It's a truth universally acknowledged that you usually only miss something when it's gone.  I can't count how many times I have cursed the crowds at busy venues when working, or out and about, and how much I always said I hated having to push through people.  When working and carrying all my camera equipment, some of which protrude a fair way out and thus limit my usual ability to slip unnoticed through small spaces, I suddenly transform into a serial apologiser and I find myself repeating the same lame excuses    'Excuse me ma'am, sorry sir, please sir can I just squeeze through there, oh goodness, I'm so sorry, oh bloody hell, whoops a daisies'   as I tried to ease my way through the heaving crowd, trying desperately not to bump into anyone with the end of my 500mm lens, or the camera hanging off my waist belt.  Equally, trying to bend your torso suddenly to avoid having a hole burnt through whatever I'm wearing by someone's evil cigarete butt th...

I'm sitting in my office at my computer.  As usual, my Burmese kitty Maxie, sits is on my lap.  He makes it far more difficult for me to type when he does this, but I like having him with me so unless I need a cup of tea or my legs and butt have gone to sleep I usually never kick him off. It's 5 April.  I  should  be at my Mum's house in Sydney.  Yesterday, in any other year, I would have been busy at Royal Randwick working hard on Day 1 of The Championships and expecting to go straight on to the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.  This morning I should be dog tired.  My neck and shoulders should be aching and I should have sore legs as a result of having traipsed approximately 10km around Royal Randwick racecourse carrying my heavy gear with me. Not this year.  I have to say that pandemics suck.  Utterly!  We, like many others, are effectively locked out of work while the nation and world tries desperately to control the relent...

 

Attracting new staff to work in the thoroughbred industry is often a topic of concern for our industry, and the COVID-19 Pandemic has done much to accentuate the problems in Australia while our international border remains shut.  From a personal point of view I often worry about the capacity to attract future equine photographers to the industry and wonder who will replace some of the people like myself who's been doing it for a little while now.   Whilst I can take presently take an upcoming photographer to a stud farm and teach them things away from the hustle and bustle of the racetrack, the only place they will obtain the necessary skills for photographing race meetings and to hone their instincts and reflexes and teach them the ability to think quickly and react to situations unfolding in front of them, is at the racetrack itself.  But there are so many impediments to getting access to the track, and more critically, in photographers having the ability to successfull...

We're sitting here in the press room at Caulfield, with another 35 minutes to wait until race 1.  Today is Caulfield Cup Day.  I've always liked the Caulfield Cup.  I used to read my Uncle Murray's book on the race religiously and today will be the 22nd time I have photographed the race.  The first time I did the race was in 1995 and the only one I've ever missed was in 2005, the year Jessica was little. One of the things I like about Cup Day is the placement of the rail.  It's out 6m and sometimes this can be awkward but somehow at Caulfield having the rail out that distance makes the track look nicer and changes the angle in subtle ways which makes any jubilation post race look really terrific. This year feels special because we have this wonderful champion Winx racing and striving to become only the 2nd horse in history to win a 3rd Cox Plate next weekend at Moonee Valley.  Occasions like this cause you to reflect on past races and great horses ...

I recently heard that a race loving fan was denied entry to Saturday's G1 Memsie Stakes racing meeting at Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday 2 September.  Why?  Because he had a camera and lens with a focal length of 200m and these items are no longer allowed to be brought in to a racecourse by a member of the general public.  After I read this comment I walked away from my computer in disgust. My first point is that racing is not an industry where patrons are bashing the door down to get in the gates.  Winx's last dramatic win in Sydney only drew a crowd of 9,000 odd fans to Royal Randwick.  Racing is not cricket.  It's not the footy.  It's not soccer or the NRL.  Apples are not oranges and oranges will never be apples. Let's pause for a moment to consider the ramifications on the introduction of such a policy.  It's been well documented that the sport has for many years struggling with declining crowds and participation rates.  ...