Industrious

Craig Williams has Industrious in the lead at the two furlong mark,

only to be run down and finish out of a place.

Excelente imagen de gran belleza, perfecta luz y color, magnifico encuadre, genial composicion, saludos cordiales Neil.... Tenemos que ganar el Gran National.......

Looks like the jockey is working harder than Industrious by the look on his face. The color and detail you capture in your racing pictures is amazing Neil. I can hear the crowds roar and you did a good job of "commentating" this race. As a teenager I was a "hot walker" on some local tracks, I try to get to the races a couple times a year but have never tried to take pictures, I'll have to give it a go next year. Good work as always.

Gracias Julio. Quisiera mucho ir al Gran National un dí¡ y tomar algunas fotografí¡³. Saludos, Neil

Thanks very much Susan. We are into our spring racing carnival here which leads up to the Melbourne Cup in early November. I think we are the only place in the world to have a public holiday for a horse race. The Cup and the lead up meetings get a bit crowded for me, so if I do go, I don't take the camera. I take it , a "hot walker" means what we call a "strapper" - one who looks after the horse in the stall, puts the racing gear on the horse and leads it around the mounting yard. Kind regards, Neil

Actually a hot walker here is someone who cools the horse off after the race by walking them around, now they have mechanical ones to cool off the horses. The trainers I worked for usually led their own horses to the paddock area and saddled them. But yes, the hot walker also cleaned stalls and fed. Boy does that bring back memories, it was forty years ago. Someday I'd like to go to the Kentucky Derby.

You said I was getting it down to a fine art, well what can I say about this one. You can feel the power in both animal and jockey. Amazing details displayed. Do you do as I do and concentrate on shooting based on the light or do you just go to where you think you will get the best shots?

 

Ger..

Thanks Ger. Yes, I find lighting critically important for horse racing photography. Caulfield, the track where I took this shot, has the home straight running east-west, so the sun is behind the photographer. Some tracks with north-south home straights I avoid altogether when it is full sun and too contrasty. I am very happy when it is cloudy-bright rather than full sun. I also know the best spots at each of the tracks to get clean backgrounds. Melbourne and local tracks tend to be a photographer's nightmare, with signage, light poles, earth moving equipment and car parks in the background. I very rarely take a winning post shot because of all the signage around the area. I also work mostly at wide apertures to blur the background as much as possible. Kind regards, Neil

Cheers Neil,

 

I respect your photography very much and seem to be on the same thinking as you so I must be moving in the right direction. I didn't think of these factors for my first few races.

 

Regards,

 

Ger..