Making of a Screenshot - The Dog Park

I first heard about Blizzard's Corehound Screenshot Contest a month ago. Being pretty practiced at taking screenshots, I figured the hard part would be coming up with an idea. Implementing said idea should be fairly easy for me, or so I thought. Don't get me wrong, I know better than most people how difficult it can be to set up a decent shot. To begin with, the background setting has to be suitable. Then the lighting must be right. The outfit has to work. And lastly, your subject(s) must be cooperative.

So I mulled over a few ideas. Should I get a shot of myself "dognapping" a pup from Beauty's litter? Should I slip into my hottest armor and take my lava-drooling pup for a stroll through the caves in Molten Core? Whatever I decided, the idea had to be somewhat original. I figured most contest entries would be poses in and around lava, so I opted with my third idea instead: spend an afternoon shooting pics of my corehound with other dogs at a dog park.

If you're a dog owner and you've spent any time at dog parks, you know there's usually a whole bunch of dogs of all sizes and breeds. Most owners sit in the shade and chat while their dogs play. They brag about how terribly clever little "Baxter" is, while he wanders around investigating the nether regions of other dogs for his doggy thesis. Occasionally there's a dog and owner in matching sweaters who brave the minefield of poo to practice obedience training or to play a game of fetch (which always results in a dog fight when the dog park bully beats up the sweater-wearing dog and steals his designer ball). Anyhow, since my corehound is such a spectacular breed, I wanted to pose as the type of dog owner who is very proud of her unusual pet and wants to show it off at the dog park.

Now all I needed was a dog park. And some dogs. And an outfit. No problem, right?

It took me two weeks to find a spot with a nice fence. Thanks to my friend Jen, who suggested farms, I narrowed down my locations and found a nice fenced yard in Elwynn Forest. Now I need the perfect outfit, since I am the queen of "matching sweaters" after all. I got my hands on a dress with gorgeous orange and maroon stripes, with just the right amount of grey to set off my corehound's steel collar and cuffs. Perfect! Finishing touches: a bone off-hand as my pup's toy and a firey crown for myself. All I had to do was recruit a few of my guildies and friends to bring their dogs to the dog park. I even dug out my Scarlet Monastery whistle to summon another hound (great idea, Bekka!).

First attempt was on a friday when I recruited some very cooperative guildies for a dog gathering. The location was perfect. My guildies were very patient and generous with their time. I actually remembered to bring all my paraphernalia. I got a few hunters with wolf and fox combat pets and worg and pug companions. I had no clue how difficult it would be to try to pose players who were trying to pose their pets. All the dogs had to be in the shot, but not covered by other dogs. This took way longer than it should have before it dawned on me that it was night and the lighting was wrong. I scrambled to get the shot anyway. Unfortunately my guard hound (who was cooperative earlier in the afternoon when I scouted out the setting and practiced my pose) suddenly wanted to summon on the near side of me, alternately blocking the camera view or standing on my corehound. Sigh.

I went through the shots, hoping for one that I could use but I wasn't really happy with any of them. I do want to thank my guildies for spending time helping me, though. I did actually learn a few things.

On Sunday afternoon I asked my friend Michael if he'd help me practice setting up this shot again. An hour later he had found and trained a Gilneas Hound, posed it several times for me, and waited patiently in the barn while I fiddled with angles and poses. I opted to feed my corehound a Papa Hummel's biscuit so he would really stand out against the other dogs. I hope this doesn't disqualify me from the contest. I didn't see anything about it in the rules.

A bit later my friend Jen logged on, so I thought I'd ask her if she had some time to help out. She seemed quite happy to help, but I doubt she realized she'd be a prisoner of my screenshot fiasco for nearly two hours. Growing more and more frustrated at my guard hound, I tried countless different poses with my two companions and my assistant's pets. Then my friend/guildie Megan logged on, so I asked if she'd help. Hooray! Another victim assistant! She trained a white worg and brought it to the dog park, posing it perfectly then patiently waiting for me to get just the right shot. For ages. Then the sun began setting. Sigh.

While it wasn't quite as many dogs as I originally wanted, and my guard hound only cooperated briefly a couple of times, I figured after over a hundred screen captures I'd have to finally settle for one I took during this attempt... or go insane trying. Which I did. Settle, I mean. But I did end up wondering why I hadn't opted for my first idea of dognapping a pup from Beauty's litter. Oh, well. For better or worse, I selected my shot (above) and entered the contest. Wish me luck!

Thank you so much to all who helped. Especially Michael, Jen, Megan, Bekka, and my guildies.

Here are some rejects for your amusement: