I feel bad, I sent every single last one of my photos back I had taken by the photographer at Potomac.

All the ones I personally took turned out GREAT, thank God, from the ringside.

The angle was all wrong, the pics were not framed right. My handler looked "deers in the headlights" LOL! and the judge looked asleep. Oh dear...

Is there any way some of us who are photographers ourselves can help out in getting these photographers take better pics? Or can we assist them?

Is this why we are are seeing sooooo many more professional ringside photographers? Are people just not liking the quality of pictures they are getting ($40 versions in the mail from official photographer)

There are some other GREAT shooters out there, as we have seen posted here and elsewhere on the net this week from Potomac.

Any input?

Or can we take our OWN pictures while the official photographer is taking his? Is that allowed? I never asked, and did not want to step on anyone's toes.

I guess I was lucky because the 2 pictures I had taken were nice. Possibly, it was because they were taken when there wasn't a line, waiting for pictures.

I overheard the photographer telling the girl that was takeng all the pictures that he had the contract with the club and the setup where he took the pictures was "off limits" to her. He was not happy with the situation. She took some very nice pictures.

I only had one picture taken and it is okay - not great. I have a small dog and she looks large compared to the judge in the background. She is not quite square to the camera, but she is very photogenic. I have better photos of her taken by others, but this one is with the judge, so it is special.

I would not recommend doing the pictures indoors again. Please take this as constructive criticism. The room was hot, the photographer did not have anyone helping to get people lined up as they came - or in any order other than maybe by judge. I was one of the first there and had to wait almost an hour and a half to get a photo done.

I didn't take any this year, but my pictures from last year with this guy were shockingly bad. Thank doG I had a friend stand behind him in the crowd and take some, there was no excuse for what he sent me. One was the one and only bad picture I have ever taken of one of my dogs, he is very photogenic and I have literally dozens of beautiful pictures of him. Yet he managed to make him look ugly. Another was a "special" pic I took of a few dogs together, it came to me with instructions that I must purchase it as it was a "special order." You could only see one of the dogs! Again, no excuse, they really all were terrible. I miss David Ashbey, he was one of the best ever. :(

My photo last year was also awful. So much so that this year I didn't even bother to have a picture taken with the judge. I thought my bad shots last year were the exception. This is too bad. When your dog wins a ribbon AT THE POTOMAC that is a big deal. .. and you would like a nice picture.

My other pet peeve relates to how rude the photographer is. Sometimes it does take more than 3 seconds to set your dog (and yourself) up!!

I hate to say it but my son is a professional photographer and everyone here bitches about the pictures that are taken by the offical show photographer, my son has taken some very nice pictures of mine and other peoples dogs (when I can beg and convince him to come to a show which is a rarity) and he's been asked to do the show photo's at the shows but said NO WAY... he does not want to deal with dog people as he said dogs can be difficult to photograph when there are lines of people to take pictures. Think about it.. when your waiting in line and someone is taking a long time to get thier picture done because the person wants many shots or the dog isn't cooperating don't you get fustrated and want that person to hurry up and get out of there so it's your turn? I think good or bad you need to pay for the picture and support the photographer, that is the only way they'll keep coming back to take pictures at the shows because their only income is the price of the pictures. There has been many show photo's i've had taken of my dogs that sucked but I still pay for them and don't show them to anyone.
Aloha,
Jackie

In response to the original OP, no it really would not be appropriate to stand right behind the photographer, where they are using their lights, stands, drop cloth, etc., and take your own picture. That individual has entered into a contract with the club that they expect in response to their time, equipment, and experience, that they in addition to some sort of retainer, will have the opportunity to earn their additional fee through having the exclusive right to take the winning photographs which will be purchased by the winner. Put yourself in their place. If you earned your living by doing something, and someone could swoop in on your final efforts, and take it for their personal use, and not pay you a dime, how would you feel? Would you think it was right?

If there was a photographer actually standing behind the show photograher trying to take "their" picture, that was totally unprofessional and inappropriate to say the least. If I was the official photographer & I knew that was happening, I would stipulate in my next contract that the other photographer was banned from the show next year, and I would let the club know if that person shows up and is not immediately escorted off the grounds, I am packing my gear and leaving, and I would not care whose photo had not be taken yet.

That being said, it is the purchasers' right to not buy the photographs taken. Obviously if the photographer does a poor job, he or she will not be earning what he or she thought they would, and will probably not want to come back next year.

Also in the same vein, the Potomac Club, to their great credit, always asks after the show is over "What can we do to make the show better?". All of the people who have posted about being unhappy with the qualtity of their photographs, I think have an obligation to email the club and let them know they need to find someone else to do the photography.
Perhaps next year the Club may want to invite more than one photographer on a tryout basis, and see who comes back with the best photographs. They will have to pick up the expense of more than one retainer, but if this is such an issue ( I have not seen any of the Potomac photographer's work, & there seems to be mixed reviews, so it is hard to tell how far off the mark this person was ) it will be worth their while to resolve this.

It is up to the people who are unhappy to let the club know. If you only come on here and vent, and don't express your feelings to the club, & the same photographer is back next year, then you are getting what you deserve.

my official picture came out very nice. The same photographer also was taking pictures at the New Brunswick shows in NJ a few weeks earlier and that picture also came out nice. At that show I had trouble as my bitch is young and was having trouble being comfortable on the box they use at many of the all breed shows, yet he worked with her and got a very lovely picture.
I've had my share of horrible show photos- but Potomac was a good one for me.
I agree with folks who mentioned letting the club know you weren't happy with the indoor setting. I figured there would be a long line Friday after judging so took my class win photo with the judge on Thursday, outside at the setup... I noticed many folks doing so.

Didn't go to the potomac, but have seen some seriously awful photographers around here (midwest) and some awesome ones.

The awful ones can't sell anything anymore - we don't bother-it take six months and multiple calls to get photos shipped and they are blurry. The awesome ones- I'm thinking of one in particular, she printed photos overnight from Saturday and brought them to Sunday's show- sold everything. I wish I could remember her name.

My friend took pictures of my girl that same day (as the awesome photographer) but I still bought her stuff. It was just that much better. I think if you are a professional photographer, you need to be better than joe w/a point and shoot.

The time may have come because of the size and number of entries at Potomac to have more then one photographer. How it would be done would have to be worked out with the photographers.

As for someone upset that the photos take awhile to get when others can print them out over night. To me over night printing is NOT a very professional way to do business. Everyone thinks digital is faster, in reality it takes more time with digital than it does with film. The photographer is not only a photographer but they are now the processor of the photos. Meaning good photographers will spend hours on the photos before they send them out to PROFESSIONAL labs to be printed.

I don't know who took the photos at Potomac and I don't care to know. If you are not happy let the club know about it.