Macho Uno... Portrait Session

EquiSport Photos has been on location this past week for one of our favorite clients, Adena Springs in Central Kentucky. Some pretty high profile stallions live there, like Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, top producer Awesome Again, Ghostzapper and Einstein.. one of the smartest horses out there. They also happen to be some of the best cared for horses on the planet!

Bill Drury (left in photo below with khaki cap) is the stallion manager, he always looks forward to our visits...lol. Parading the boys out to the paddock is just what he needs on a 90 degree June afternoon after a busy day in the breeding shed. But he always seems to have a smile on his face, and a cheap cigar between his teeth.

Wendy and I needed to produce a variety of photography for an upcoming ad campaign, from portrait and paddock, to scenic farm shots.
This is the scene for one of the portrait shots of Macho Uno, He is the sire of Mucho Macho Man... one of the Belmont Stakes favs.

Mucho Macho Man stands for a portrait at Adena Springs Farm. Photo: Wendy Wooley

6 of us are involved with the shot. 2 grooms handle the horse. Bill and an assistant get the horses attention. Wendy got this shot, and she handles the reflector duties. All I have to do is work the camera!

Macho Uno. Photo: Matt Wooley 1/1000 @ f/5, ISO 200, -1 EV, 150mm

 I'm working in Aperture Priority for this type of shot. To get this shot I set it on f/5 to get the right depth of field, and just adjust the Exposure Compensation dial until the background goes dark. We have talked about "riding the exposure dial" in a previous post. I want to get just a few Highlight Alerts on the white horse. If I had left the EV at 0, I would have a mucho blown out horse against the dark background. Notice my low perspective, I don't want the hip too high.
The photo that was submitted to the client was not cropped this closely. One of my hardest  lessons is learning to leave the final crop to the graphic designer. They will often need room for text in a full bleed ad or may want to add a gradient layer to resize the image.

Macho Uno. Photo: Matt Wooley 1/1600 @ f/5, ISO 200, 0 EV, 150mm

This is the shot the client selected. Again I have cropped it in a bit, more blue sky will be added as a gradient to the top, to make this a full page vertical spread. F/5 is a good aperture here as well, it keeps the focus on the horse. I'm shooting with a 70-200 at 150mm to compress the image, making the distant barn more prominent. 

Then it's out to the paddock. Wendy uses the 500mm and I have the 300. We are strategically placed for the best light. The groom walks the horse across the paddock and turns him loose. The stallions always have a bit of run in them after being in the stall.

Mucho Uno. Photo: Matt Wooley 1/2500 @ f/5. ISO 400, 0 EV, 300mm

I stay in Aperture for the paddock shots too. F/5 works well for keeping the entire horse sharp, and blurring out the distracting background. I raised the ISO to keep a good fast shutter speed.

It pays to keep an eye out to the adjacent paddocks when working on the farm. Wendy got this great shot of Giacomo doing his best "Bobby Badass" imitation.

Giacomo. Photo: Wendy Wooley 1/5000 @ f/4.5, ISO 640, 0 EV, 500mm

Capture the Light Equine is pleased to announce our Fall Bluegrass Equine Photography Workshop!
We had such positive response from our Spring 2011 Workshop, we are doing it again! Conveniently planned for the week before the Breeder's Cup, this class will be limited to 9 participants with 3 EquiSport instructors. Check out the details and drop us a line!

Mucho Macho Man Blows Tire on Trail, "DERBY TOP 21" for 3.28.2011

Mucho Macho Man followed protocol for this year's Derby Trail by limping home in the Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds. Another example of the trend of horses backing up this year.

PREMIER PEGASUS remains the only bright spot in the preps so far, in terms of excitement. Very impressive in dusting the field in the San Felipe by 7+ lengths. He gets the second spot as the Derby Top 21 - #2, right behind UNCLE MO. Maybe we will see a second horse in a break out performance next Sunday in the Florida Derby... I'm not holding my breath.

