Rescued dog wins show; Photographer shares pictures

By Dianne Owens
Editor
Published: October 4, 2008

Photographer takes pictures with a purpose

Editor’s Note: This story started as an e-mail conversation with Porch Setter. He or she, as I never asked which, attended the Golden Leaf Festival in Mullins this past Saturday and took pictures of the annual Small Paws Grooming & Boarding dog show. Porch Setter, better known as B.J. Thurman, was interested in posting some of those pictures to SCNow.com Web site and was having some issues. As I was seeking to help get those issues resolved, I asked a few other questions. Because Howell showed up at the festival, took some great photographs and wanted to share them, we offer you and this story, about a fundraiser, dog lovers and a photography enthusiast learning a new technology was born.

BJ Howell has a new digital camera.

Since the SCNow.com Web site’s photograph upload service, SNAP!, didn’t appear to be working properly, Howell sent an e-mail to the Star & Enterprise asking if we’d be interested in a couple of photographs from the Golden Leaf Festival’s annual dog show.

I replied we were. (In this day and age of more news happening in the county faster than we here at the Star & Enterprise can get to it, we need all the help we can get to get the county’s news, large and small to our readers.)

Howell, who lives and works in Florence but who travels frequently to the town of Mullins on business, was not involved with the dog show. It is sponsored by Small Paws Grooming & Boarding in Mullins and the Marion County SPCA and is a fund raiser for the county’s SPCA. This is the fifth year for the highly-anticipated show.

JoAnn Jenkins at Small Paws said, as in the past, awards were given for Lookalike, Best Groomed, Cutest, Best All Around, Smallest and Biggest. The event, Jenkins said, gets bigger every year and this year about 70 dogs were signed up to compete. Several may have appeared in multiple categories, but that’s still a lot of canines and owners parading across the Smith Haven Stage, making awards difficult.

But back to Howell. “I simply went in Small Paws two days before the festival and Ms. Jenkins told me about the dog show. Saturday was a nice day and I decided to go over there and see if I could figure out how to use my new camera, which I wanted in order to take photos of dogs.   I have often been asked if I am interested in anything other than dogs and the answer is probably no. I did not have a dog entered in the show.“

Howell said in the e-mail that “What I know about photography could fit in a thimble, but I am interested in becoming competent (in order to photograph dogs of course). I asked my favorite outdoor photographer if I should take a class, and his advice was to go out and take photos and learn through practice instead, so that is what I was doing.“

“... I use sites like Picture Trail all the time to make slideshows of my dogs. In the past I had to get film developed and scan the photos so I am real excited to have a digital camera. If I can learn to take good photos I would like to use the skill to promote dog related events and the fostering and adoption of shelter animals. Every dog I have ever had and have has been a stray or rescue. Most of the shelter dogs’ photos that I see on Petfinder are absolutely appalling and do nothing to heighten their chances of adoption.“

And speaking of rescued animals, Howell said, “the announcer said that the black and white puppy who won Best in Show was found as a stray.“
Dressed in bumble bee attire, Julie Dorsey’s puppy, showed up all the rest to be named Best of Show. Drew Foile, Golden Leaf Festival committee chairman, said Dorsey found the dog. The three board members of the Marion County SPCA judged the Golden Leaf Dog Show.

Howell’s photographs are viewable online, including photographs of Dorsey’s pup, at http://www.picturetrail.com/flicks/5739531/preview.

Money raised at the show goes to providing grants for low income families in Marion county to have their pets spayed and neuter. For information about the SPCA, or to make a donation, e-mail . Applications for spay and neuter services are taken at various points in time, President John Rogers said. The group works to raise money, he explained and then solicits applications for the spay and neutering service. That process should begin again in early January, he said.