The Eclipse for photography

[Merlinsky]

I'm more steamed about the Joe Drape award. He said something about it not being his job to promote horse racing. Nobody said it had to come out in favor of anything, he simply needs to do the most thorough research possible and I do believe that is his job.

As far as photography, just catch a jockey or a horse in midair in an unusual position and they could just mail you the award right then and there. It's the same every year isn't it? Sure seems like it unless I just block out the ones that aren't that way.

[chucklestheclown]

Where is Vic on this? And I thought only nominees were already out and the awards next week.

[docicu3]

Does anyone have the other nominated photos for this?

[PatCummings]

The measuring stick for Eclipse media awards is a complete farce.

This year's photo was a VERY good shot. The typical shot of a horse with rider or two simply isn't that engaging - they are taken every day with very little variety, big race or not. A photographer really needs to have their proverbial ducks in a row to get a shot like the one that won this year, same for the Leparoux incident a few years back.

I still think my favorite Eclipse pic was of Stephen's Angel acting up on the Preakness undercard when she hovered above the track, off all four legs. Cindy Dulay took that shot spur of the moment. http://horseracing.about.com/od/late.../aa010304a.htm

There was one several years back of an incredible close-up of a horse head mid-race with dirt flying. That picture took incredible skill, and of course, some luck.

Consider that last year's picture was a MESS. Dettori dismount from Donativum, with the name of the race incorrectly spelled in the background, and practically the SAME picture having won an Eclipse a decade before. Now THAT was a travesty. The act of the dismount was completely expected, everyone took it, everyone knew it was coming, was completely UNSPONTANEOUS, and how you could judge that particular shot as better than any of the 50 other photogs who took is beyond me. Oh yeah, and the whole "we've done this before" thing wasn't considered, cause the committee probably never knew it.

The unusual almost HAS to reign in the photography category.

As for Drape's jury selecting his piece, according to the release from Bloodhorse, the panel of judges for the "Features/Enterprise Writing category was comprised of Rob Longley of the Toronto Star, Fred Klein, former columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and Neil Milbert, former horse racing writer for the Chicago Tribune."

But after all, considering some of the people who have Eclipse ballots, and their general inability to even comprehend past performances, is ANY of this surprising?

[chucklestheclown]

Originally Posted by PatCummings

The measuring stick for Eclipse media awards is a complete farce.

This year's photo was a VERY good shot. The typical shot of a horse with rider or two simply isn't that engaging - they are taken every day with very little variety, big race or not. A photographer really needs to have their proverbial ducks in a row to get a shot like the one that won this year, same for the Leparoux incident a few years back.

I still think my favorite Eclipse pic was of Stephen's Angel acting up on the Preakness undercard when she hovered above the track, off all four legs. Cindy Dulay took that shot spur of the moment. http://horseracing.about.com/od/late.../aa010304a.htm

There was one several years back of an incredible close-up of a horse head mid-race with dirt flying. That picture took incredible skill, and of course, some luck.

Consider that last year's picture was a MESS. Dettori dismount from Donativum, with the name of the race incorrectly spelled in the background, and practically the SAME picture having won an Eclipse a decade before. Now THAT was a travesty. The act of the dismount was completely expected, everyone took it, everyone knew it was coming, was completely UNSPONTANEOUS, and how you could judge that particular shot as better than any of the 50 other photogs who took is beyond me. Oh yeah, and the whole "we've done this before" thing wasn't considered, cause the committee probably never knew it.

The unusual almost HAS to reign in the photography category.

As for Drape's jury selecting his piece, according to the release from Bloodhorse, the panel of judges for the "Features/Enterprise Writing category was comprised of Rob Longley of the Toronto Star, Fred Klein, former columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and Neil Milbert, former horse racing writer for the Chicago Tribune."

But after all, considering some of the people who have Eclipse ballots, and their general inability to even comprehend past performances, is ANY of this surprising?