Pants On Fire (pink cap) outlasts Mucho Macho Man (green cap). Photo: Alexander Barkoff 1/1000 @ f/8, iso 640, 400mm

MUCHO MACHO MAN threw a shoe early on in the Louisiana Derby, and perhaps remarkably was able to finish a competitive 3rd. Kathy Ritvo, the colts' trainer was given the shoe by the gate crew. "Apparently, he stepped on it right out of the gate and ran the whole race without that shoe. I’ll find out which one it was when I get back to the barn. It is an excuse, but Pants On Fire ran a great race," she said afterward.
I'm willing to draw a line through this one for Mucho Macho Man, and leave him in as Derby Top 21 - #5.

PANTS ON FIRE, under leading rider Rosie Napravnik, held off second place Nehro by a neck in the Louisiana Derby. It was another 1/2 back to Mucho Macho Man.
"Mucho Macho Man came up next to us and he just dug in and he really finished with all heart," Napravnik said of Pants On Fire.
Does he deserve a spot in the Top 21? Well, he has the earnings, so he will be in the gate come Derby Day. I'll drop Pants On Fire in as Derby Top 21 - #14.

NEHRO ran a game 2nd in the Louisiana Derby, and is on the earnings bubble. The Steve Asmussen trainee needs another start to secure a spot in the Derby. He's the Derby Top 21 - #19 for this week.

At Turfway Park it was ANIMAL KINGDOM prevailing in the Vinery Spiral Stakes (G3).

Animal Kingdom (red cap). Photo: Matt Wooley/EquiSport Photos 1/1600 @ f/4.5, iso 800, 200mm

Animal Kingdom. Photo: Matt Wooley/EquiSport Photos 1/1600 @ f/4, iso 1600

The Team Valor homebred son of Leroidesanimeaux now has the earnings for the Kentucky Derby, but has not yet made a start on dirt. The course for Animal Kingdom has yet to be decided. Trainer Graham Motion and Team Valor's Barry Irwin have options now, “We haven’t had him on the dirt but it’s something Barry and I will talk about. I don’t think distance is a problem," Motion said.

With everybody backing up, I'm putting Animal Kingdom in as Derby Top 21 - #9.

Astrology. Photo: Matt Wooley/EquiSport Photos 1/2000 @ f/5, iso 500

ASTROLOGY made his long awaited comeback in the Sunland Derby. Well, he tried to come back, but ran out of gas with a furlong to go, finishing second. Another case of a horse backing down the Derby Trail. I'll give the colt credit for a nice run after 5 months off that included recovering from illness. He's the Derby Top 21 - #13.


TWICE THE APPEAL, (Successful Appeal), is now on the Trail as Derby Top 21 - #15 by virtue of his win in the Sunland Derby. The Jeff Bonde trained colt survived fast early fractions, and overhauled a bouncing Astrology in the stretch.

Co-Owner Edward Brown said after the race, "He ran his eyeballs out today. I haven’t had any sleep in days. He has become a different horse since switching from synthetic to dirt. We are going to the Kentucky Derby.”
Perhaps following in the footsteps of the widely discounted Mine That Bird down the Trail?
Stay tuned.

MASTER OF HOUNDS (Kingmambo) is eligible on earnings after a nice 2nd place finish in the UAE Derby. Trainer Aidan O'Brien is keeping options open, “Master Of Hounds is in the English 2000 Guineas (Eng-I) and would have a Kentucky Derby option."
He comes in as Derby Top 21 - #16

THE WORD,  "DERBY TOP 21" for 3.28.2011
(Performance and Earnings Based..... and maybe a Dash of Pedigree)

Rank HORSE Sire

1 UNCLE MO Indian Charlie
2 PREMIER PEGASUS Fusaichi Pegasus
3 SOLDAT War Front
4 DIALED IN Mineshaft
5 MUCHO MACHO MAN Macho Uno
6 STAY THIRSTY Bernardini
7 THE FACTOR War Front
8 TO HONOR AND SERVE Bernardini
9 ANIMAL KINGDOM Leroidesanimeaux
10 JAYCITO Victory Gallop
11 SANTIVA Giant's Causeway
12 ANTHONY'S CROSS Indian Charlie
13 ASTROLOGY AP Indy
14 PANTS ON FIRE Jump Start
15 TWICE THE APPEAL Successful Appeal
16 MASTER OF HOUNDS Kingmambo
17 DECISIVE MOMENT With Distinction
18 WATCH ME GO West Acre
19 NEHRO Mineshaft
20 JP'S GUSTO Successful Appeal
21 FLASHPOINT Pomeroy

