A photo finish and I am done

Sometimes a solid photo comes with a caveat — don’t shoot or you’ll be sorry.

This photo isn’t pornographic or obscene, but it was non-publishable. In an attempt to stay warm as blustery winter-like winds blasted the state track meet in the face, I shot a few races in which Cheyenne-area athletes were not in contention nor competing. As these two gentleman — Gillette’s Trevor Polson and Rock Springs’ Garrett Zans — made their turn down the home stretch of the 1,600-meter, Zanz (a 16-second favorite) began to lose his lead. Polson, an unlikely contender, found an extra gear and challenged Zans’ will. As it became apparent that an epic upset was in the making, I grabbed my wide angle and squatted near the finish line hoping for something good.

Then it happened.

Polson raised his fingers victoriously with a few meters remaining and a win in the bag. I shot a few frames and got a good shot — not great —  just good. Sadly, this was the most intense race of the meet, and even more sadly, neither guy was within our coverage area. Thus, not a usable image for publication.

It was like the Christmas when my mom let me open my gifts only to return them to the store in a drunken moment of brilliant parenting. She’s really a blessed woman.

This still may have been worse than that lovely Holiday. It followed a pattern of me getting decent shots of non-Cheyenne athletes. I spoke with a fellow shooter who expressed a similar plight. Neither of us could quite nail the shots of our guys, but we got plenty of everyone else. I think there is a commandment reading “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s athletes nor make images of them in moments of visual appeal.”

Well, I guess I am going to hell… well, maybe just my career.

-AAron