Say Cheese

I was sceptical at first.  I mean, what can we shoot at a racetrack.  The same old horses running one race after another.  Well, let’s keep an open mind.

Anne and Jerry met me in our parking lot at around 6:30 Friday morning.  We piled into Anne’s car and headed out to Campbellville.  The drive was easy.  I was surprised, given it was a workday.  Oh there was traffic but nothing to panic about. 

We got to Campbellville by 7:13.  Wow, way too early.  We’re supposed to meet them at the racetrack at 8AM.  No problem.  We found a great restaurant called Mohawk Inn or something.  It was connected to a Motel.  They were open.  The place was wonderful.  Very country with lots of wood panelling.  It looked so cozy.  We had coffee.  Then we headed to the Racetrack.

Our people from the club were there and after we got our security passses, we were given a tour of the place by a very nice young man.  We were not allowed to use flash as the horses get very skittish.  No problem. 

Then we started shooting.  I thought “OK, this is better than sitting in front of the computer doing data entry.”  We went inside the paddock.  I took a couple of shots.  Most of the shots were shit anyway but I got one good one, I think.  Then I went outside to talk to the staff.  One of the girls suggested I take a ride in the start car.  I went over and asked if I could go along.  The driver said sure so in I went.  The other man sat on a structure in the back seat.  They were great guys and had been doing that for over 25 years.  Now that’s a great job to have.

What a thrill!  I was up close and personal with the racing horses as they had to run behind the gate that was controlled by the folks in the car.  When they dropped me off after going around for a four races, I was met by almost a cheering crowd.  Well, my fellow club members were impressed. 

We shot some more and then it was time to pack up and go.  But before we did, we wanted to take a group shot.  Well, here you have 10 photographers, most with incredibly expensive equipment - trying to set up a tripod and timer so we could all be in the picture.  What a riot.  I must have taken the better part of 15 minutes before we finally got it organized.

We then all went back to the Mohawk Restaurant for lunch and then got on our way.  A beautiful time was had by all.  I got home around 2PM