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39 *Scratchy Scratchy* Photos of Dogs

Nice work, my canine friends. You got all of your human pets to photograph you, then email us the photos. Here are the entries from this week’s Shooting Challenge, dogs.

Winner: Bailey

What better way to cool off during the dog days of summer than dipping into a stream! My dog, Bailey, is a senior citizen at age 13 and while he can’t hike as much as he use too, I still try to take him out a least once a week for a flat hike. While Bailey is 13 years old, he still has the mind of a pup that loves to bolt when he’s off leash and he took off down the stream shortly after this pic was taken. I figured since the pic was for a challenge he couldn’t have his leash on, I caught up to him about a quarter mile down stream. Needless to say totally worth it. Equipment: Canon 5D Mk III, Canon EF 500mm F/1.2, ISO 100, Aperture 1.2, Shutter 1/125

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Daniel De La Rosa


Leo

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This is my pup. His Name is Leo.

This photo was taken at Coronado Island in San Diego, while we were playing Fetch. I got in the water and shot Leo coming towards me with the tennis ball in his mouth. I used a low angle to make him look bigger and kept as much detail as possible in the water and the background. Canon 5D MarkIII, Lightroom CC, Photoshop CC

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Andres Herrera


Otis

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I actually went and nerded out and took my dog/camera to the beach, park, you name it and got a boatload of happy dog shots. Was totally worth being the super dork with the DSLR (and Otis had a pretty awesome weekend), but Sunday afternoon I looked down off the couch and saw his paws sticking out of the shadows and thought that was the true embodiment of Otis’ summer: Napping in the summer sun, moving through the house from spot to spot as the light moves from window to window. Nikon D750, 24-70 2.8. 50mm, f2.8, ISO 100, 1/500

Sean Bjork


Swim

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I take my dog to a dog water park pretty often, usually bring the dslr with me. Captured this perfect moment yesterday while we were there of my pup on the right with her best friend, my roommates dog. They fight pretty hard at the park so its always nice to see them take a break and give each other some love. I know its not the sharpest picture out there, but I feel like their facial expressions make up for its technical shortcomings. D810 with an 80-200 AF-D f2.8 @200mm settings were 1/2500 @f7.1 with an ISO of 2500. Minimal post processing in Lightroom 6.1

Avi Raz


Run With Stick

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Our dog running around with a stick at the dog park. Shot with my iPhone 5.

James Jen


Pomeranian

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My dog’s name if Flynn and he is a pomeranian. He is 1 year old and is very energetic. This shot was taken at a local park. He is seen here staying in the shade, resting from running around too much.

Jose Luis Hugo


The Hunt

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Taken yesterday and with an iPhone my dog caught a gopher. He has caught several this summer and spends a great amount of time playing with them. In this instanc,e he spent 2 hrs with his catch.

James McPherson


Enzo

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I just bought a new Canon EF 24-70 f2.8 lens and was eager to try it out. When I got home, I decided to let my dog, Enzo, out and took some shots of him. Conditions were a nice overcast. I took this shot with a Canon 6d at ISO 100, f2.8 and shutter at 1/500 in Manual mode. The focal length was at 70mm. I am in love with this lens, definitely the sharpest lens I have ever shot with.

Joe Carioscia


Nene

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Think I have a cool dog photo for you. Slightly overweight and winded owner and dog (Nene—mini pinscher-dashund mix) taking a break after walking down from the cliffs over San Clemente, CA. Taken with stock settings on iPhone 6, nothing unusual other than took a surfer’s head out of the background to keep from needing their sign off. We love our black dog and have issues photographing her, but this one with ocean in the background came out great.

San Clemente has so many dogs walking the shores, it is a great beach and dog town. We love coming here for vacation from our home in Chandler, AZ.

