08/09/2026
Hello FastCATters!
FastCAT photos from WRKC’s event on Saturday, August 1, 2026 are ready!
If you’re not the reading type or just not in the mood, skip to the end for the link and just know that this was my first time photographing FastCAT (or any big event like this), and that I know I left a lot to be desired, but we’re calling this the beginning and not the destination! In particular, my organization skills here were severely lacking—so sorry! If you have trouble finding your dog, want to reach out with any feedback, or just want to say hi, please don’t hesitate to shoot me a message! I hope you enjoy!
The night before Saturday’s event, I was eating pizza at a family get-together when my phone chirped. It was a message from a dog sport friend: “There’s a FastCAT event tomorrow and looks like there isn’t a photographer, you should see if you can go shoot it!” I had never done anything like this before and was vastly unprepared, but it felt like the universe was tugging and who am I to ignore the universe’s tugs?
And so the next morning, I dragged myself out of bed after not-enough sleep, got myself pumped up (new things are scary!), grabbed my two partially charged batteries, my camera bag, two of my dogs, a towel to lie down on, and drove to Country Paws. I found John and Melanie who graciously accepted my offer to photograph for the day, and settled in at the end of the catch pen to attempt to capture the action. And I did manage to grab some cool shots that I’m really proud of, but I also was pretty bummed about the things that didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I can be pretty hard on myself.
One of my good friends shared a quote with me earlier this week that I’ve been thinking of frequently while working on these photos: “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” - Meister Eckhart
I want to make sure you guys know that this is me willing to be a beginner. I’m glad to be here at the metaphorical starting line of photographing dog events, but I’m not staying here at the beginning. When faced with another opportunity like this, I will be better than I was this time, and so on.
There’s a lot I’d like to do differently next time (hopefully there is a next time?!), especially in terms of organization. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal by nature, but I do take my photography seriously and like to be much more prepared than I was last Saturday. I didn’t have a system in place to organize photos or dogs’ names, so a lot of the names in the gallery were from memory or deduced from the run list (which is in order of entries and not actual run order! Yikes!). When you go to the gallery, you’ll see that I have the names in alphabetical order, then the ones whose names I didn’t have are in folders with descriptors or by breed. If you can’t find your dog or just don’t have the time or energy to dig through the list, please reach out! I’d be happy to help you. I’m so sorry that it’s as messy as it is, and this is one of the main things I aim to fix in the future.
One of the other things I’d like to remedy next time is that my lens I have on hand is not quite long enough or fast enough (I’m looking at you, super speedy black dogs! It was a struggle!) to photograph FastCAT. In the future I’d like to rent a longer, faster lens for this kind of event. That being said, a lot of the photos are cropped which decreases image quality. They will be high enough quality to post on socials and share with friends and family but might not be high enough quality for large prints. If you want to print one of the images, please reach out and I’ll see what I can do to help!
Lastly, I’ll make sure I have a better way for you guys to find me and your photos after the event. But if you’re reading this that means you’ve found me—hi! I’m Caitlin!
A LOT of time and effort went into these photos. Every single one has received individual editing, but because of so many photos going across my screen (4,279 in the past week from this event to be exact! And almost 800 edited photos, phew!) and some at odd hours of the night, I might have missed something, and if I did, please reach out! Whether it’s a missed eye boogie (I cleaned up so. many. eye boogies.), or something else, just let me know and I’ll take a look.
If you like what you see, please consider supporting me by following me on socials, purchasing photos of your dog, tagging me if you share your purchased photos on socials (I’d love to see your favorites!), booking a portrait session with me, or just reaching out to say “hey, nice job!”, really any support means so much.
Now go! Go look at photos of super fast dogs!
https://caitlingumneyphotography.pixieset.com/wrkcfastcat/
Wisconsin Rapids Kennel Club