"A Derby Factor?" - Derby Top 25 for February 21st

The San Vicente raised more questions than it answered. The biggest.. can THE FACTOR go the distance? The War Front colt jumped out of the gate, set blazing fractions, and just outlasted a charging SWAY AWAY by a length.
Trainer Bob Baffert's 'go to' rider, Martin Garcia, said of The Factor after the race "I just let him break by himself. The more you fight, the more he’s going to take off. He doesn’t want to be behind horses, so I just let him be comfortable and he kept going. He is still learning."
The Factor, nearly collared by Sway Away at the wire, will have to rate off the pace if he's going to have enough gas to get the classic distance.

The Factor wins the San Vicente. Photo: Alex Evers/EquiSport Photos 1/1000 sec @ f/3.5, iso 1000, 400mm

Was SWAY AWAY, who moved from dead last to nearly catch the winner at the wire, perhaps the more impressive? Another sixteenth would have changed the outcome of this 7 furlong test.

Sway Away (outside) nearly runs down The Factor. Photo: Alex Evers/EquiSport Photos 1/500 @ f/3.5, iso 800, 300mm

Sway Away, trained by Jeff Bonde, seems to be one to watch. And the Afleet Alex colt should have no trouble with the classic distance.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose, but that’s the way the game goes. This horse is the best (Kentucky) Derby chance I’ve had in many years." said Bonde after the San Vicente.

Sway Away is certainly is going on my Top 25. A few spots in front of The Factor... for now.

MUCHO MACHO MAN finally prevailed, in his 4th stakes race, in the hard fought Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fairgrounds Saturday. After finishing 4th last time out in the Holy Bull, this well traveled son of Macho Again beat a quality field including second place SANTIVA, and third place ROGUE ROMANCE.

Mucho Macho Man. Photo: Joe Ganley/EquiSport Photos 1/1000 @ f/3.5, iso 800, 108mm.

Mucho Macho Man also finished second in both the Nashua S. and Remson S. as a two-year-old for trainer Kathy Ritvo. “He goes two miles like he’s out to jog. He’s just going to get better the further the distances get,” Ritvo said.

ARCHARCHARCH gritted out a tough win Monday in the Southwest Stakes, (G3) at Oaklawn Park, over a classy field. Highly respected JP'S GUSTO, the betting favorite, finished second in front of a fading ELITE ALEX.
Jon Court rode the winner for his father-in-law, William 'Jinks' Fires. Coming out of the turn into the short Oaklawn stretch, the Arch colt responded when asked, opening up a 2 1/2 length lead on the field.
JP's Gusto, ridden by Ramon Dominguez, got bottled up in the turn. “At the quarter pole, when I wanted to move, there were horses around me and I couldn't get out," Dominguez said.  


This Week's TOP 25 DERBY TRAIL

Rank Horse (Sire)
1 UNCLE MO (Indian Charlie)
2 TO HONOR AND SERVE (Bernardini)
3 DIALED IN (Mineshaft)
4 MUCHO MACHO MAN (Macho Uno)
5 BRETHREN (Distorted Humor)
6 STAY THIRSTY (Bernardini)
7 JAYCITO (Victory Gallop)
8 SANTIVA (Giant's Causeway)
9 SWAY AWAY (Afleet Alex)
10 ARCHARCHARCH (Arch)
11 WILKINSON (Lemon Drop Kid)
12 SOLDAT (War Front)
13 RIVETING REASON (Fusaichi Pegasus)
14 JP'S GUSTO (Successful Appeal)
15 THE FACTOR (War Front)
16 ROGUE ROMANCE (Smarty Jones)
17 ASTROLOGY (AP Indy)
18 TIZ BLESSED (Tiznow)
19 ELITE ALEX (Afleet Alex)
20 ANTHONY'S CROSS (Indian Charlie)
21 SHACKLEFORD (Forestry)
22 SILVER MEDALLION (Badge of Silver)
23 GOURMET DINNER (Trippi)
24 SWEET DUCKY (Pulpit)
25 TOBY'S CORNER (Bellamy Road)


That's it for now.. mw