OK, that is it. Milbert may know something about racing, but the Tribune only let him rewrite what the AP posted on Yahoo.

[gamblin4ever]

QUOTE=PatCummings]The measuring stick for Eclipse media awards is a complete farce.

This year's photo was a VERY good shot. The typical shot of a horse with rider or two simply isn't that engaging - they are taken every day with very little variety, big race or not. A photographer really needs to have their proverbial ducks in a row to get a shot like the one that won this year, same for the Leparoux incident a few years back.

I still think my favorite Eclipse pic was of Stephen's Angel acting up on the Preakness undercard when she hovered above the track, off all four legs. Cindy Dulay took that shot spur of the moment. http://horseracing.about.com/od/late.../aa010304a.htm

There was one several years back of an incredible close-up of a horse head mid-race with dirt flying. That picture took incredible skill, and of course, some luck.

Consider that last year's picture was a MESS. Dettori dismount from Donativum, with the name of the race incorrectly spelled in the background, and practically the SAME picture having won an Eclipse a decade before. Now THAT was a travesty. The act of the dismount was completely expected, everyone took it, everyone knew it was coming, was completely UNSPONTANEOUS, and how you could judge that particular shot as better than any of the 50 other photogs who took is beyond me. Oh yeah, and the whole "we've done this before" thing wasn't considered, cause the committee probably never knew it.

The unusual almost HAS to reign in the photography category.

As for Drape's jury selecting his piece, according to the release from Bloodhorse, the panel of judges for the "Features/Enterprise Writing category was comprised of Rob Longley of the Toronto Star, Fred Klein, former columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and Neil Milbert, former horse racing writer for the Chicago Tribune."

But after all, considering some of the people who have Eclipse ballots, and their general inability to even comprehend past performances, is ANY of this surprising?[/quote]


I agree with you on the picture, it takes a keen eye and quick reflex to get a picture like this one. The pic itself represents something bad, but not many photographers are ready for a shot when this happens. He deserves the award IMO.

[chucklestheclown]

The picture doesn't represent anything bad. The article says "the horse" misjudged the jump and was fine afterwords.

[gamblin4ever]

Originally Posted by chucklestheclown

The picture doesn't represent anything bad. The article says "the horse" misjudged the jump and was fine afterwords.

I was meaning "bad" as jockey falling off of the horse. sorry for not explaing better.

[saratoga guy]

Originally Posted by PatCummings

Consider that last year's picture was a MESS. Dettori dismount from Donativum, with the name of the race incorrectly spelled in the background, and practically the SAME picture having won an Eclipse a decade before.

Pop on over to www.equidaily.com [frontpage] for a comparison of this year's winner and the winner of -- not a decade ago, but -- just two years back...

[Danzig]

i think they could have found something better. expecting a horse to misjudge a jump isn't really something out of the ordinary considering how often it happens in those races.

[SOREHOOF]

It's pretty easy to take a video and pull 1 frame out of it for a photo. I'm not saying that was what was done, I'm just saying it's easy to do. I actually liked the photo of Leparoux almost going over the handlebars.

[Linny]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i think they could have found something better. expecting a horse to misjudge a jump isn't really something out of the ordinary considering how often it happens in those races.

If a photog sets up at a given jump on a 'chase course and waits long enough, he'll get a "wipe out" shot. It's like the hundred photogs in the BC winners circle waiting for Dettori to leap. My blind aunt could get that shot!

I agree with Pat about Cindy's shot from a few years ago. Maggie Kimmitt is also great at getting cool action shots and of course Barbara Livingston is always in the right spot for an action shot or great paddock shot.

Sarah Andrew does alot of cool shots, often with neat lighting effects etc and I have seen some shots taken by NYer Deb Kral that are spectacular. Some of Tod Marks' stuff in the Saratoga Special and Steeplechase Times are fabulous.

I'd much prefer any of that to the standard fare, especially is the "standard" stuff is a crash.

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by saratoga guy

Pop on over to www.equidaily.com [frontpage] for a comparison of this year's winner and the winner of -- not a decade ago, but -- just two years back...

