Alan Kiecker, QPSA  


Down For The Night by Alan Kiecker, QPSA

January 2018 - Down For The Night

About the Image(s)

This photo was taken during the 2017 John Beargrease sled dog race across northern Minnesota. The race takes four days and covers nearly 400 miles along the snowmobile trails from Duluth northeast to Grand Portage (almost in Canada) and return. I have photographed the race several times but this was the first time that I followed the entirety of the race start to finish. This photo was taken at a mandatory stop at the Grand Portage Casino - no, the mushers did not get to use a room in the hotel. The only light was from the lights in the parking lot.

There is an annual exhibit of Beargrease photos held in Duluth. This is one of the photos that I am considering to display. There are always plenty of photos taken along the trail. I have plenty myself, but this shows a bit different aspect of the race.

Technical details:

Nikon D3s, 70-200mm lens @ 90mm, f/8 @ 1/3 sec, ISO 3200. The photo was processed in Lightroom, cropped to remove a trailer in the background. You can see remnants of the trailer and the log supporting the tongue of the trailer at the very top of the photo.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
10 comments posted




 
First off, what fun it must have been shooting this race.
As I look at this image, my fist reaction is that I wish I had a wider field of view to get more context. Would be nice if the sled wasn't cut off for example. However on reading your description of the situation (like the trailer position and lighting restrictions) I see that was probably not possible.
The diagonal line of sled and huskies gives the image a nice perspective and the saturation level in gold and blue draws ones attention. I need to visit Minnesota in race season!   Posted: 01/12/2018 00:18:34
Alan Kiecker   Alan Kiecker
This years race is Jan 28-31. Be glad to show you around :-)

More info here: https://beargrease.com/
  Posted: 01/12/2018 07:41:12



 
Nice composition. I would burn in the top right corner or add a vignette. The brightness of the corner draws my eye away from the subject matter,
  Posted: 01/24/2018 12:18:18
Alan Kiecker   Alan Kiecker
Thanks! Good suggestion.   Posted: 01/24/2018 12:33:42



 
I like the image and I like the story. On my monitor at lease it seems that there are streaks on the dog in the foreground and the third one back. I understand the low light situation and don't know if it is something that can be corrected or should be corrected. Also the hind area if the dog in the foreground seems a little soft. (Again due to the light conditions?)   Posted: 01/24/2018 15:45:11
Alan Kiecker   Alan Kiecker
Others from my camera club have pointed out a green cast in the shadows. Perhaps that is what you are seeing. I need to see what I can do about that. Thanks for the comments.   Posted: 01/24/2018 17:14:42
 
Was it snowing at the time? I thought that the streaks may be snow falling that is more visible on the darker dogs.   Posted: 01/31/2018 17:30:08
Alan Kiecker   Alan Kiecker
I don't recall if it was snowing or not; I don't think so. Now that the streaks are mentioned I see them too. I have no explanation.   Posted: 01/31/2018 21:31:13



 
Very nice image. It makes me think about what is going on. The line of dogs works. There are areas that are bright and glare. It would be nice if this could be muted. Are there software apps that work like a polarizing filter? If there is such a thing, that would be worth a try.   Posted: 01/25/2018 18:55:32



 
I like the story this tells. Like Graham my first instinct was that I wanted to see more of the context, but agree that it probably wasn't practical for you to go wider. I definitely see the green in the shadows and attributed that to night photography coupled with a light source causing a cast nearby. The hay also seems unnaturally bright yellow, but that could just be how it was or the same thing causing the green cast. Overall it is a great image that I image adds to the larger story with the others from the event.   Posted: 01/31/2018 17:33:22