 2012 After the last duck was tossed, it was so close they had to measure!	Best in Show - Scott County KC I May 12 2012 The big winner for the weekend? "The Fifinator" with back-to-back Bests in Show. You can find her on Facebook!
Best Puppy in Show - Scott County KC I May 12 2012 Best Puppy in Show to the Boxer - Jokar's N Happy Tail's Fergalicious!	Kathy Moat's Shoot From the photo shoot, Kathy & Legato
Kathy Moat's Shoot Kathy & Legato's littermate, I think it's Rumor	Boston Terriers - Scott County KC II, May 13, 2012 One of the veterans competing on Sunday, this is Boston Terrier CH MOTIF'S CHANCE FOR LITIGATION CD RN, she had a wonderful time!
French Bulldogs - Scott County KC II - 13 May 2012 Judge Robert Hutton clearly enjoys his job ....	Sporting Group - Scott County KC II - 13 May 2012 ... As does Judge Kim Meredith Cavanna!
Best Veteran in Show - Scott County KC II - 13 May 2012 Best Veteran in Show was the Schipperke CH DANTE'S ALL FIRED UP H.O.F.	and then on to Fox River Valley
Boxers - Fox River Valley KC Sat - 02 June 2012 Had several of this little girl who apparently thought she deserved some extra cookies!	Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers Supported Entry -- Fox River This is when the judge Connie Gerstner Miller awarded Best of Breed and the reaction of handler/dog. This is GCH Princess Cut Diamond Beekauz who went on to a Group III in the group!
Terrier Group - Fox River Valley KC Sat - 2 June 2012 This Airedale appeared to own the land he stood on, GCH Huntwood Spyglas Of Stone Ridge Tobylinn	Toy Group - Fox River Valley KC, 2 June 2012 The wind doesn't bother Miss Mimi at all, who went on to take the Toy Group
Congratulations all around for the Best in Show Winner -- breeder-owner-handled by Linda Hattrem, GCH Waterway Game CRK Hot Diggity	Smooth Collies - Fox River Valley KC - 2 June 2012 Best Bred by Exhibitor in show, was the Smooth Collie Jereco's Satin Sheets, who not only was Best of Variety over Specials but also took Group IV in the regular group. Not bad at all for a 10 month old puppy.

That's probably enough photos for now .... till next week! I will be drawing a name "out of the hat" for a $30 gift certificate based on tags, shares on Facebook, so be sure to do that on the May shows particularly before Monday.

And if you are at Cudahy or Racine, I'll be sure to be by the Borzoi specialty on Saturday and near the group ring on Sunday, look for the blue Sportbrella ;)

Show started at the fairly civilized hour of 8:30am but I was a little bit late despite leaving early. Fortunately there were a couple of Leonbergers before Boxers, and only one puppy in the first class so captured him during Winners. There had been a specialty on Friday so a pretty nice entry. The photo I am using is of a lovely puppy bitch that really caught my eye because of her beautiful elegance and movement. 

The lighting at DuPage County Fairgrounds is good and bad, good that it's fairly light, but bad in that there are windows along the top and at certain times of the day the light came in quite a lot which isn't good if you're taking photos. Hopefully I'll be able to fix the photos in post processing. Also nice was the fact that they seem to have air conditioning now! I remember one time probably in the late 70s/early 80s where I showed a malamute at this show for a friend, and in the photo I look like I just came out of a sauna!

Once the Boxer entry was judged,  I moved down to Ring 6 to take photos of the Cavalier King Charles specialty. I love the breed, so sweet and with those big adoring spaniel eyes. And they move like a spaniel too! Again, with a specialty the day before there was a large entry. The judge was quick (yet thorough) going through the entry so I had a hard time sometimes capturing dogs on the table stacked because he was examining them almost immediately upon watching the previous dog move. He did seem to slow down a bit for the specials, it was a little easier for me. I did notice that oftentimes people try to stay out of my way, don't worry about it ... I'll work around you, it's your ring.

After Cavaliers I wandered for a little while, grabbed some lunch and some photos of some sporting breeds. Pictured is Jack the Brittany a very cool dog shown by Chris Jones. I love how he "flies" around the ring.

