April 22, 2024 – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

Yesterday was the last of the Tampa Bay Downs photo shoots of the season, which ends right after the Kentucky Derby. Except for one weekend in July it will start up again in the fall. It was going to be HOT, and I wasn’t too enthused about going at all until Bernie said that he’d like to shoot from the grandstand and that sounded like an excellent idea. Standing trackside doesn’t give me a good angle to shoot, but the grandstand makes for a better angle and has huge fans to keep you cool. Walking out onto the balcony is still shaded and is a good option too.

I had my eyes open for shots of the people that were there also, but I think this kid would have caught my eye even if I hadn’t thought about it ahead of time. My son always toted a toy with him wherever we went and I thought for a second that this kid had brought a toy horse with him. Maybe this dinosaur goes everywhere with him. Note the horse ‘tattoo’ on his arm.

I thought that the babies in this group might make cute photos, and then the trainer brought over #8 to say hello.

I had already noticed the gray horse as they led the horses out for this first race of the day. I kind of wanted the gray one to win, but if not him then maybe #8 who had stopped to see the kids.

I wasn’t at the perfect spot to get a shot of the photo finish which had the horse in the center nosing out the other two horses. #4 was third.

I thought I could cheat and tell you that the gray horse won after all, but those with sharp eyes would probably notice all the dirt in the air and catch me in a fib.

When they moved the gates into position for the next race I thought it would be interesting to get a few shots of them loading up the horses. Number 6 was having no parts of getting into the gate however. AI got rid of a huge, bright red tractor that was center stage in the shot.

I always have to try to get the horses as they come right at you out of the last turn and into the home stretch. #6 is on the left, and, sadly, he didn’t win the race either.

The third race was a turf race so we like to get a shot of them coming down the chute. When I looked at the pictures in the computer I saw that a sea gull appeared to be racing with them, but they were gaining on him.

Thank goodness pollen season is nearly over, or so said the ophthalmologist the other day. My eyes were itchy and dripping so we left after this race. Lately we have been the only ones from the photo group who have shown up for the once a month trip to the races. I went to one just after I joined the group in 2017, and I was surprised to meet another member who also had grown up in Brockton, MA. Life happened in the meantime, and we are now the 5th couple who have met by joining the group. Funny how life turns out sometimes.