Spoony

How cool! I'd so what to jump in and swim with! The breaching shots are great but that first one with the tail draws me most!

That's quite a cleaver way to display your pics while telling a story, works well.

Cheers Snook Hawaii !!! Nice. OK fair enough, it's good as a farmer that you're open to options. You do however somewhat highlight the current problem, and that is the wide spread closed mindset that seems to be the majority of farmers and the government. This video here is recent, somewhat drawn out but the woman in red (a professor) makes some good points about what is being discussed in this thread As she states, Australian farmers with regards to predators have it somewhat easy, a small (relative) top order predator vs other continents with much larger and diverse predators, yet many/most without the attitude toward them as with the Dingo. There are farmers opting not to bait and kill dingoes, and as mentioned in the video they are then somewhat viewed as the enemy in this war. The points in the video make sense, the land simply needs biodiversity to be sustainable, be it on it's on or with live stock. Shepard dogs, Alpaca's, Donkey's, even Camels have been seen to be effective with regards to Dingoes and sheep. As mentioned previously it's a non issue with Cattle, so cattle farmers have no excuse. A Cattle farmer's own view on this http://www.theland.com.au/news/agriculture/general/opinion/dingoes-can-be-allies/2710650.aspx?storypage=0 As the video mentions Dingoes have an ordered pack structure and by destroying this by baiting, shooting etc it can make things worse in the way the act and behave. H I do wonder has any farmer or government even done a cost/profit based analysis (if at all possible) on controlling/exterminating Dingoes and inturn the greater number of other pests, combined with reduced land resources due to more roos, rabbits and the like VS's the losses from taken stock (cattle, non issue, sheep yes can be some) ? I haven't seen anything. Here's another article from a farmers view http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/1080-no-solution-scientists/2379862/?ref=hs It seems actual science, research, and trials are proving that the Dingo is a positive thing, and where the can be issues there are better alternatives. What is happening now is simply a slaughter in the name of profit based on killing fixes everything. Firstly the Dingoes pest classification in certain states need to be removed and farmers need education and a change in attitude, starting with cattle farmers. I didn't actually intend for this thread to start such a discussion but I'm actually glad it has. Awareness and getting people thinking is key. It's all to easy to stay in the old mindset that has be 'the way we do things around here', and I'm sure that applies very much so on the land. This site has this aim in mind http://www.dingobiodiversity.com/

Good points Leah82. Australian's seem to display disapproval and outrage at times for the treatment of native animals in other countries, yet ironically using the example of the Dingo for most the same isn't applied. Our governments impose some of the biggest restrictions of any country on the the way we can use our national parks and forests. For example try travelling Australia with your dog vs Europe or the USA, it's far easier with less restrictions. Some of them I can understand but it's hypocritical of the government to impose such restrictions for the good of nature on people yet be so pathetic in so many other ways! The Dingo vs Wolf example above! You could apply Lions, Tigers, Bears, etc etc. A local example, one simply cannot travel up Teewah beach from Noosa to Inskip with their best mate (dog) now. Why, well they can't answer that with any logic, I have asked multiple departments. The true reason is bureaucratic BS, simply the national park now extends to the water line, where as before it was to the dunes. They'll claim it for 'nature' reason's while at the same time 1km over a stretch of water that takes us to Fraser Island we have QLD Parks and Wildlife go out and kill 3x random Dingoes. They will claim they were involved with the attack (minor, the bloke wasn't even airlifted out and even the paramedic said it was minor and his seen many single domestic dog attacks many many times worse. Twas largely torn cloths. If they were trying to take him down they would have easily). Anyways there is no way at night he could identify 3x random dingoes that the QPWS could then find later to kill. So why kill any at all? Why not re home them (the Sanctuary this thread is about has offered this countless times). Simply GovCo knee jerk reaction that will now cause pack disruption and more problems. Weasels, Yes I can see your point there. Hence why further education and alternative options are needed. Dingo advocates and no doubt farmers describe it as a war, which in a way it is. It shouldn't be. Dingoes as a whole work for the land, it's called biodiversity. Putting stock animals on the land is detrimental to this. But we live in a world over run by humans and their wants and desires, this isn't going to change anytime soon. From my view to argue it's acceptable to bait Dingoes to meet this wants is plain wrong, but others perhaps it's totally fine. Simply such people are inhumane, for them to argue it's to save the suffering of their sheep for example is hypocritical. They've just just moved the suffering to the original inhabitant. So why not work to use the Dingoes to better things. I recommend people watching Dingo: Wild Dog at War . It shows the cattle example I mentioned. So there's a whole breed of stock farming which takes up heaps of land that can co exist with the Dingoes when done correctly. As I said with sheep, look further than just killing, there are options, other countries have them in play.

