This is Gilbert, the nicest dog you could ever hope to meet. Gilbert hotly pursued by a nameless mutt.

What a great photograph. I can say this without prejudice as I claim no merit in the matter at all. It's a pebbles on the beach phenomena, pick up enough and you're bound to find the odd good one. I couldn't have chosen to take this photograph no matter how I tried. The serendipitous focus of the camera (exactly on the mutt’s eye), the way Gilbert is a blur of happy motion as a result, the wonderful juxtaposition of the mutt’s eye and the ball (he literally has his eye on the ball), the fact that the ball is hanging out of that side of Gilbert’s mouth - I could go on.


One of the great things about the image is the almost meditative look on Gilbert's face compared with the maniacal look on the mutt. There is such a contrast between the two.

No doubt, we should all cultivate our inner Gilbert. Unfortunately the world we live in is more aligned with the mutts. Let’s not disparage the mutt too harshly, someone has to chase the ball, keep their eye on the prize, reach a little further, try a little harder. Speaking for myself, life would be pretty boring if there were no balls to go after. Oddly enough, I believe this photograph is one of my Gilbert moments. Doing something for the pure joy of it.