A Day at the Races

Last night after the boys left I was very busy tidying up, washing and ironing all the bedding and remaking the beds (Gavin helped me), as I knew that today I would not have a chance to do anything as I had a very busy day - out at the races!

This morning I walked Xena, then went to the country club where I am a member to join their photography group for a day at Epsom Downs photographing the horse racing. We had coffees at the club and John, the chairman of the photography group spent, some time explaining the technique and settings we would need for this kind of photography (he is a retired award winning sports photographer). We then walked over to the downs, and spent the day photographing the races, changing locations between each race. The races are only one lap so if you mess it up you don't get another chance! The race course is on public land so we photographed from the public area and did not go into the grand stand, rather walking the length of the course and photographing each race from a different location. This image was taken from the only location where you see the horses from a front view as they come around the bend. John helped me with settings required for panning, and I tried many experimental shots of panning the horses while they are racing at top speed - not easy at all! The aim is to get either some of the horse's head or the jockey's head in focus while the rest of the image is blurred to show the movement - this can be seen in the extras. In the first extra the jockey in blue and yellow riding number 3 is the famous champion jockey Frankie Dettori.

It was a great day out, and after the 4.pm race we walked back to the club to discuss our results over tea and coffees before heading home. 

It has been a long day and I now must make supper - I apologise for not having a chance to look at journals, I will catch up.