My Best 2013 Race Photos

As Northeast Race Photo, I took pictures at about 90 races in 2013. It's impossible to create a truly "best of" album since there's so many variables for what it would be the "best" of. Best technical quality of the photo? Best focus? Best athlete in action? Best shots of race winners? Best shots of back-of-the-pack runners? Best representative of a given race, or type of race? Best shot that makes you feel something? Best shot of a given person? There's too many subjective possibilities; I'd end up with a seriously HUGE album. So, forgoing any attempt at objectivity, here's my totally subjective Best Of 2013 album that:

-shows the diversity of races and race types I shot,

-shows a diversity of conditions I shot in, 

-presents photos in chronological order throughout the whole year, and

-contains some of my personal favorite pics (though not even nearly all)

the gallery:

http://northeastracephoto.smugmug.com/2013/Best-of-2013

I admit to being particularly partial to photos of fathers and daughters being active together. Nothing against fathers and sons, or mothers and sons or daughters, but there's just something about the father/daughter dynamic that gets me, and I think its because there used to be a sort of cultural lack of that kind of thing in the pre-Title 9 era, at least around where I grew up. It just warms my heart to see how far we've come, and to see people being Good Parents. And I think it's a good reminder of what's really important here.

Some special types of shots have already been promoted on this blog. Leapers, for example. But I also like dramatic action shots; trail runners splashing in streams is a huge favorite, and the start of a swim wave at a triathlon can be a spectacular moment. Biking is a tough one to get interesting shots of when you're set up to get a shot of everyone (not every panning shot or dramatic angle will work, so I avoid them when shooting races where I want at least one workable shot of everyone), but there are a few I think are pretty sweet nevertheless. And I'm partial to trail running in general. I just love being out there in the woods or on the mountain. So that type of race may show up pretty frequently.

Full disclosure: some of the shots in the album are of friends and people I know. Did I choose them over similar shots of others because I like these people? Yeah, probably. One of the many perks of being friendly with the photographer =)

If you have a favorite shot from any of the 2013 Northeast Race Photo galleries, and you think it belongs in the Best Of gallery, please drop me a line with the link to it and I'll gladly add it to the album.

It was a lot of hard work, but I'm really pleased with the galleries for most of the races I took photos at in the past year. I'm planning to keep shooting at races in 2014, so stay strong, look sharp, and happy racing in the coming year, my tribe. Cheers!