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Jeff Brown


Pippen

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This is a picture of Pippin at 10.5 year old Chocolate Lab/English Setter mix. The picture was taken with an iPhone 5s. I have been working at Harvard Medical School for about 1.5 years but take the train to work every day. The MBTA does not allow dog or bikes on the train during peak hours so Pippin has not come to work with me. My coworkers had heard me talk about Pippin but never met him. (He is the best dog in the world) I had the day off and drove my son to a class nearby. Since I was in the area, I brought Pippin and we went to see visit my coworkers. Since I was there I thought I would take a picture of Pippin with Gordon Hall in the background. So my dog went to Harvard.

Jeff DiCiaccio


Roxy

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I was luckily babysitting Roxy, my neighbors’ senior dog when this contest was announced. She’s 15 years old. She still enjoys laying out in the warm sunlight every morning, but all of us know that this is the last season of her life.

I didn’t want to take this shot outdoors; I wanted to capture what the end of her life will be. She won’t be put to sleep... She just won’t wake up one morning. She’ll be cold.

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The shot was taken with my Canon 6D in aperture priority mode. I used a rented Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS II at it’s widest aperture. After I set up an LED flashlight to Roxy’s right, I made sure to focus on her nearest eye and waited for her to show just how tired she was.

Daniel Sullivan


Denali

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Dogs all have unique personalities, just like people. While some dogs love being around others as much as possible, my dog is shy and prefers to have time by herself. This portrait shows my dog Denali in her favorite environment and reflects her solitary nature. Stillness is her way of showing she is relaxed and content. With that said, this portrait wasn’t easy to capture. In order to get her in focus and the effect of the water blur, she had to hold still for 1.6 seconds. It took 8 tries, but with my camera on a tripod and a little assistance from distant sounds of birds singing, everything pulled together. I took this on top of Owl Creek Pass in Western Colorado while the sun was going down. We were on a journey together to take pictures of the mountains at sunset and eat as much grass as possible. One job for each of us. By this time the sun had cast a long shadow that blanketed the area and allowed me to work with a longer exposure in order to get the blur effect. In the upper left of the frame you can just see a little light shining through the trees. After this serene moment we journeyed back home over a long, winding dirt road, windows down and one heat seater on, taking in the clean mountain air and deep sky. Nikon D750 with 24-120mm F4 lens, a tripod, and dog—70mm, F22, 1.6 seconds, ISO 100

Nathan Lundberg


Penny

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Long time reader here - first photo contest submission. This is Penny, my 15 week chocolate lab. She just came out of the pool for the first time just before this shot, hence the unbrushed hair on her back. To warm up she ran around the backyard chasing after this toy which got all of us a little winded. I have a bunch of action shots that were taken before this but I think that this one was my favorite.

Canon 6D - 70-200 2.8L IS - Aperture Priority Mode @F5 for the shallow depth of field - Iso 400 - 1/500th. Both of us were on the ground to get the dog’s point of view. It’s important to shoot your subjects from their point of view and not yours. Being 6’2 means that my point of view tends to be above most of my subjects. It was a learning process to find that by getting down to your subject’s size you will end up with better photos.

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Jim McCourt


Pepito

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Our 2-year old rescue dog, Pepito, just learned how to swim this summer and yesterday was the first time we took him to the Jersey Shore! I tried to take a picture with my full-frame mirrorless camera but he was running around so fast that I couldn’t get any good shots. So I tried the burst mode on my iPhone 6 Plus and captured him in all his glory! This was our favorite picture from the day because it really shows just how excited and goofed he was, splashing around on the beach!

Michael Bogdan


Axle

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Its summer in Chicago and this weekend it finally feels like it. I love dogs so this challenge was great. I headed to the dog beach on the north side and started snapping away. Nabbed this shot of Axle chasing down a menacing tennis ball that kept getting out of his owner’s hands. I did a little processing in Lightroom, bumped the exposure a bit, brought down the shadows to see the dogs full expression, and a slight crop to frame the picture a little better. The photo was shot with a Samsung NX1. Shutter speed 1/1250, f/2.8, 45mm focal length, 160 iso.

