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[RC] Ride photos as awards - Mary HowellTitle: Ride photos as awards Two Southeast region rides I went to this year gave out rider/horse photos as completion awards, which was VERY popular and also made the trip more worthwhile for the photographer, since she got guaranteed income.At one of these, the Moonlight Ride (July in South Carolina) that started at 7pm, the photographer took photos BEFORE we started, while we were warming up, which helped ensure most of us looked less sweaty and frazzled than usual ;) At the other ride, it was up to riders to space out a bit so the photographer could get a decent shot of each individual horse/rider team. It seems most East Coast rides have a photographer these days and they tend to put out a “heads up = photographer ahead” to give some warning to incoming riders to spread out, tuck hair under helmet, etc. One of my funniest photographer memories was the 2006 AERC NC 50 miler in Fort Valley, VA. I was riding behind Ruth Anne everett, who became a good friend during that ride, along a narrow rocky trail on the mountaintop, with fall color everywhere. Her horse saw Genie photographer and came to an abrupt and complete stop and would not go further. Luckily, my horse is a ham for the camera and squeezed by, then took over the lead until we both were past the scary camera. Let’s not discuss what my young horse did at the start of his last ride when a flashbulb went off in front of him – heigh ho Sliver!
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