Taking the race photos

My last post was photos from the Water Festival. How did I get the photos? I believe the best way to make a good photo is to be up close so you can connect with your subject. I have also learned if you ask to go into what looks like restricted places you can sometimes get in.

The boat race starts very close to a city water pumping station. There is a walk way around the pumping station that put me out over the boats. This gave me some of the very colorful shots.

Several of the other shots were taken down on the water's edge. The banks of the river are cemented and not very steep so walking down to the edge is relatively easy. 

Where the VSO boat was launched there was a sewage drain, I found an area that was filled with rocks and stood on that, not having to get into the boat.

For the photos of the start of the race I worked my way out onto the construction barge where the announcer was.  I was able to work my way up onto the yellow crane and have a very good overlook. The pontoons were quite stable but when someone went the other way they did roll a little.

You can see from this following photos, this was a working barge, it was littered with junk.

After the barge set, I went back and got onto the tugboat. The tug is on the other side of the barge below.  I would have done that first but there was a long line of people walking over the planks and they were under water.