I then headed over to Ring 6 again to take candids of the Great Pyrenees Club of America Regional including Sweepstakes. The judges both obviously enjoyed the assignment and I think the exhibitors did as well. The judge for the regular classes, David Osborn, is a familiar figure in the midwest with his beautiful akitas which I have photographed a number of times. And you know, as he used to special a bitch, he doesn't mind putting a bitch up for the breed, and that's exactly what he did! This photo is the reaction of the handler ... I knew exactly what was coming because I've seen another judge make selections that same way, pulling out Best of Winners first, and then lining up the rest behind that dog, and leaving the Best of Breed to the end and that was Anne Rogers Clark. It certainly adds to the surprise and I think she was!

This section is a bit out of order because the way the timing of the show went, the Pyr specialty was stopped in order to allow Working Group and then BIS (since the Pyr won the group) to proceed. Because I had committed to doing candids for the Pyr specialty, I missed all the groups except for most of Working and also did BIS. The rings were a bit difficult for me to work with because they were long and thin, so not sure you missed much anyway ;)

Best in Show went to Cheese the Dachshund and it's nice to see how truly delighted Carlos is when he wins although I think he probably lost count of his BIS a long time ago :) Congratulations to Team Cheese! Cheese is another cool dog :)

After I was done with the show, took some time to do a rather informal photo shoot of the very handsome London son, Ch. Litilann's Photo Finish aka Indy with his handler Michelle Breen Krahenbuhl. It was still quite warm so tough to get one with the mouth closed, but here's a little teaser for Michelle in black and white.

Hope you enjoyed the synopsis, figured I'd better get started doing this blog again somehow!

P.S. Our winner for the tagging/sharing contest for the April shows is Annette Chapman Ray! As soon as I have posted all the May shows I will put a note out but you don't need to wait to tag and share.

Toy Group Mar 3 2012 Wisconsin KC

 Kelly Schur! Kelly just wrote in Vulcan Pugs in the comments on this photo and today after compiling a list of over 100 tags/shares/written in comment names, I drew her name using a Random line chooser on the internet.

Kelly, I will be contacting you privately with a $30 coupon code, congratulations!

I will continue this contest in April, so please keep attempting to tag, or share, or just write the name in the comments if they are a friend so that they get to see the photo.

In addition, I've decided to make IKC its own contest, and then March will include Wisconsin KC, Kentuckiana shows, and the Saturday DeWitt show.

A week from tomorrow (on April 21st or maybe a few days later since I will be heading to Fond Du Lac next weekend) I will pull a random name each for February and March and issue the winners a $30 coupon code that you can use to order a download or at least $30.00 worth of photos ... sorry, does not including shipping.

Sorry I have been lax in writing new blog posts, but have been trying to keep up with photos, I think I took about 16,000 at Kentuckiana alone and that was a lot to go through and edit.

Also, please remember price increase on prints goes into effect on May 1st.

Till next time.....

I really don't have that much time to go looking for dogs' owners/handlers/breeders in order to email them information about the photos, so I thought of a way to encourage people to tag and share the site would be in order.

So we will start with the March shows ... but I will include IKC because it was toward the end of the month of February. Everyone who tags someone or shares a photo, or shares the Canine Candids by Lynda site on FB*  will get a chance for a $30 coupon code. If you do not show in this area, please note that the coupon is completely transferable to anyone you would like that has some relationship to any dog that I have photographed.

In addition (especially for you non-Facebook users), if a new person places an order, and gives me your name as the person who referred them to my site, I will send you a $10.00 coupon code. Please note this needs to be a new customer, but is not limited to a specific time frame and you can save them and trade them in for a higher value coupon code. Again it is transferable.

After I have posted the last shows in March, I will wait a week to give you time to tag and/or share the photos and pull a name, and send the chosen person a coupon code. I plan to continue this every month, so please make sure you continue to tag after March shows.

*please let me know if you do as I'm not sure I can track that myself but I can definitely verify it by visiting your page

This price increase does not affect downloads which will remain at $30 for high resolution and $15 for lower resolution.

The increase is designed to bring my pricing more in line with other ringside photographers' products.

You can find the new pricing at http://lyndabeam.zenfolio.com/p184683122

If you have any questions, please direct them to me at [email protected] 

*If you've been thinking of buying photos, please order before May 1st to take advantage of current prices.

