Greyhound Racing : Catch them as they pass!

What is, was, that? . . . Greyhounds!

I attended my first greyhound race at Southland Park in West Memphis, Arkansas as a side trip during the recent NATJA conference.

Prior to attending the races my first hand knowledge of Greyhounds was limited to my neighbors "rescued" Greyhounds that are basically very sweet couch potatoes despite their ability to hit speeds of 45 mph.

This evening I learned as much about photographing greyhound races as I did about the actual races. Thank you Michael DeFreitas!

Actually, from the picture above you would think I didn't learn a thing, but Michael patiently stood by the rail with me for at least two hours as we took pictures of greyhounds from various angles; at various speeds and camera settings. This was new to Michael as well but his years of experience paid off as he very quickly found settings that produced some good photos from what we could see on the camera monitor - Southland take note; you might want to buy a few.

Just to make sure you know that I know; this picture is terrible; not in focus enough; dogs running the wrong way and much more but it was a "learning" experience and those dogs do move!

I never quite caught on but I did listen and learn and realized that Michael has a talent and patience to teach as well as to take pictures. He has agreed to come to Kitsap later in the year and do a photo field class - say tuned - space is filling up and we haven't even set a date!

Check out Michael's site: http://iwritetravel.com/ - he may post some of the greyhound pictures eventually.