Mike Schaid


The Pose

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On the couch. Used iPhone cam. The pose just happened

Victor Burbo


Karma

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Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture this week’s image using my proper DSLR, so this image was taken with my LG G4. I did however put it on manual settings (Megapixel: 16 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 4.4MM Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: 1.8). This summer dog day photo is of my pup, Karma, ‘sitting pretty’ in the water for a stick at our local park!

Maegan Harless


Laika

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Playing fetch/tug-o-war with my new puppy, Laika. She’s four months old and loves to play all day long. The disc is still a little big for her and she often trips over it but, she loves every minute of it and never quits. Taken in my back yard with the closest camera at hand, my Galaxy S4 Active. I had to act fast because she’s faster. After a number of different shots, I chose this one because it best captures the playful exuberance of a puppy despite all odds, even in the face of our hot and humid Houston summers. Also, because it was the least blurry shot I managed to get.

Kristopher Capps


Carnival Pup

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Snapped this cute little pup at a local carnival over the weekend. I focused on the nose because with cute doggies like this they’re so distinct, so I thought it would make a fun and unique photo. Fujifilm X-T1, 18mm f/2, f/3.2, 1/2500, ISO 400.

Yousef Abdul-Husain


Jimmy

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Hi, I’m Jimmy. I’m a 9 year old Shih Tzu from New York. My parents had a wedding in Philly this weekend and I got to spend time at my grandparents. I played outdoors, something I don’t get to do as much in NYC. I also ate a bird and left it as a present for my grandmother.

I love my grandparents, but was really happy to see my Dad. He took my photo with his iPhone. #NoFilter Just kidding. He edited it in Google Photos where he stores thousands of photos of me and my fat sister JoJo.

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Stephen Rooke


Emma

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I wanted to get a nice silhouette shot of my dog Emma at the park, so I used the standard iPhone camera app, and let it expose for the background, with no HDR, so it would leave her dark. The hardest part was waiting for her to look away from me so I could get that classic Labrador Retriever profile!

Bruce Longee


Colt

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Our 10-week old Brittany puppy (traditionally called a Brittany Spaniel), Colt, is a ball of energy. When he’s not trying to bite us with his razor sharp puppy teeth, he will run non-stop around the yard. Even after running around with my parents’ dog all morning, he continued to be on the prowl for ankles to attack. For this shot, I laid in the grass while Colt chased my wife around the yard. Fortunately, he did take a great puppy nap after this. Nikon D5100; ISO 100; 105 mm; f/2.8; 1/2500 sec

Michael Starr


Ollie Valentine

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Attached is a picture of our dog Ollie Valentine sitting on his porch watching the sunset. Taken on iPhone 6 in Lafayette CO. He is an Entlebucher mountain dog who loves to enjoy the mountain views.

Brent Niccore


Ralphie Bobby

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This shot was taken with my Nikon D7000 with a prime Nikon 35mm lens. This is our two year-old corgi, Ralph (or Ralphie Bobby - “If ya ain’t first you’re last”). Ralph lives true to his name and that tag line. He loves fetch of any and all flying objects. When we go to Ocean City, NJ the beach is his prime fetching grounds. Unfortunately, since dogs are not allowed on the beach here during the summer, we have to wake up early to get our fun in (with the other “rule breakers”). This morning we were a little late, and there were already some beach goers set up, so we decided to just admire the scenery. Hope you enjoy!

David D’Onofrio


Still Life

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Huntington Park at San Francisco. Always full of beautiful dogs, big and small. This one stood still long enough. Shot at 200mm, f/6.3 and 1/1000s on Sony A6000

Gonzalo Merayo


Dip

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If you ask our dogs, the best day of the week is dog park day, and we try to capture them and their friends playing. This one is actually one of their friends, but as we can only submit one photo, this one seemed to be the best for the summer contest theme, a dog enjoying a soak in the baby pool at the dog fountain! Shots taken with a Panasonic FZ-200, using scene preset for sports. Conditions were partly cloudy, so having an automatic setting to compensate for lighting conditions made the most sense.