I've made the assumption in my reply (so disregard if incorrect and take it as general info/view), but I'd take a guess and say that you're are a farmer yourself? In which case you have a profit based vested interest. May I ask what sort of live stock farming if you do? Sheep, Cattle? Some trials and studies have shown that with cattle farming Dingoes can actually provide positive profits (lets not fool ourselves this is about money), by allowing the land to provide more feed by controlling rabbits, roos etc, this two fold helps with smaller native animals. They also assist in keeping water holes in better condition for the cattle by acting as a deterrent for cattle to simple hang around them all day or for excessive periods messing them up as many hooved animals can do. These same trials have shown that incidents with Dingoes and cattle are very low, there is a rare low risk the odd calf may be taken but overall the positives far out weigh. Sheep can be a bit of a different story, being a much easier target, especially if traditional food sources are scares for the Dingo. However there are alternatives, used all around the world that for some reason Australian's are not so willing to use? That's right we are far from the only country that farms live stock and also has top order predators that may interfere with our profit. Guardian dogs are just one option. Dingoes are social pack animals, disrupting these bonds packs by shooting, baiting, trapping or whatever bonds only serves to makes issues worse. As would happen in a human pack (family). Allows easier infiltration of wild domestic dogs and also having effects on general behaviour. I would also like to thing someone on a forum such as this is an animal lover and wouldn't support the inhumane treatment of our native creatures, 1080 baiting for example is a barbaric thing, banned in other countries but somehow acceptable practice here. Something our current rulers are looking at doubling to 4x a year instead of 2x , as we know they are in the pockets of the money makers. Threat to human life? Really, clutching at straws now. Dangerous? They are far far more scared/wary of people than we need to be of them. I experienced this last weekend first hand, wild dingoes only fed, not hand raised . You're right about one thing though, we (humans across the world) are too populated, and that simply is the problem, not the dingo, not the wolf, not the tiger, lion or whatever else. There are simply too many humans on this planet and for financial gain, be it yours or whoever elses it comes down to scarifying native animals, often top order predators to start with, essential to the overall ecological balance. But if you feel that this isn't the case, nor important and as you put such animals should only be conserved to look at through cages then I feel that's a very sad view to have on our planet all for the sake of money.

Very nice! Those colours! So straight off the lens, no macro converter needed! Sweet. I've considered getting a macro converter thingy.

tdierikx, looking into that now. The white/cream pup is Zahra, 4 month old Alpine Dingo. So much fun, she couldn't get enough of my camera bag or phone, but so gentle with it all.

Thanks everyone :) . You can visit by appointment, would totally recommend it, and perhaps helping out the Dingoes too! A book or calendar is a good idea, will certainly look into it.

Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr

Sunday just gone I did the 300km drive from my place (Brisbane South) up to Durong Dingo Sanctuary (northwest of Kingaroy). Armed with the camera it was one of the best day's I've had in ages, didn't leave till 8pm and wasn't home till after 11pm! lol. If any of you what The Project or read the paper there was a story done about Zahra Chamberlain (Daughter of Michael Chamberlain) and her support and interest in the Dingoes survival. This was shot at Durong Sanctuary. Would have been nice to see the media making money from the story/dingoes perhaps chip in with a donation too. http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/top-stories-september-2014/chamberlain-devoted-to-dingoes Durong Dingo Sanctuary is the only Dingo park in Queensland, and is the only QLD location that has been allowed to breed Dingoes. The park is privately owned and run by Simon, all funded off his own back, which comes out of his disability pension and funds left from selling off what cattle he had left after drought etc. It's not so much a 'tourist' type park/attraction, but visits are possible by arrangement. As no doubt some of you know Dingoes are somewhat of a persecuted native animal in Australia, and especially Queensland where outside of National Parks (a small % of the state) they have the same pest classification as a Cane Toad or Rabbit !! Ironic really when they are the best resource to keep pests such as rabbits, foxes and feral cats in check while also keeping native control of Kangaroos etc. Dingoes are inhumanly trapped, shot and baited using 1080 (banned in most civilized countries), so their existence as a pure species combined with wild domestic dogs is somewhat under threat. Simon's aim with the park is to breed pure Dingoes (DNA tested) from a wide area of Australia (Alpine, far north, west etc) to ensure their continued survival in the wild and captivity. He aims to expand education of this miss understood animal, which is very important to Australia's ecological balance. BioSecuity Queensland (QLD Government) decided to change their mind and wanted all his 18 Dingoes desexed, a bit silly really given the entire purpose of the park! After discussions they have paused breeding for now and have put further requirements on the park, to have more encloses to separate the Dingoes in breeding season. Given his funding is all personal, this has become a big stretch. His raised some money through the help of Zahra and her efforts online, the media story has helped a little too. So I've included links below to the Sanctuary's Facebook page and funding page if any dog loves feel it's a worthy cause and want to help out. I myself plan to assist in the future where I can, I love dogs, I love animals and the Dingo is our native dog and deserves better than what the Governments and Industry are affording them. https://www.facebook.com/durongdingosanctuary?fref=ts A Youtube video someone has done up for him The Funding site http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes? ............ Ok now on with the pictures! It was utterly magic taking them. I thought about how I could con Simon in to swapping houses haha. They are such characters, so gentle, just sitting and waiting them out until they got comfortable enough to come closer, perhaps lick, have a little play tug with a stick was magic. The entire album is here https://flic.kr/s/aHsk3FiCG9 Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr Durong Dingo Sanctuary QLD Australia http://www.gofundme.com/savethedingoes by dPphodography, on Flickr

I follow your shots on Flickr also, some nice work. Jess is a cool looking dog, I'm guessing shit's a bit of a character.

haha, it's ok Little Gifts, I though it was funny as because it's happened before! Snook, yeah the 35mm was all I had to start with (log shot), now I don't think I use it enough with dogs, all to quick to toss the zoom on and capture some action.

Them eyes!!! awesome!

The B&W and people in frame work well!! Love the Stangs though! Oh and I'm inspirational! haha awesome! ;) lol.

haha Snoopy, classic, that's what a friends mother calls me! I'll have a search. Ken's work is great. I'm trying to pay more attention to composition, even if it's in post via cropping. Action shots, especially with dogs though I've found are less open to shooting with such in mind at the time, just getting the crazy buggers in focus is no.1 priority haha. Thanks peoples :)

Shot this at the beach the other day, not sure what sort of Eagle/Falcon it is? DSCF5605.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr

Cheers! I had the old man with me to throw a stick so first try at getting some profile action shots.

Thanks everyone :)

Thanks :) Morgan Park Raceway at Warwick in QLD.

A few shots of random non dog stuff. The rare occasion I branch out lol. Old Building Sunset by dPphodography, on Flickr Old Service Station Pumps Yamanto by dPphodography, on Flickr Old Petrol Bowser by dPphodography, on Flickr Old Petrol Bowser by dPphodography, on Flickr DSCF6160.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr DSCF6073.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr DSCF5960.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr

They are quite nice. I kept trying to click on them so I could at least partly fill this 40inch display at work, alas they only stayed small . lol 2nd one does it for me too!

