Kentucky Derby online photo galleries

For those wondering what you missed at Churchill Downs for the 139th Derby, a good answer comes from the online photo galleries posted by the Louisville Courier and Journal and Sports Illustrated. The answer is: mud. A mile of mud through which the horses had to race and with which photographers had to work (hoping all the time their pre-positioned remote cameras would still operate after hours in the open).

Those who glance at the galleries will notice a gathering of credentialed photographers sitting and kneeling on the track at the finish line outside of the outside rail. Whether they were required to get under rail level to not block the view of paying customers, or chose to get low to have a better chance of capturing jockeys' faces at the end of the stretch run, that position, down in the mud, eliminates any illusion of the glamor of sports photography.

And, for those who were unhappy when they read that cameras with interchangeable lenses were not allowed into Churchill Downs, the track also banned umbrellas on a day of constant rain.

I shot the Derby and SI used one of my shots in that gallery. I can tell you that the Derby is ridiculously hard work and not glamorous at all. At the same time it is easily my favorite sporting event I have ever shot and I pray I get the opportunity to get out there next year for it.

The rain is a HUGE pain when you are shooting with multiple cameras. I was lucky because I was assigned to shoot turn four up high, so I was actually under the overhang and was shooting from a fans gallery.

Here I am on the track yesterday between races.

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Thomas Campbell wrote in post #15899151
I shot the Derby and SI used one of my shots in that gallery. I can tell you that the Derby is ridiculously hard work and not glamorous at all. At the same time it is easily my favorite sporting event I have ever shot and I pray I get the opportunity to get out there next year for it.

Thanks for emphasizing the work needed to cover the race. That helps demonstrate that the enjoyment a photographer receives at a big event comes from the effort exerted to generate the results. You really need to enjoy work for work's sake, and not everyone understands that. The true enjoyment comes when you get a good image - and beat the deadlines.

To put it in perspective: media busses start running at 4am and stop running at 11pm for a reason. I was getting to the parking lot about 4:45 each morning and we left sometime between 8pm [most nights]-11pm[Derby Day]. Eat dinner, shower, cull, charge batteries, plan what you are going to shoot the next day and before you know it your alarm is ringing to get up and head out.

The rain only added to the amount of work that needed to be done. Made for some cool pics of mud flying.

This is an experience I will always treasure and I will jump at the opportunity to do it again. But I am beyond exhausted right now as I sit in Louisville's airport.

DC Fan wrote in post #15899058
Those who glance at the galleries will notice a gathering of credentialed photographers sitting and kneeling on the track at the finish line outside of the outside rail. Whether they were required to get under rail level to not block the view of paying customers, or chose to get low to have a better chance of capturing jockeys' faces at the end of the stretch run, that position, down in the mud, eliminates any illusion of the glamor of sports photography.

And, for those who were unhappy when they read that cameras with interchangeable lenses were not allowed into Churchill Downs, the track also banned umbrellas on a day of constant rain.

The credentialed photographers are required to keep their heads below the rail during the races. The outside of the track is higher than the first rows of seats in several areas.

Camera restrictions were a disgrace! DSLR cameras were permitted to apparently anyone including one person sitting directly behind me sporting a nice big white Canon 70-200mm lens. To my left was lady with two lenses, one was a 70-300mm and the other was a short lens. The "tourist" brought their nice new cameras while those of us on the Churchill email list got screwed. I asked the security officer if he wanted to see my camera (an old P & S) and the answer was "No, it's okay." They didn't check any of our cameras even though the cameras were not visible. I am still mad.

No umbrellas! They have been prohibited for years and rightfully so. Anyone that doesn't understand that apparently has never sat behind one or had water pour down their neck from the umbrella directly behind them.

I made it to the derby for the second time this year and can vouch for the mud... although only from the state of the clothes that I was wearing that day. I was enjoying the infield atmosphere... lol.

Some great shots in those galleries the OP posted.

Loving the SI gallery. A case of a brown horse in front of a brown horse though.

Wow, cool stuff! Thanks for sharing.