# How I spent my morning...



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

[/img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5091/5586484829_587f60befb_z.jpg[/img]

Our local racetrack's spring racemeet starts on Friday! :leap: Spring is always an exciting time around here...our track only races in April/Oct and is one of the most anticipated tracks...I think it's because it's so open and visitor friendly.

Anyway, I should be credentialed again this year for the meet, if not then something is seriously wrong!!! I should know tomorrow...but I've not had a problem the last 3 years I've been doing this...

A week from Monday is a 2 year old in training sale - 169 juveniles listed in the catalog. Thursday is a breeze show for potential buyers to inspect the horses as they each take a turn galloping. They each go different distances determined by their seller, and what they think is safe and fitting for each horse....since they are really just babies...

I went out for a little while this morning in search of some of the 2 year olds on the main track....They come out wearing their sale hip #.

This guy is a full brother to CURLIN. Curlin was champion 3 year old colt and horse of the year in 2007, Champion older horse & horse of the year in 2008, he is also the leading money earner in the US with over $10,000,000 from 16 races...









I don't know how well he is put together, but his stride alone had peoples attention 


















Corinthian filly


















Mr. Greeley colt









Sharp Humor colt....


















More Than Ready colt









Medaglia d'oro filly


















Street Sense colt <Street Sense was a KY derby winner>



























Still pretty dark out for this one...about 7:15am...
Stormy Atlantic filly









Hard Spun filly <I LOVE her tail!>


















<another> Hard Spun filly









<and another> Hard Spun filly...LOL









Empire Maker colt - he has a huge stride, looked like a nice big colt



























Indian Charlie filly - she looked like she was flying!


















Malibu Moon colt... I loved the lighting/colors in this one









Street Cry colt 









Unbridled's Song colt









War Front colt









There weren't a lot of sale horses out since most of them 'worked' the past few days, and usually they walk the shedrow for a couple of days after a workout...
I'll be going over this weekend before the races to get some random pics of the horses, plus I'll be at the breeze show on Thurs.










Reassurance....









An unknown horse working....













































Anyway....it was a beautiful morning, and it felt so good to spend some time at the track...I've sure missed it.

Here's a link to more pics...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... 40/detail/


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

WOW they can COVER some ground!!


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## bleatinghearts (Feb 26, 2010)

Wonderful! You have a Very interesting life Candice! Those animals are so beautiful. Those pics make me want to be there. If I was, I would run out and bury my nose in one of those horses necks. It's like aromatheripy.


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

haha, so true


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## TinyHoovesRanch (Jan 16, 2010)

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Im so jealous of you!! lol


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks! It was a lot of fun and so glad I went yesterday. I probably won't go back until Thursday for the breeze show, but I sure have the urge to get over there 
Mornings are easy and laid back. Afternoons there can be a lot of rushing and terrible lighting...but I love the challenge  I'll love it even more if I can upgrade to the camera I want! Fingers crossed...I have to upgrade...but the one I want vs. one that will get my by...


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

LOVE number 9.
Have you ever photoed foals? That would be neat to photo the journey from foal to racetrack.
How about photo's for TB rescues? That would be neat too. You might even have pic's of when someone was on the track.

Gina


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## Epona142 (May 26, 2008)

Oh yes...I see some real potential here.


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## coltrule (Mar 24, 2011)

Some very good horses..i like the 1st filly in your post she had a good stride and seems very nice. I'm a big horse lover i just got done training my 2 year old QH paint filly


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much  I'd LOVE to photograph foals, I need to get my foot in the door on it. I photograph horse sales in the area, and have had some ad agencies pick up on those. In fact, the website I do horse related work for is getting with them for payment...takes those places forever to pay. He just received payment from the Assocciated Press not long ago for an image they used almost a year ago! 

The first pics of the Smart Strike colt 'may' be purchased by the breeder, not sure if it's for advertisement, or personal use. I have a friend that alerted them to my pictures, and they wanted me to get in touch with them.

Three Chimney's farm had recently used one of my Dynaformer pictures for advertisement....which is totally awesome, since Dynaformer is a major stallion! No payment, and I haven't hit them up for it yet...but think I am going to see if I can make some other arrangements instead.

I think my biggest problem is, I don't really 'market' my stuff...if I did I am sure I'd be working more and bringing in more income. I just love to take pictures and share them  But it can be costly sometimes, so I really need to learn to market more...

I do some photography stuff for Old Friends Equine Retirement Home. They have used my images in their calendars, on the website, and on the individual horse sponsorship papers. I love going there to visit, and always make them a cd of the images I take so they can use them for whatever they want - my way of helping since I am too poor to donate..LOL I am a stay at home mom when I am not working with the camera, so it's hard not having a regular income.

I need to get in touch with some of the horse rescue groups around here, as I'd love to donate some time towards getting pictures of the horses. 

I guess if I try to get the new camera I want...I better start putting more effort to make some $$ with it....


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## Calico Patch Farm (Mar 8, 2011)

Wow! Some beautiful shots of some beautiful animals. I must admit my jealousy...Ha ha


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

As always...your pics are AWESOME :thumbup: 

You can certainly tell by the way you put such heart into photographs that you truly enjoy those horses..BEAUTIFUL!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Liz I appreciate it  I do love the horses, and besides the goats and my kids, they are the ONLY thing that gets me into photography. I have a lot of friends that are like...why don't you learn portrait/wedding photography...and I am like....ehh... I prefer the horses... 

