My new Canon video camera came today and I spent a couple of hours assembling everything, figuring out the cables and  tripod and software. Then I took Red out for some work. It was mid-day and hot, and I didn’t want to take too long, but I couldn’t resist capturing one of Red’s spectacular and exhilarating outruns – another call to life and freedom, really.

I haven’t taken a video for awhile. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the technical detritus of creativity, hauling too much stuff around, trying to keep track of too many passwords. I didn’t want to be a slave to it. I got a neat new Canon camera, many steps above what I had and I am awakening to the possibilities of moving images again. I have to think about what I want to use the camera for, and what I want to use still images for. I’ll be sharing that process. Each new creative tool is a gift, an opportunity.

My first video is not too creative, but fun, I think. Shows Red strutting his stuff.

I had some trouble adjusting the lens cap so there is some vignetting on some of the photos. I’ve figured it out, and the camera is very good, very crisp and functional. It’s expensive, but I will need it for the enhanced e-books I plan to write.  Captures color and movement very well.

It’s a fine first taste of Red at work, and sets the scene well for him. Training notes: I was a bit scattered, perhaps even anxious fiddling with the camera, so I used more words than I usually do, and too many a couple of times. I don’t usually preface commands with “Red,” and I rarely praise him with “good boy” out in the pasture. Work is its own reward for border collies. He knows his name, also.  Otherwise, he was his usual stellar self and he and I are  more in sync every day. His outruns are amazing, and even when he takes a beating from some of the sheep, he is appropriate and determined. He controls them skillfully and professionally.  So here’s the first video with the new camera. Come and see this remarkable creature at work.