Didn't even realize that...go freakin figure.

At the same time, I still don't think it is as bad as the Dettori flyer dismount.

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by PatCummings

The typical shot of a horse with rider or two simply isn't that engaging - they are taken every day with very little variety, big race or not. surprising?

I respectfully disagree and would argue that that's precisely what separates a good photographer from a great one. It's like the photos with gimmicks have some unfair advantage.

... and again I have to disagree... I hated that shot of Stephen's Angel. It took zero talent... anyone could have taken it. It said nothing, it provoked nothing. It was emotionless.

A moody shot of an early morning workout (I've seen tons of these, many of them very very good), somethng like this...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alydar_...n/photostream/

(and for anyone who would argue I'm being a hypocrite and it is gimmicky well it's exciting anyway!)... a huge upset shot (Revidere showed me his of Interpatation beating Gio Ponti... that kinda thing), even the usual shots of a jock with an arm up in the air crossing the finish... some of them are lovely, powerful, amazing. There can be so much emotion in something that happens every day, over and over, race after race and track after track. It's never the same though, is it? The light is different, different horses and riders, backgroundss, weather... some of these every day shots are stunning.

There's beauty every damned day in this sport that we love. Excitement, intensity, amazing things... horses and jockeys who - love them or hate them - have the only job in the world where an ambulance follows them all day and there wasn't a better shot???. Exurbance, collective joy, victory, defeat, crowds, angle after angle of facial expressions and the muscles these creatures have, nostrils and tails, silks and movement and this is the best of the year?

It's sad because the photo of the year? I think it's something we should all be proud of. I think it represents us... or it could.

A 5 year old with a throwaway camera (if they still make those) could have taken this picture.

I'm disgusted.

[Echo Farm]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is that in order to be eligible for an Eclipse Award, the photo has to have been published during the year.

I'm sure there are hundreds of more interesting and worthy photos, but they didn't appear in a publication.

Print submissions (news/commentary writing, feature/enterprise writing and photography) must have been published in a paid-circulation publication OR on the Internet at a web site that is a same-name affiliate of a paid-circulation publication or recognized broadcast news organization (e.g., The Blood-Horse Interactive, the Boston Globe Online, MSNBC).

Photographers must submit via email in jpeg format one image of each photo, with NO identifying marks (e.g., photographer’s name). Photos must be accompanied by a letter from the entrant. The letter must include the name of the publication and date that the photograph appeared. The submission must be accompanied by a single "screen print" of the published photo showing date, publication title and photographer’s name. "Tearsheets" for Internet-based submissions will consist of a "screen print" of the document, which must be accompanied by a letter from the editor or equivalent senior official of the Web site, attesting that the photograph is the work of the author who submitted it and that it appeared on the Web site on the date(s) in question, in connection with a news-related story.

Please note that only the original photo will be accepted. Photographs which include color enhancement, "photo shopping" or alteration of the image, will not be allowed in the competition.

http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=pr&id=42702

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by Echo Farm

One thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is that in order to be eligible for an Eclipse Award, the photo has to have been published during the year.

I'm sure there are hundreds of more interesting and worthy photos, but they didn't appear in a publication.

I'd love to see what else was submitted... not just the honorable mention shots but what else was considered.

Originally Posted by chucklestheclown

Where is Vic on this? And I thought only nominees were already out and the awards next week.

I think it's reprehensible. The fact that the horse was unhurt means nothing. Photos, TV, radio, print and are designed to illicit a response. This picture did for me. Saddness. All the glory we have out there to rejoice in and we're subjected to seeing these two brave athletes in a terror filled, vulnerable moment.

Just terrible.

[DaTruth]

One of my favorite equine photos is of the stretch drive in the 1997 Preakness. Free House has his eyes turned toward Silver Charm to his outside, and Free House looks enraged that Silver Charm is beating him. I believe the photo appeared on the cover of Blood Horse.