Also Ran

[rick barclay]

Jockey Alexis Beitia washes up after washing out on Hearts Flashy Fire
in the ninth race at Monmouth Park today. Doesn't take a rocket scientist
to tell you he didn't win the race--the mud says it all.
Comments and criticism appreciated.


http://flashdaddee.com/jockey.jpg

[cgratti]

I wish you would have not been zoomed so close, I am curious to what he is doing in that picture, I would have liked to have seen his hands.

But nice photo and good job of catching the moment.

[rick barclay]

You're absolutely correct, my friend. Problem was the jockeys were
coming and going so fast I didn't have time to change my lens, so I shot it
with my 100-400 set to 100. It didn't occur to me to take this type of pic
until I saw them washing up, and by that time it was the ninth race, last
one for the day. I'm going back Sunday to cover the Haskell Stakes, and I
hope to capture similar stuff with a wider angle lens. It's all a part of learning
what to shoot and what to look for before you shoot. Takes time, but I'm
lovin' it.

[arogop]

His face looks pretty haggard. That could be a pretty nice shot with the mud and a little more frontal.

[nighthawk]

I wish you would have not been zoomed so close, I am curious to what he is doing in that picture, I would have liked to have seen his hands.

But nice photo and good job of catching the moment.

I agree, butI think you could salvage the shot by cropping in closer. Emphasize the detail on the expression and mud on the face and loose some of the arm and background.

[rick barclay]

His face looks pretty haggard. That could be a pretty nice shot with the mud and a little more frontal.

Yeah. I had to rush this picture because he already had half his face washed. I'm going to get a picture of one of them before they hit the
fountain. Some of them are just covered with mud.

Photos like these are difficult to do because I'm shooting the race with a
100-400mm and need to change lenses quickly to capture the close-ups.
Next time I go, I'll probably take my wife's DRebel with me and have it
ready with a 50mm for all the near shots. On the day of the Haskell,
the track photographer was toting three different cameras around with
him for the feature race.

Thanks for the suggestions.