What's in a picture?

At first glance - not a lot. Focus wasn't bad, exposure average, framing sucked. This shot would've made the first cut into the waste bin under normal circumstances. It was at the end of the Pro Crit in Harrisonburg. Many of the excited fans/photogs were sliding into my line of sight so I was shooting while shuffling into the road at the end of the race. All the while holding the shutter down and trying to be steady with a 4 pound lense from 60 meters away.

I find it hard to really watch the races while shooting. Hard to follow who's in the lead, who's making the moves, what tactics are going on, all while you're peering through the tiny viewfinder ciphering f-stops and shutterspeeds, figuring depth of field and pondering backlight remedies. I guess that's why I enjoy going through the pics later. Like reliving the race again, this time while paying attention.

As the dust cleared from Kayle Legrande's national championship caliber sprint, there was plenty of mumbling and a buzz in the crowd. He was interviewed on stage in his tatooed glory, and certainly looked and acted like the guy who had won the race. Later word came of several protests about his choice (or lack thereof) of line. The protests were upheld and he was relegated to the back of the field. Lagrande's Team Manager, who looked suspiciously like Pierce Brosnan, was actually 9 time Tour DAY France finisher Frankie Andreau. Frankie (should I say Mr. Andreau? .......... nah) did what any good TM should do and filed a protest. The refs involved were fairly certain as to what they saw, but were looking for some photo evidence to stand behind. I played back my shots ...... lo and behold, I had the goods.

Into the Officials motorhome we went, to load the photos onto something more viewable. After fiddling around with some USB cables and a few computers, we brought them up. Frankie was called in, and after some obligatory hemming and hawing, said he was OK with the decision.

So when in doubt, keep shooting. Even bad pictures tell the truth.

Slideshow here enable captions

Gallery here

More ToV photos will go up by the weekend.

Norfolk Classic this Sunday.

JB