What It Takes to Capture a Photo Finish

"As a photographer, so much of what makes a shot meaningful is when you capture a moment that can never be duplicated. You try out certain techniques like these slow shutters in very high-pressure moments, like during a fast race. You get one attempt to get it right. If it works correctly, it’s an unforgettable feeling. At the Pre Classic, capturing the surprise of Niels Laros as he squeezed by Yared Nuguse in the Bowerman Mile was one of those moments.

I was shooting the race from the infield. More often than not, photographers love to position themselves straight onto the finish line at track events so they can get the clearest shots of the winners. If they’re shooting for a brand, they’ll try to get clean looks at logos and faces. I tend to go the other route. I knew I wanted to get a panning, slow-shutter shot of the winner crossing the finish line, to break up some of the sharper photos I had taken earlier in the day. But during the last lap, Niels turned up the heat, running a crazy split in the last 200 meters. Everyone was jumping out of their seats to see if he could catch Nuguse, who was trying to hold on. I positioned myself close to the finish line. It turned out that the slow shutter was the perfect approach for the situation. Not only did Niels run a crazy final hundred meters, but it was looking like it would be a photo finish.

This image reminds me how, if you dig down deep enough, you can do things you might not have thought were possible. If you see the look on his face once he finishes, you can see how shocked he was that he won the race in the dramatic way he did. It was the same surprise I felt after I tried something different for one of the fastest, most important races of the day, and ultimately, captured a moment that couldn’t be duplicated."