Entry fee

One troy ounce of gold was part of the entrance fee for the All Alaska Sweepstakes dog mushing race held in Nome, Alaska. The photo was taken for an article published in Mushing Magazine.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100mm macro f2.8 flat field lens, 1/30 sec @ f8, flash lit with 580EX and soft box.

I made this photo last month for an article published in the May 2008 issue of Mushing Magazine, featuring the All Alaska Sweepstakes sled dog race. The race, unique in many ways, requires one troy ounce of gold along with some cash for the musher's entrance fee. A friend of mine let me use his gold (and his $100 bills!) along with a vintage 1889 cigar box as props. I used a Canon 580EX off camera flash in manual mode, triggered by another 580 as a master. It was 100% lit by flash using a small soft box help create the wrapping light.

The cover shot of Lance Mackey was taken with a Canon 500 mm lens, just as he was heading out of Nome at the start of the Sweepstakes race. By the way, Lance did not win the Sweepstakes, the cover title "Lance does it again" refers to his second consecutive win of the Iditarod race a few months earlier. Lance took 3rd place in the Sweepstakes.