Iditarod start, the teams, the mushers, and the people

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the comments Carl, Jan Anne, and afx. I am glad you enjoyed a glimpse into our world - all the images of spring flowers posted in the forum lately seem so far away...

[Bent Hjarbo]

 Joar Leifseth Ulsom won this year.
You didn’t photograph this year?

[Øivind Tøien]

Joar Leifseth Ulsom won this year.
You didn’t photograph this year?

Yes, lots of congratulations to Joar Leifset, very impressive performance under difficult conditions.
 
The Iditarod start in Fairbanks last year (after a standard ceremonial start in Anchorage) was a special opportunity, hardly ever happens. This year snow conditions were great (but got stormy into the race) and it followed a more classic route so there was no opportunity without longer travel.

Somehow I also missed out on the Yukon Quest start, I thought it was to go from Whitehorse end this year (it starts in Fairbanks every other year), but I got it mixed up (likely because I photographed the Iditarod start last year), and I realized too late it actually started in Fairbanks.

Another miss this year is that there is no ice carving festival due to disagreement between the organizers and the owners of the park. On the bright side, with less new captures I have been enjoying working though some old backlogs.

[Ann]

I am so happy that this thread got bumped up as I missed seeing it entirely last year (because I had not then re-joined NG).

I found your story fascinating and your photographs of the event to be exceptional.

I loved the variety of your photographs which showed the different aspects of the event: the long shots of the teams, the action shots of the dogs, the very fine portraits of the Mushers — and the little details like the protective shoes worn by the dogs.

To take part in this event takes considerable courage, determination and endurance — for how long do they even pause to rest or eat during each 24-hours?

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the kind words Ann. As for rests, an important part of the strategy is when and where to take rests. Of course an exhausted dog will do no good and not eager to run. The teams also have one mandatory 8 hour rest and one mandatory 24 hour layover in the race, and can decide when to take it. Generally dogs get a lot more rest/sleep than the mushers who have to spend time at the checkpoints and rests between them taking care of the dogs. As I understand it is pretty common with only 2-4 hours of sleep per 24 hour period for the mushers, and they can get hallucinations due to sleep deprivation towards the end. Thus it is very important that they have made a plan before the race and stick to it, as they cannot always trust their strategic judgement towards the end of the race.

[JKoerner007]

Thanks for the comment. Opinions may differ on what is most important. The real super athletes in this race are the dogs, thus I favored the images with focus on them and rather used closeups of the mushers. I did capture some team images with focus at the back. Here is an example:
#39...

Getting good focus down on the river was really a challenge due to inversion layers and turbulence in the cold air set up by the dog teams, in addition to keeping the focus point where I wanted it. Many images ended up with focus in the middle of the team with very poor optical quality due to the air. I had VR on the 300mm PF turned off the whole time as shutter speed was kept at 1/1000 sec or shorter, however retrospectively I think it had been best to keep it in sports mode even if it would cause disturbed background rendering in some of the images. The cold turbulent air might also have confused the focusing system.

As a former sporting dog breeder, for over 25 years, I absolutely agree with you and would discard MFloyd's input.

The Alaskan Iditarod is about the dogs, period.

Your capturing of their expressions, and movement, is what is key here (and you also capture the surrounding human joy and presence, delightfully, when that was your concern).

The fact that you did this with my current favorite lens, the 300 f/4E PF ED is an extra bonus for me as an observer. Absolute terrific images and capturing "the essence" of the event.

I am glad I clicked-onto here ... and I need to view this section more often.

Terrific series of images

[JKoerner007]

Super series, Øivind.

Like especially the close-ups.  Very bright colours and light.

+1

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the enthusiastic and supporting comments, John. The 300mm PF is really a game changer, a lens I always carry along, whether in my bag or in a side pocket to my Thinktank holster. There are some more examples of its use from me in the night sky and moon threads.

[Ann]

I share your enthusiasm for the amazing 300 mm PF: it is now in my "Don't leave home without it" category.

[Ron Scubadiver]

Neat little dog boots.  You will not find me watching that race outdoors.

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the comment, Ann and Ron.

Neat little dog boots.  You will not find me watching that race outdoors.

Now think about a team of 16 dogs, putting on 4x16= 64 dog boots at -30°C...