Dog Days of Summer

I did some volunteer work for SafeHaven Humane Society over the weekend. They had their annual "Dog Days of Summer" event downtown in front of the courthouse. There was a fairly large turnout. One activity is the 5k walk. Before it kicked off, everyone who wanted to participate posed on the steps of the courthouse with their dogs for one big group picture. I took a tighter shot with a longer lens, but I wasn't able to capture the very edges of the group or much of the surroundings. I switched to the wide angle and snapped a few shots.

Mud Bath

After the kinetic sculptures finish their runs through the mud bog (see previous post), spectators are invited to play in the mud. Some parent's actually dare to let their kids coat themselves in a thick layer of brown muck that will certainly not come out of any clothing. I'm sure it's quite fun for the children as long as they don't mind being hosed down afterward. I didn't want to stick around at this location for very long because I knew the race would be continuing in the river and I wanted to get down to the river exit before the first participants arrived. But, I couldn't leave without grabbing at least a few shots. This youngster seemed quite happy to be covered in mud all the way up to his neck.

The Mud Bog

One of the stages in the da Vinci Days kinetic sculpture race is the infamous mud bog. At Crystal Lake Park in Corvallis, they create a deep, muddy mess for the racers to drive through before getting hosed off and entering the river for the next stage. Some never make it out (on their own at least). Most breezed through the long stretch of mud, only to get hung up trying to exit the course and climb back out to dry land. For human powered machines this is quite a work out, I'm sure. This pair of shots are of one of my favorite sculptures. In the second photo, the team is taking a quick pause to plan their attack after stalling out in that last crucial moment. I believe they were eventually successful at making the corner, up and out of the mud without outside assistance. Others were not so lucky.

 

Kinetic Sculpture Parade

On the second day of da Vinci Days, Saturday, the kinetic sculpture participants put on a short parade near the festival site. As the sculptures came back into the corral area, spectators converged to check out the contraptions up close and talk to the drivers. There was a fair amount of theatricality and fun to be had. This gentlemen was one of the racers and he wasn't shy about posing in his costume for the cameras and crowd.

Canine Frisbee

One of the events at da Vinci Days last weekend was canine frisbee. Saturday morning, I was there to take pictures and enjoyed watching as well. It drew quite a crowd and several people ended up with a dog in their lap while it chased after a frisbee that ventured slightly out of bounds. As I was focusing on a dog running toward me and preparing to capture the moment it ripped the frisbee from the air, I suddenly realized that the dog wasn't stopping. I looked up just as the frisbee bounced off my leg. I didn't get any good shots of that round, but I did get this shot of one of the dogs leaping for a mid-air catch with some of the spectators watching in the distance.