Dog Photography 52 Week Project: Week 32: Happy

For our dog photography 52 week project this week, our topic is happy. We can do anything we want around this topic so I am going to share photos I took this week that really make me happy but they're not dog photos. I know this really breaks the rules of the project but I'm making an exception and sharing them.

Pharrell's song "Happy" floats through my head every time I think about this topic and I'm sure I'm not the only one so for your listening pleasure here is a remake of the song. Just in case it wasn't already going through your head, now it will be!

Taking my camera to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club during the practice rounds on Wednesday made me very happy. I took a little time off from dog walking and dog photographer and photographed these professional golfers.

Quail Hollow Club is about a mile from my house. Every year this club hosts the Wells Fargo Championship however this year the club is hosting the prestigious PGA Championship. It's a big deal and I had a blast walking the course.

For any other golf fans who are watching this tournament, see all those dang trees on the course? Those are the ones I complain about all the time. The only wide open spaces around here are on golf courses. I have the tournament on in the background right now and as I type this and they're talking about all of the trees they removed from the course prior to the tournament. I cannot tell any are gone! :)

When I got there I decided to make my way to the 17th hole. It's one of my favorite holes on the course. It's a par 3 over water. This is Dustin Johnson (he's married to hockey legend Wayne Gretsky's daughter.) Apparently there are a few famous non-golfers here this week. Justin Bieber was photographed here on Tuesday.

After Dustin moved onto 18, I decided to walk the course and try to find a few other golfers I recognize. I had my 70-200mm lens on my camera which is my big lens. As I was walking around, a tour official golf cart pulled up beside me and they asked me if I needed a ride. I said sure and hopped on. They said since I was "working" they'd be happy to give me a ride. I didn't argue nor did I offer any additional information about why I was there with my camera.

I saw Davis Love III. He was in school at UNC-Chapel Hill when I was there so I've always been a fan of his and then I saw Sergio Garcia. When he stopped to sign autographs, there was a young boy and his dad beside me. The boy's dad was instructing him to hold out his cap and pen to get Sergio's attention. Sergio was busy signing lots of other kids' hats and he walked by the little boy. (He couldn't possibly sign all of them.) His dad said, "You missed him. We'll get the next one." Sergio heard him and stopped, looked at the boy and held out his hand to get the hat from him. Seeing that definitely made me happy. Way to go Sergio!

I made my way to the tee box on the 6th hole and waited for Rory McIroy to come through. I got there early so I was able to stake out my spot. I even confirmed with the guy next to me that Rory was a right handed golfer so I knew I was positioned correctly.

As Rory arrived so did all of his fans and the tournament photographers. There were 3 of them. One set up on my left and one came and crossed in front of me and sat down right on my right. He said to me, "I saw you here and I want to make sure I don't block your shot." I could've hugged him.

Unfortuantely the 3rd photographer either didn't see me or didn't care and he proceeded to get right in my way so I had to stand up to get my shots. The poeple around me all groaned and made comments like, I can't believe he just did that! Oh well... they are the ones being paid to get the shot and I get how important positioning is. Needless to say, I photoshopped the photographer's white hat out of the bottom of all of my photos of Rory. :( I also waited to hit my shutter button until I heard the other shutters going off. I know photograhing the golfers is allowed on Wednesdays but I didn't want my shutter going off just as the golfer was about to make contact with the ball. I wanted to respect these players and this game. (My shutter is on silent but there is still some noise.) Do you know what else made me happy? Hearing all those shutters go off at the same time. The paid photographers had some seriously fast cameras! My 6.5 shots / second was a lot slower than theirs. 

Here are the photos of Rory and the other golfers he was paired with during the round.

I look forward to watching more of their play in the days to come and if you're reading this Friday morning, I'm probably back out on the course. 

Since this is a dog photography website and a pet photography project, I will post one dog photo I took on this same golf course last winter. This is not where the golfers want to be. 

This is a blog circle and next up is Minneapolis and St. Paul MN dog photographer About A Dog Photography. Keep clicking the links at the bottom of each post and you'll end up right back here.