Pig Racing Part 2

Photo of Pig Race, L.A. County Fair

Two weeks ago I photographed the pigs near the starting gates, but it wasn't quite what I had envisioned. I had wanted a down and dirty sort of image. In order to do that with a wide angle lens, it would require the pigs to run closer to my camera.

So on Sunday morning I walked to the other side of the race track where the finish line was. The finish line area narrows considerably so I knew I would be able to get the pigs running right past my camera. To get the perspective that I wanted, I knew I had to stick my lens underneath the vinyl barrier and half onto the race track. Before the first race I was nervous that the pigs might step onto my lens or hand. Luckily that didn't happen.

Since I was shooting "blindly" on rapid fire, it was nice to be able to review my pictures after the first race and make some slight technical adjustments for the 2nd race. This photo here resulted during the 2nd race. I would consider this to be in the barely-missed category of image quality but I thought this would be a good blog picture to illustrate the location of my camera. That is a combination of hay and dirt flying up onto my lens on the right. I'm not scared to compromise my camera for the sake of attempting something unique but fortunately it didn't come down to that as the slop didn't stick onto my lens.

I did manage an image or two that I am reasonably happy with but if I have another opportunity to photograph another pig race in the future then I will likely try to improve my images with a similar approach if the logistics will allow me to do so. Shooting a photo without being able to look through the viewfinder is commonly referred to as "shooting from the hip", which is a technique often used in street photography situations. It involves pre-visualizing of the composition, a wide angle lens, appropriate aperture choice and a lot of luck. This method of shooting often evokes a very raw, high-impact look at the subject but is obviously a hit or miss affair.

Click the link to see more of my L.A. County Fair photos.