I'm a little bit frustrated though because my credentials have yet to come through! I got an email today saying that the media outlet I work for never sent a request. I know he did last week, and he's had problems with our track in the past with things getting through and so forth.... he was supposed to send them another letter, but I think he is going to give me one to print and take with me to talk to them. This is the first time in 3 years they've asked me for media outlet information.... they've had a lot of problems with people getting credentials who don't actually work for anyone - freelancers and artists. And they say they are checking everyone's credentials because of the unusually high demand for credentials this year....hmmm... I think this is stemming more from complaints of people going and just doing this for fun/for themselves.

I was technically credentialed through a different media outlet overseas, but they were ripping me off  Getting my photos in print in the big European racing newspaper, yet I wasn't seeing any $$ from it. Very discouraging. It's not about the $$ to me, but I am not going to sit back while someone makes $$ off of my pics and my time/gas/etc. 
I'm sure it's going to work out, but it's still frustrating. I am used to having my credentials/parking pass squared away by now.

Like many things photography is very competitive. THere is always someone who wants to get into your shoes, especially when you find a media outlet. I just want to go out and take pictures...you know? I can get into the moods where I want to compare my stuff to the pros, and beat myself up about it, and that is soooo not what I want.
I have been setting the mind mentality that... I have my own style, they have theirs. They may be more pro than me....and that's fine. But as long as I am happy with what I am doing.... of course getting opinions and compliments makes a huge difference in self confidence  
I am shooting with people that have mortgaged their house in order to get their fancy equipment. I know one man that has about 4-5 cameras that sell for about $5,500, and just about every lens that camera company makes! he uses remotes, and his new wife, and he has a friend that helps him shoot some of the races...so I am up against a pro, his wife, his friend and a remote...LOL And it's just me and my lil camera <wasn't cheap, but not a $5000 camera either!>....That's just one media outlet. 
The track photographers have about 4-5 people there, then the 2 major racing magazines has their people....it can become quite a crowd on big race days.

Yep, up against a lot, but it's still a fun challenge, and I've met a lot of very nice people along the way who have helped me a great deal


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Picked up my 2011 credentials this morning...whew. The races start on Friday talk about close! Tomorrow morning is the breeze show for the 2year olds I pictures above. Should be nice tomorrow around 70 and partly cloudy..... BRING ON THE CLOUDS!!! clouds = even lighting and no sunburns!!! 
I am sad though as they wouldn't credential a lot of people I love shooting with. They are really coming down on photographers hard this year... I wonder if the new track photographers have anything to do with that.....?

Anyway....It's going to be a busy weekend, but I look forward to it...just wish I had the new camera in hand! Fingers crossed on getting it ASAP. I don't think I've ever been so nervous about spending so much $$ on a camera before LOL


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

I just LOVE all of your photos. When I was young I wanted to be a jockey...from 7-16 years of age that was ALL I talked about. Then I got into hunter jumping...and then I had a baby...LOL 3 babies later that ended the jockey dream for sure. :laugh: but hey it just wasn't meant to be. Still LOVE to see the pictures though and watching the races is great!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much  I think when you become a jockey don't you have to stop eating when you are like....10 years old? LOL just kidding! At least that's what I tell my son anyway  It can be a very hard, demanding life, not to mention dangerous.... Those guys n' gals get injured and come right back the minute their doctor allows them to return.

Yesterday was the start of the race meet. A beautiful, very warm day and there was some humidity that made it feel a bit sticky!

There was a Grade 3 race for $100,000 at the end of the day on grass <Grade 1 is the highest ranking race..>. I ALMOST missed the winner! AHH! EVERYONE thought the #7 horse had it, he was well away from the others, then suddenly another horse came up to him and then a horse nobody thought could get up there just nipped him at the wire! It was exciting, but not from a photographers standpoint...LOL I have 2 'semi okay' pictures....2! I have lots of pics of the second place finisher though!

A horse I really liked as a yearling and whom I tried to follow won yesterday, he was an expensive yearling, VERY expensive breeding. Most yearlings from his dam sell for around $1,000,000. 
And then there was another horse named Homerun Berti. I've seen him run here before, but he finally got a NICE win! I used to take care of his mama when she retired from racing. In fact, I used to take care of a lot of the owners horses when I worked with mares and foals. His horses all have "Bert, Bertie, Berti" in their name since his last name is Bertram. It was fun seeing them so excited, they really didn't think they'd get the win. The owner came out on the track and helped walk the horse into the winners circle...that's the kind of owners I love....who don't care about getting their shoes dirty, they just love their horses!

Today is a BIG day - $400,000 Ashland stakes for 3 year old fillies. This is one of the last few prep races for fillies who want to get into the Kentucky Oaks. 
Right now... it's looking like it will be a rainy, stormy afternoon with a big blotch on the radar moving down from Indiana....I LOVE clouds at our track, but not looking forward to rain. Clouds mean I can shoot on the inside or outside....for big races it is preferred to shoot from the inside <facing the grandstand>, but I don't have a stepstool and the tiny photographers stand tends to get full with higher senority publications....Otherwise you stand on a stool <I am short LOL>, on the turf course as you are not allowed to stand next to the rail on that side of the track...

Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble. I will try to post some pics at some point


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