2009 Bayview Mackinac Race-3

Action near the starting line at the Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac sailboat race. This boat was tacking toward the line and the crew is busy on deck. I shot from the marked spectator area but many boats tacked back and forth right past us. Great fun to be so close to the action.

I took a couple photos of this boat shortly before this shot and I was not zoomed in so tightly. They are nice shots because the boat was approaching dead on, but there were other spectator boats in the background that cluttered the image.

2009 Bayview Mackinac Race-2

The sailboat DOLPHIN waiting its turn near the start of the Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race. This boat is one of the larger ones in the race. We were in a 20 ft. pleasure boat in the designated spectator area. The sailboats tacked in and out of this area while waiting for their divisions to start. Most of the boats were under sail but this is the only time I was close enough to DOLPHIN to get a shot and she was still under power.

2009 Bayview Mackinac Race

This is the start of the 2009 Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Sailboat Race. One of the classes has just left the starting line and the sailboats are flying the spinnakers as they head into Lake Huron. The start was about 5 miles into the lake from Port Huron and the St. Clair River. The boats finish at Mackinac Island at the upper end of Lake Huron. I was fortunate to get a ride on a small pleasure boat and take photographs from the area near the start.

Twin whitetail deer fawns.

Here is another photograph of the fawns I recently spent a morning with, this one with both of them in the same image. One of my goals was to get a photo of the twins interacting with each other so I was pretty excited to get this.

This section of woods is only slightly open at ground level and there was a blowdown that prevented me from getting the camera lower. I prefer more of an eye-level angle. And the ever-present thick, overhead canopy made for deep shade punctuated by little spots of sunlight.

Whitetail deer fawn in a sunbeam.

This photo is of the same whitetail deer fawn as in the previous post. I saw it bed down in thick woods and spent the next hour getting closer without spooking it. The overhead canopy blocked most of the sunlight so I didn't think I would get a usable image. Then a narrow sunbeam popped through the trees and illuminated the fawn. What luck!

Whitetail deer fawn

This whitetail deer fawn was photographed last week at the edge of deep woods. The fawn and its twin had been feeding inside the woods and I shadowed their movements. But the overhead canopy was so dense that there wasn't enough light for good photos. As they slowly headed in the direction of a meadow I made a circle to get ahead of them. I was ready when this fawn stepped into the open.

The dark woods helps pop the deer's head and body out of the background. The natural break in the greenery helps frame the subject. I got pretty lucky here; we can't script the movements of the deer.

No enhancement or cropping of the original shot other than minimal processing of the raw file.

Mark Mason's boat PALM BEACH DAYS-2

Another shot of the gentleman's racer "Palm Beach Days," owned and driven by Mark Mason. The previous posting has the unplanned swan in the foreground while this one has a buoy in the background. Both the swan and the buoy add some visual interest.

I knew we were in the vicinity of the buoy but we didn't have time to script the photo shoot to include it. I just got lucky again. If I were on land, or a stationary boat, I might have positioned myself to intentionally include the buoy. But riding at 30mph in the chase boat and concentrating on Mark as he approached at even higher speed would make it more difficult to plan ahead for this shot.

Mark Mason's boat PALM BEACH DAYS

This is a shot from a recent series taken of Mark Mason's new boat "Palm Beach Days," a 26 foot gentleman's racer. This was in the North Channel of the St. Clair River near Algonac, Michigan. I was in a chase boat going about 30 mph and my attention was solely on Mark as he approached from behind and went by. I never saw the mute swan until it popped into the viewfinder just as I took the photo. We were going fast enough that the swan was behind us in an instant so I was totally lucky to get this one shot.

I used the 100-400 IS zoom set at 200mm and the image is not cropped.

Horse and rider jumping a fence-2.

More action from the Kentucky Horse Park as a horse and rider jump a fence during a jumper class. This is another example of lucky timing as the horse is at the preferred spot for a photograph. Notice how the rider is already looking for the next fence.

This was one of few times we saw the sun during the first three days of the show.