The excavator has been busy working in front of the lens. Striker the Lion Dog by dPphodography, on Flickr DSCF5285-Edit-2.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr Striker - Log Walk by dPphodography, on Flickr Striker posing at Fingal Head Beach by dPphodography, on Flickr Striker - Sunset by dPphodography, on Flickr DSCF5695.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr DSCF5650.jpg by dPphodography, on Flickr

Snook, having a some zoom/reach would certainly help you, getting a bit of space between yourself and the dog really does help a fair bit. Obviously more time for yourself and the camera to react. I think also different lenses apparently work quicker/better to with the C-AF. I'm very keen to see how the 50-140 2.8 is in this regards. I'm thinking FujiFilm surely would be doing a fair bit of testing (and some development, talk of updated firmware with improvements) with that lens + the X-T1.

You should find the better mirrorless will easily match the 7D in outright image quality, systems such as fuji's X have glass that is often compared to L series canon stuff also in quality also. The AF systems for motion can be lagging though vs the very established SLR system. I'm keen to now to see how a6000 stacks up, I'd love a 7D to compare also but don't know anyone with one. I could borrow a 50D or 700D but I know it would be lacking somewhat to the 7D in this regard. (would still be interesting how they compare to the mirrorless systems though). From what I've read the latest mirrorless bodys have certainly closed the gap a lot.

With cameras I think people tend to lump capturing 'action/sports' all in one category. What I've found is dogs are perhaps near the pinnacle (in difficulty) for the camera and user. I also have an X-T1 and while it's a great camera, however with dogs in action I struggle at times, it's 8fps mode is used lots to get keepers. However I've also used it for motorports (cars, track bikes, dirt bikes, mx bikes) and other action and can do much better. People running around etc, no problem. Birds even seem easier (well for the camera). I've put it down to the whole 'bobbing' up and down thing that dogs do when running, add that they change direction so much too. It's easy to 'shoot' over/past them due to one's focus point ideally being the head etc. With regards to other cameras a mate has the Sony a6000 (also and APS-C based ILC). Cheaper body than the X-T1 and was something I was considering instead of the X-T1. It's tracking and focus ability talked about lots (which was the same with the X-T1 originally). We've played with each others camera a bit and to be honest not a single thing about it has made me doubt the X-T1 purchase (which is something I was concerned/thinking might happen). Actually using near bang on similar lenses of cost, speed and reach (each systems cheap bottom end tele zooms) the X-T1 easily had it covered focusing static in low light. Action is always harder to test. Standup Jetski's on the water the X-T1 did better with either user but I've yet to test back to back with dogs. His in China with it at the moment, but when he gets back I'm definitely going to borrow it and try and setup some consistent tests. So far however focusing wise it hasn't bettered the X-T1, despite that review. Dogs might be different story, though I don't think his had much luck shooting his staffy with it. (doesn't persist as much as I do though haha) So the a6000 also might be a consideration, lens selection and quality vs cost is the draw back that kept me away from this Sony system, which mainly stopped me buying into it. If you aren't shopping right this moment I might be able to update you in a little bit on how the X-T1 vs a6000 go specifically with dogs. The GH4 is a decent thing, if video is key than this is the king. X-T1 video isn't it's strong point, but is plenty usable for capture fun with ones dogs and other things. GH4 if you want pro level video. X-T1 example of mate at Skidpan What steered me away from M4/3 was smaller sensor size, making it a bit trickier to to get shallow DOF etc. As for P&S', could be an option but I haven't tried to use them with dogs in action though. Canon S120 is a good little camera, Sony RX100 also, capable of quality photos. Either probably doesn't have the reach needed, so a 'super zoom' type P&S is probably needed? Might drop quality and lens speed though.