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On The Road
"The 2006 Kentucky Derby"

June, 2006


  Hi and welcome to this edition of On The Road. One of my favorite events of the year is the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Derby Week is a photographer's dream that offers opportunities for incredible images. Each day tends to build up great anticipation in horse racing fans and the media that culminates on Saturday with the running of the grand daddy of them all, The Kentucky Derby. Here are some images that I captured on Derby Day.

Image #1 The Trophy ... The Kentucky Derby Trophy is on display in the paddock area of Churchill Downs. It is kept in a glass case and protected by guards while nearby fans place their bets as the horses and jockeys proceed through a tunnel under the grandstands to the track. Nikon D200, ISO 200, 1/200 at f4, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom Lens, WB 6700K, Lexar 4G Flash Card. It is small compared to the Stanley Cup but just as precious.
  Image #2 Red Dress and Derby Hat ... Perfect weather brought out the ladies and their Derby Hats. I was shooting the first race of the day from the Sky Terrace when I noticed this young lady walking out from the wagering windows underneath the grandstands. The horses where just approaching the start gate so I had some time to take an image of this stylish Derby fan. Nikon D200, ISO 200, 1/500 at f10, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom Lens, WB 7000K, Lexar 4G Flash Card.
Image #3 Breaking Away ... was the title the magazine gave this picture that ran as a double page spread. This picture was captured with a remote Nikon D2X camera located above and slightly outside gate #1. I positioned myself on the opposite side of the track about 12 feet up track from the start gate. I used a Pocket Wizard Transceiver set in the transmit mode on the hot shoe of my hand held Nikon D2X camera to trigger the remote which had a Pocket Wizard Transceiver set in the receive mode. When I pressed the shutter of my hand held D2X I was able to capture images of the start of the Kentucky Derby from both my hand held camera (Nikon D2X with High Speed Crop Mode and Nikon 17-55mm Lens) and from the remote camera position at the same time. The image with the hand held camera showed Barbaro, the eventual winner, in the middle of the pack and barely visible, while the remote image was a great opener for the magazine and one of my all time favorites. Nikon D2X, ISO 320, Aperture Priority with -0.3 EV (which gave me a 1/2500 at f4 exposure ), Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye Lens, WB 6300K, Pocket Wizard Transceivers, Bogan Magic Arm, Bogan Super Clamp and Safety Cable, Lexar 4G Flash Card. I placed the Bogan Magic Arm in place at 8:30am that morning so I would have my remote position secured for the Derby later that day. I then mounted the camera to the Bogan Magic Arm during the 45 minute gate set up prior to the Derby itself.
Image #4 Barbaro Makes His Move ... A few seconds after the start the gates are pulled away from the top of the stretch. I sent my assistant to retrieve the remote camera while I relocated myself about 30 yards up the front stretch from my original position. This location gave me the perfect view of the entire field of horses coming around turn four. It was at this point that Barbaro made his move and broke away from the pack. Nikon D200, ISO 400, 1/1250 at f4.5, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 6700K, Lexar 4G Flash Card. The original framing of this image was a horizontal that showed the entire field of horses but thanks to the D200 file size and image quality the magazine published a vertically cropped portion of the horizontal as a beautiful full page vertical.
Image #5 Heading For The Finish ... Jockey Edgar Prado brings Barbaro home to win the 132nd Kentucky Derby. I could see that Barbaro was pulling away quickly so I kept focused on him as he passed by on his way to the finish. Nikon D200, ISO 400, 1/1250 at f4.5, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 6700K, Lexar 4G Flash Card.
Image #6 Victory ... As soon as the horses passed me I walked up the track towards the finish area. I knew that Craig, the outrider in the red coat, would lead Barbaro back towards me for a victory celebration in front of the grandstands. This became a rather tricky one shot moment because Churchill Downs had instructed photographers to give a wide birth for the horse and I needed to keep my distance and stay clear of the horse. Nikon D200, ISO 400, 1/640 at f4.5, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 6700K, Lexar 4G Flash Card.
Image #7 Winner's Circle ... Some of the photographers have special access to the winners circle. I do not have this special access but I managed to make a nice image of the owners, trainer and jockey from a location outside the track rail. Some photographers outside the track rail gave up hope of capturing an image because the special access photographers were blocking the view, but I stayed with it and when the crowd parted for a split second I saw all four faces and took a picture. The magazine ran it as a half page. Nikon D200, ISO 320, 1/500 at f5.6, Nikon 200-400mm G VR lens with TC14E 1.4 Teleconverter, WB 6700K, Lexar 4G Flash Card.

  Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this month's look at the 2006 Kentucky Derby. This event offers so much for the photographer that I have continued the Kentucky Derby coverage with some additional images and information in the June Workshop at the Ranch.