Attended IKC of Chicago for one day, and despite the ring decorations think I got some decent group shots. Was late and missed the Hound Group and most of the Terrier Group though because I had promised to do a couple of breeds that were scheduled late. The IKC is one of the few shows where I actually will run around all day because it is a prestigious show and people often want photos from it. Hopefully my foot will be healed by next year (reinjured an old dog show injury from 1996 believe it or not) and it will be easier to get around. Have posted a number of photos, but still not finished.

I liked this photos with the two black poodles in the Nonsporting Group together. Those of you that are fans on Facebook will recognize them as London and Ami!

Also went to Wisconsin KC this past weekend. A nice well-lit site with ample sized rings, lots of vendors and a big raffle! Have gotten Dobes up, and working on Rotties. I shot mostly Ring 3 which included mostly working breeds, but also a Red Bone Coonhound ... a new breed for me to photograph and quite attractive.

Doberman Pinschers Mar 3 2012 Wisconsin KC I have a lot of photos of toys and terriers leaping into mid-air ... but not many Dobermans. I have a whole sequence of these on the site. This dog is obviously ready to do some agility!

Something else that was exciting to announce was pre-ordering the new Canon 5D, Mark III. I'm not sure when it will actually arrive, but it has significant improvement over my current camera (Canon 7D) in low light situations so I'm very excited to try it out.

I have another announcement, but will make that the subject of the next post.

Till next time...

Maybe I'll start with a little background on me. I started showing dogs nearly 39 years ago on June 10th, 1973. I had purchased a malamute puppy from the uncle of a friend, and my locker partner in high school pronounced her show quality from a photograph -- probably a Polaroid I would imagine. My locker partner told me about a fun match that was being put on in downtown Chicago by the Goldcoast KC of Chicago. So my dad and I packed up our little malamute puppy and went. Meska was the only one in her class ... and tried to bite the judge when he looked at her teeth, but an 8 week old puppy isn't terribly intimidating and he laughed and gave her a pink ribbon (first place). She did not get the breed but I have photos from that match and many other shows courtesy of my father, Allan Birmantas.

Fast forward a couple of decades, in the meantime I had become involved in several other breeds (while still having malamutes): basenjis, akitas, then shiba inu. I really enjoyed the shiba inu and ended up specialing one of my dogs for several years, and hanging around for groups (and occasionally Best in Show) more often then not. Mickey came along at the exact right time of my life where I had the opportunity, the time, and enough money to really special a dog and we really enjoyed it. It was fun to hang around all day, chat with people, pull for our friends, etc. During all this time my dad took many many photos and videos. It was totally normal to have candid photos of my dogs. I just assumed everyone did and didn't really think much about it! (Thanks Dad!) Toward the end of Mickey's career I became a homeowner, and in a few years met my husband Jonathan. I was still showing Mickey, along with other dogs, but definitely less dog shows and when Mickey retired, I was unable to find another dog that was the perfect combination of showdog, soundness and a pretty nice shiba.

Sometime after that I made a Facebook account. Whenever I found some old photos hanging around, I started scanning and posting them. People got very excited about seeing photos from the past of dogs they had only heard of and may have only seen in posed win photos. People tagged, they made comments, etc. 

Even at that point, the only photos I had were ones that my dad or my husband Jonathan had taken. I had edited quite a few screen shots from Nationals off Jonathan's videos, and at the 2009 National Jonathan also took photos which I edited.

I started taking photos myself at shows I was at in May of 2010. I had no clue of what to do. My camera was on automatic and of course the indoor photos weren't real great. I posted the better ones (i.e., weren't horribly blurry LOL) to Facebook and people started noticing them, tagging and commenting. I won't lie, it's a little addictive. 

I had a young male that I had finished that weekend, and he had a few more shows where he was entered so I moved him up to Best of Breed. He was a teenager at the time, and really not a special (he's still working on that 2 years later, but he's starting to look like a male now at least). These were mostly outdoor shows so the photos were better. Still didn't know an aperture from my elbow as my husband likes to say. But he said my photos were better than his, and he gave me his camera to use (a Canon T1i). One thing led to another, people started asking about buying photos so I bought a Zenfolio site and here we are.

Now back to my Grayslake photos!