Yes, this past weekend was Cudahy & Greater Racine KCs on the shores of lovely Lake Michigan. Made for an exhausting weekend, as I shot all day and then did a few photo shoots on the lake as well until we lost the light.

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!

I'm going to attempt to blog at least once a week (but don't shoot me if I'm not successful)!

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.