See you next time On The Road .................... Adios. Dave


   September, 2008 (click here)   
Olympians, Weather and Workshops

   August, 2008 (click here)   
Camp Life

   July, 2008 (click here)   
Lightpainting the Southwest

   June, 2008   
The Kentucky Derby

   May, 2008 (click here)   
A Southwest Tour

   April, 2008 (click here)   
The Endless Winter

   March, 2008 (click here)   
PMA Show in Las Vegas!

   February, 2008 (click here)   
At the Ballet

   January, 2008 (click here)   
One Week of Work



    December, 2006 (click here)    

People of Willoq, Peru


    November, 2006 (click here)    

Lexington, Kentucky TREK


    October, 2006 (click here)    

Training for the Mr USA Title


   September, 2006 (click here)   

"The International Golf Tournament"


   August, 2006 (click here)   

"Tour of Champions Documentary"


   July, 2006 (click here)   

"Northern California, the FBI and Clint Eastwood ..."


   June, 2006 (click here)   

"The 2006 Kentucky Derby"


   May, 2006 (click here)   

"Off the Road Picture Sales"


   April, 2006 (click here)   

Ladies Olympic Figure Skating


   March, 2006 (click here)   

Torino Italy and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games


   February, 2006   (click here)     

"Hey Dave, are you going to the Winter Olympics in Torino and What Equipment Do You Take?"


   January, 2006 (click here)   

The Holiday Tea with Tchaikovsky
presented by Colorado's Classical Youth Ballet


   December, 2005 (click here)   

Landscapes at Pebble Beach:
a look back at 2005


   November, 2005 (click here)   

Lightpainting Landscapes
NFL Football


   October, 2005 (click here)   

3 Day Photography Workshop
Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina


   September, 2005 (click here)   

Michelle Kwan


   August, 2005 (click here)   

International Gymnastics Camp


   July, 2005 (click here)   

the Men's US Open Golf Championships


   June, 2005 (click here)   

The Kentucky Derby


   May, 2005 (click here)   

Nevada Photojournalism Day


   April, 2005 (click here)   

John Bolin's "The Thorn"


    March, 2005 (click here)    

Indoor Track and Field

UC Irvine's Paul Spittle and

the Sports Shooter Academy
with Nikon's new DX2


    February, 2005 (click here)    

Broncos Football:
Denver vs Indianapolis

the US Figure Skating Nationals
Portland, Oregon

College Basketball:
Colorado State vs Air Force


    January, 2005 (click here)   

Broncos Football:
Broncos VS. Dolphins

Assignment work:
Wrestling


   December, 2004 (click here)   

A look back at 2004


   November, 2004 (click here)   

Rich Clarkson's Photography at the Summit Workshop &
Moose Peterson's Digital Landscape Workshop Series


    October, 2004 (click here)   

Whitewater Kayaking
Gymnastics and more


   September, 2004 (click here)   

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games
Athens, Greece


   August, 2004 (click here)   

A look back at some wonderful Olympic moments


   July, 2004 (click here)   

USAFA Graduation flyover

US Olympic Training Center - Swimming and Gymnastics


   June, 2004 (click here)   

Last Month the Masters, this month The Kentucky Derby......I love my job


   May, 2004 (click here)   

Masters at Augusta National


   April, 2004 (click here)   

The American Cup Gymnastics

NIKON COLLEGE WORKSHOP


   March, 2004 (click here)   

Indoor Track and Field

 Women's Freestyle Wresting

Rhythmic Gymnastics Nationals

The Glass Flower Ceiling at the Belagio Hotel in Las Vegas


   February, 2004 (click here)   

College Basketball

Women's Waterpolo

Olympic swimmers on their way to Athens


   January, 2004 (click here)   

NFL Football

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Finals

A look back at The Greenbay Professionals


   December, 2003   

Monday Night Football the Sports Shooter Workshop and Luau in LA


   November, 2003   

Photography at the Summit workshop


   October, 2003   

Portraits to workshops to stock image sales


   September, 2003   

Lightpainting in Banf

The World Gymnastics Championships


   August, 2003   

International Gymnastics Camp


   July, 2003   

Thunderbirds

Gymnastics

The Sports Photography Workshop with Rich Clarkson

Velodrome Cycling, More


  June, 2003  

The 129th running of the Kentucky Derby

White water kayakers

The Champions on Ice tour


   May, 2003 (click here)  

PBR Rodeo

Chris Shivers and Little Yellow Jacket ride for $1 Million


   April, 2003 (click here)   

Nikon's featured speaker at PMA in Las Vegas

American Cup Gymnastics

USAFA Women's Basketball

USAFA Swimming

USAFA Boxing

NCAA Fencing Championships


    March, 2003 (click here)    

USOC's Titan Games


   February, 2003 (click here)   

Air Force Basketball

Pro Football Pre-Superball Stock Sales

Swimmers train at the Swim Flume at the USOC

Much more!


    January, 2003 (click here)    

Diving at the Air Force Academy

Denver Broncos VS. The Arizona Cardinals

Olympic Hopefuls Lenny Krayzelberg and Tom Molchow practice at the USOC


 

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