2019 STANDARDBRED CANADA CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENT

From Thoroughbreds to Standardbreds we go, Standardbred Canada have been very busy finalizing their production of their 2019 Calendar, which will be available for order in the first week of December. If you would like a calendar, please contact Hailey Saunders at hsaunders@standardbredcanada.ca

Back in April of this year, I made my very first trip to a race track, which was at Century Downs in Balzac AB, and saw this moment that I just had to capture in the first hour being there, while the crew were out on the track.

This picture will be displayed in the calendar for the month of February, as well used as Standardbred Canada’s photo of the month for February. A small featured piece will also be written on me to be shared.

A big thank you to Chelsea Chase for having me out that day. If it wasn’t for Chelsea, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to capture this special moment inside the barns that summarizes the Harness Racing world very well showing the passion, dedication and hard work that all the racers put in, day in and day out with their horses.

There will be an official announcement coming in the next week or two from Standardbred Canada. Stay tuned.

2018 BREEDERS' CUP AT CHURCHILL DOWNS

My experience at this years Breeders' Cup is one that I will never forget. It was one hell of a ride but with every learning experience always comes disappointment - this is how we learn. There are some things that I wish I had done differently. I didn't see it leading up to the event, as I am guessing I was just too full of excitement just to be there and to take it all in. Unfortunately lack of sleep and fatigue were factors. I was just too excited and had too much on my mind to get a proper night's sleep, so I lived off of caffeine for a few days, a lot of it but we all know that it eventually wears off.

It wasn't until my plane heading back home when all the dots connected on how exactly I could have gone about certain things much differently and effectively. It was not a great feeling, in fact it was a downright rotten feeling heading back home, knowing that I let myself down on many fore fronts but the trip in it's entirety was an enormous and incredibly valuable learning experience for me. First time ever being at an event of this magnitude and just the second time photographing Thoroughbred horse racing.

Thanks again to Sarah MacHarg for giving me the opportunity and taking me to the back side. You have taught me many valuable things about the racing world in my four days in Kentucky.

Thank you to Hazel Bennett for trying her darn hardest, offering to get me in her suite up in the front, unfortunately we ran out of time. Throughout the event, I was in touch with a few friends who were also in attendance watching from the stands and unfortunately due to time constraints we were unable to meet up - there is always next time.

I made a bunch of new friends while at the racetrack doing my thing - spectators, Breeders' Cup staff and grooms - It was a pleasure meeting and chatting with all of you, hopefully we can re-connect sometime in the future. Moving forward, as the disappointment sinks in, I know exactly what I have my eyes set on and I have a full year to work towards accomplishing it. What I learned from this experience will be carried over to the future.

Click HERE to view all the photos.

AIDAN O'BRIEN ENTRANCE

To start the first day of the Breeders' Cup yesterday, I was able to catch Aidan O'Brien coming onto the track with his 17 horses, 17 riders and 17 sets of tack that he all brought over from Europe.

You just never see this. :)

PHOTOS FROM THE BREEDERS' CUP

Just a FYI (since many of you are anticipating my photos from it), if you are hoping for or expecting my pictures from the Breeders' Cup in identical fashion that we all see all over media, publications and TV, you will be sorely disapointed because it's not going to happen.

As much as I would love to get those kind of shots, having the spectators from the stands in the back drop (like you've seen in my Millarville Race photos), a clear view to the gates when placed on the front side, I just don't have access to that side of the track.

So as a result, you will NOT see any pictures from the Sprint, the turf races, the full out sprints to the finish, as well as the celebrations. The sprint right out of the gate and the celebrations are easily my favorite parts of horse racing.

I did spend some time at the front today at the paddock. It's very packed but it was still a wonderful experience.

Weather is suppose to be sunnier tomorrow so I am hoping to spend more time in the backside barns. The backside is more restricted and more difficult to have access to than the front side.

I just took a quick snap with my phone after the final race today.

WARM UP AT CHURCHILL DOWNS

We headed to Churchill Downs at 4:30am this morning for warm up day. It rained all morning and afternoon in Louisville, eventually it turned into a downpour but it's better to get the rain out of the way on warm up day than on the race days. 

It got quite muddy but because we arrived at the backside when it was still pitch black out, I wanted to take advantage of the spectacular lighting on the track with the blowing rain. Super excited to day one of the races tomorrow. It will be long day but I can't wait to capture more in the pitch black darkness, it creates for stunning shadow and highlight separation.

