In quantum physics, there is a principle called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. It says something to the effect that if you try to measure the momentum of a small particle, you can no longer precisely determine its position. You can check this Wickipedia article if you’d like to understand this better.

Having spent over ten years photographing dogs fairly seriously, I have determined that there is a principle in dog photography that could be called the Puppy Uncertainty Principle, or “PUP” for short. The basic idea is that, as soon as you try to photograph a puppy, it’s some place else. The first corollary to the Puppy Uncertainty Principle is that, whatever a puppy is doing when you try to photograph it, it will be doing something else when you click the shutter.

If you’ve ever tried to photograph a puppy, you know what I mean. You observe the puppy doing something absolutely charming, like letting a small child stroke its nose, but the minute you raise your camera, the puppy moves to a different part of the room. It’s not so much that the puppy doesn’t want to be photographed (I think). It’s more that the camera changes things; it breaks the puppy’s chain of thought.

I could give lots of examples. Most recently, I’ve been trying to get some good video (to share with you) of Callie dropping (sometimes literally throwing) her Kong toys to the ground in order to shake loose the carrot or piece of cheese that Barbara put inside. Sometimes, she will “thump” her Kong toy to the ground dozens of times in a row, trying to free the trapped snack.

But as soon as I start filming, it seems like she lies down to start gnawing on the carrot. Or she moves behind a piece of furniture, where I can’t get a clean shot. There’s always something. I’m gradually getting the video I want, but I’m having to do a lot of editing.

Here’s an example of a still shot I was trying to get of Callie with her Kong toy.

Those two white dots above Callie’s eyes are not quantum particles. They are “red-eye” reflections from where her eyes were when I started to snap the picture. Of course, as soon as I started to click the shutter, Callie’s head dove toward the floor, which is why the white dots are above her eyes in the photo. (Experienced photographers will probably notice that there’s also some camera-shake at work here, too.)

So remember, dog and puppy relationships are just as subject to the laws of physics as the rest of the universe.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Callie, Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.