Close encounters of the equine kind
Masstown man receives award for night-time photo of horse and driver
MASSTOWN, N.S. – Kyle Burton once found horses scary. But that didn’t keep him from snapping photos of them.
Burton spent a lot of time shooting at tracks and recently received his second O’brien Award for photography.
On Feb. 1, the 27-year-old Masstown man was presented with the award for “Under the Spotlight,” his photo of Rock Diamonds N, and driver Mitchell Cushing, taken during last year’s Gold Cup and Saucer race in Charlottetown.
“It was a challenging photo to get,” he said. “I needed a tripod, and everything had to be perfect. When I looked at it on the camera I could see it was good. I zoomed in and it was really sharp, with good contrast.
“I think it’s one of my top photos. It’s one I put the most planning into.”
He had tried to get a similar shot the previous year, experimenting with settings until he got it right.
What made the photo even more special was that Rock Diamonds N, who came from Maine for the race, was one of two horses Burton was doing a behind-the-scenes photo story on for Trot Magazine. The other was Sir Pugsley.
“Sir Pugsley was the one they thought would win but I could tell this one was special,” he said. “He meant a lot to the people with him and it was cool to see him come through.”
Two years ago, he received an O’brien Award for his photo “Dusty Lane Appearance,” which showed a horse – His Boy Elroy - coming through a cloud of dust.
“I got that one by luck,” he said. “I just turned and saw it and thought it looked cool.
“Going to the O’briens was fantastic. You meet people you grew up watching, and it’s exciting to be on the same stage. Even if I wasn’t a finalist, I would still like to go up to it.”
Because Burton’s parents, Shelley and Roy, raced horses, he was often at the track, but he had no interest in being hands-on with the animals. He enjoyed taking photos, so he began doing that while he was there. He has been the track photographer at Truro Raceway for several years.
Burton’s overcome his fear of horses and has a two-year-old of his own he hopes will make it to the races.
“He’s not camera shy,” he said. “I’ve taken a lot of photos of him.
“Horses are so beautiful, and it’s really nice to capture that.”
During the week, Burton works in business development for the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), in Dartmouth, where he also puts his photography skills to work.