Rider is Nick Bush from Lexington, Kentucky.

ON MY WAY TO LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY

This was quite the view, wish I could have used my real camera. :) With a 3 hour overlay here in Chicago, perhaps I should be taking this time to rest since I will not be getting very much of it over the next few days and I am certain that I will be running off nothing but pure adrenaline, which is probably a good thing since I am not a coffee drinker.

Flashback to July at Fleetwood Farms Quarter Horses with Ryan Smith and Brandy Lynn, and those super early starts to the day, this trip to the Breeders' Cup will perhaps take the cake since I have some upcoming 3:30am starts.

Hundreds, if not thousands of other photographers, travel to places like the Churchill Downs Race track, but one extremely valuable lesson that I learned many years ago from a well known travel Landscape photographer, was to ask yourself - To what lengths are you willing to go to, to not only get you the shots that you want but the ones that will make you stand out from the crowd?

I won't give too much away what I have on my shot list, but if all goes well then there will be a visible resemblance from my trip out to Fleetwood Farms Quarter Horses back in July.

Afterall, opportunities like this do not come all the time, so I need to take full advantage of it and jump on each and every photographic moment that presents itself to me over the next 3 days.

MY FIRST YEAR IS NOW COMPLETE!

Sorry for the long post, I know this is a bit long but I am just excited! :)Today marks my 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY since officially launching my Equestrian career last October 2017!

Things weren't always lovely as roses leading up to my decision to do this professionally. If it wasn't for a few great friends of mine who had a serious chat with me and told me that I should consider doing this as a career, I most likely wouldn't have started when I did. I sat on the idea for a few months and it was during this beautiful Fall evening, sitting at the lake behind my house with a friend of mine, having this exact same discussion, that it hit me that I can do this as a profession.

Regardless of the number of people who told me to wait a few years, get my experience first, then start my business - so that I don't crash and burn. Did it ever cross my mind to hold off? When my heart told me that I could do this, absolutely not! I knew what was ahead and that I had to put some SERIOUS, MAJOR time into getting myself to where I needed to be but I was willing to do whatever it took. I hustled and worked around the clock to put together the building blocks of my business.

Was it risky diving right in the way that I did with zero experience? Heck ya! But I am one who loves to take risks in life because life would be awfully boring if we never took risks. I wouldn't have taken this risk if I didn't believe in myself.

So then I started writing my business plan, which nearly took a month to complete, as some decisions were incredibly difficult to make. I didn't just come to my decisions overnight, I collaborated with friends and others in the Equestrian industry across many disciplines and backgrounds from all across North America to get their insight, since diving into the Equestrian world as a photographer and videographer was all new to me.

Then I moved on to my website, which was a whole other animal to take on altogether.

I had people tell me that I should only focus on one, either Western or English but not both. I was never convinced of this because I knew that it was just the matter of time before I drew interest from the other side. The market in Alberta is too even when you look at the Western audience to the English audience.

Video in the Equestrian world? Serious? What? Why? Who's going to want that? I was almost tempted to leave it out but I went with my gut and decided to keep it intact and I am sure glad that I did. Is there a market for Equine Videography? Absolutely there is, I wouldn't be offering it if I didn't believe there was one. It's just been a little forgotten and it needs to be re-discovered. :) Photography is wonderful, same goes for Videography but they both lack aspects that the other has. So when you put the two together, you have something truly magical.

I love film making, it's an entirely different beast than photography and it requires a completely different skill set. Though photography and videography share many of the core technical aspects, the approach is so different that it's a whole other world altogether.

Thank you for everyone's support, it means the world to me. All the people that I've met and had the opportunity to work with in my first year has been simply wonderful. All the feedback, insight, tips, advice, discussions, debates that I have received (and still do get) is all greatly GREATLY appreciated and I never take any of it for granted. You are all a HUGE factor in determining how my first year progressed.

You get better when you learn from your mistakes. The mistakes that I made in my first year, I will not be making in the second year and so on. Make adjustments, adapt to changes and learn from your experiences.

I can't express in words just how much I am looking forward to my second year in what I consider as me, just "getting started."

In the month of December, I have some great posts coming up, flashing back through the entire year of 2018 such as:

"My best action shot of 2018" 
"My favorite discipline to photograph"
"My toughest challenge of 2018 that I've had to work through"
"Top 5 assignments of 2018 that almost happened" (this is one that you won't want to miss!).