Calvin Louie


Dykstra

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Dykstra the English Bulldog is not one to frolic in the summer sunshine. On hot summer days, you can find him taking refuge in his favorite air conditioned spot on the couch. I found him lying this way with his tongue hanging low and thought he looked like he was melting in the summer heat. I guess the air conditioner wasn’t cutting it in today’s 98 degree heat. This picture was shot with an Olympus E-PL1 using the kit lens. The camera was set in iAuto mode with manual focus.

Heather Contes


Mango

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Hi my name is Mango and I am almost two years old. I was chained up in Tennessee with 20 other dogs and rescued by Big Fluffy Dog Rescue. A young couple from northern New York adopted me, who just moved to Astoria! Currently we’re up on Lake Champlain enjoying the sand and water. I recently went on my first canoe trip in the Adirondacks! I was scared at first, but loved the sounds of the calm water. I love meeting new dogs and playing with them! I can’t get enough of the clean water and fresh air up on Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, New York. Maybe you’ll see me in Astoria in the next month and beyond!

Steven Twardzik


Edi

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Edi has nearly halved her weight since we got her from a rescue a little over a year ago. Whereas before the heat would have been unbearable for her, she now enjoys mid-afternoon playtime under the tree out front. For just barely a second, she stood still and I was able to snap this happy moment. Shot with a Fujifilm X-T10 - 18mm lens. ISO 200. f/2.0. 1/250 sec.

Michael Fouquet


Sophie Bonilla

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Two shots she wouldn’t look my way until she finally got annoyed at hearing me call her name so much!!

Amy


Hope of Snack

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A self admitted desperation shot. I do not own a dog but all day had been eying up the street dogs wandering around where I live. Hoping for a lucky break. This dog lives a short distance away and visited me as I arrived home with a load of shopping. Attracted by the hope of a snack from the overflowing bags. (No chance!) Naturally I had no Camera handy just the SmartPhone in my pocket. So I took a few quick shots, the dog would not keep still and had a huge bare patch of skin on its side from a recent accident or a fight. Naturally I could not get a photo of the good side. So this is the best of a poor bunch of shots, the only one that will not nauseate viewers. If I was you I would reject it and say not up to standard.

Nick Smith


Inversion

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Shot of my cocker spaniel poodle cross having a mad moment taken using an iPhone 5 because as the old saying goes the best camera is the one in your hand at the time

Simon Rigby


At The Waterpark

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Took this Saturday afternoon with my dog Jack, a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier. It was the first time he’s seen a sprinkler at our house and was so excited to see it he had to give the sprinkler a high five! Shot with my Fuji X-M1 w/ 35mm 1.4 lens. The picture was taken in Aperture priority mode at f 5.6/ ISO 400, at 1/1400 sec.

Andrew Bethards


Max

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Max is a 9 year old Beagle owned by a good friend of mine. He has been through a lot in this life, including consuming poison and nearly passing. He has long since recovered, though not without a reminder – the lack of full control of one of his paws. But Max is not a weak soul - He is going strong, and is enjoying his time with a loving family during a beautiful New England summer. Shot with a Nikon D5300 during late afternoon.

Eric Kennedy


A/C Life

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In Georgia.. Enjoying AC..

Jason Simmonds


Golden

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No description given.

Sean James


Owen

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We got Owen (boston terrier) just over 4 weeks ago. He is now 12 weeks old and getting comfortable at home. I have taken a bunch of photos of him with my DSLR, but on our morning walk today didn’t bring it with me. He was just sitting in the shade taking in the world and I snapped this with my iPhone, did a little processing and was pleasantly surprised with what came out!

Ryan Mahoney


Good masters.