Wise Dan Photo Gets Award

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Anne Eberhardt Keogh, visuals director and chief photographer for The Blood-Horse, received a second-place award at the Kentucky News Photographers Association 2014 Pictures of the Year Competition held in Louisville, Jan. 24. Keogh’s photo of two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, placed in the Pictorial Category for a single image that exploits the graphic, aesthetic, or compositional qualities of the subject.

Keogh photographed the image on an April spring morning at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., using a Nikon D4 body and 70-200 lens, ISO 6400, 320 at 2.8.

“It was pitch black that morning, about 5:45 am,” said Keogh. “Once I saw Wise Dan with exercise rider Damien Rock leave Charlie and Amy LoPresti’s Rice Road barn, I made my way up to the track and waited by the rail. A string of horses stopped on the rail. I could only see the outlines of the horses and riders. Damien said hello so then I knew that was the subject of my assignment.”

Keogh saw a light source and maneuvered to get the angle she wanted. She took three frames before Rock and Wise Dan moved on in preparation for his work that day.