2009 Limited North American sled dog race

Dogs race along the track at the Limited North American sprint dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1D Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/800 sec @ f10, ISO 400

Sprint dog racing is in full swing in Fairbanks this time of year, even as the long distance mushers work their way towards Nome on the Iditarod. The Limited North American took place last weekend, with four, six and eight dog classes. These teams really move fast and it is no small challenge to attempt tight compositions while they speed by. Auto focus tracking tracking and a high burst rate are essential, and even then, there are many frames to throw away. I shot a few thousand pictures, mostly with the Canon 1D due to its 10fps speed. Generally, I selected 400 ISO and shot between 500-1000 shutter speeds, giving me an f-stop from f11-f13 or so. It was a sunny event, and a chilly one too. I'll probably throw away 90% of the photos, but captured a few good ones.

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.

Mackey's lead dog Zoro

Musher Lance Mackey's lead dog Zoro was injured during the final 20 miles of the All Alaska Sweepstakes race in March of 2008. Zoro, who led Mackey to two Iditarod finishes, was in the sled resting from a sore shoulder when a snow machine rammed into the back of the sled just outside Nome. Lance continued the race and crossed the finish line in Nome with Zoro in the sled, but no attention was drawn to the accident. Lance attended to the fans that awaited his 2:00am arrival. Zoro, was flown to Seattle on the following day and evaluated by veterinarians. He is fortunate to expect a good recovery but will be retired from mushing. You can view a video about Zoro here

Lance Mackey, greeted by his wife and mom, crosses the finish line in Nome with injured dog Zoro in his sled bag.

Seavey wins the 2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes

Mitch Seavey crosses the finish line in Nome, Alaska, at 11:30PM, March 28, 2008, setting a new record time for the All Alaska Sweepstakes. Jeff King came in second, at 11:40PM. Lance Mackey took third arriving at 1:59AM on the 29th.

Mitch Seavey wins the 2008 Sweepstakes in Nome, Alaska, 11:30PM, March 28, 2008

Mitch Seavey and his wife Janine

Jeff King takes second place in the All Alaska Sweepstakes, arriving 10 minutes behind Mitch Seavey.

3rd place finisher Lance Mackey poses with his lead dogs at the finish.

All Alaska Sweepstakes Finish heats up

Musher Mitch Seavey uses a ski pole to increase his speed along the Sweepstakes trail about 2o miles from the finish line in Nome. Seavey eventually overtook leader Jeff King, near the check point of Safety.

The top three contenders in the Sweepstakes have leapfrogged positions throughout the race, but Mitch Seavey just passed Jeff King near the checkpoint of Safety, just 22 miles from Nome. If there are no kinks in the current pace, Seavey will take first place on Front Street in Nome at approximately midnight Friday (today).

Sweepstakes competition

Musher passes through the Bendeleben mountains, Northbound to Candle, Alaska during the 2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes.

Lance Mackey leaves the halfway checkpoint of Candle on the afternoon of day two of the 2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes.

Musher Cari Miller passes through Death Valley on day two of the 2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes.

I spent some time Thursday in a plane along the race course, which traverses tremendous country between Nome, Alaska on the coast of the Norton Sound, up to the Ghost town of Candle. The race is developing into a battle for first between three mushers; King, Mackey and Seavey. It is estimated that the winning musher will be in Nome either late Friday night, or early Saturday morning to collect the $100,000 purse.

2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes

Mitch Seavey travels across the wind-blown tundra outside Nome during the 2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes sled dog race.

The All Alaska Sweepstakes, a 408 mile dog sled race, began today in Nome, Alaska. This running of the Sweepstakes celebrates a 100 year anniversary and boasts a $100,000 winner takes-all purse. The race begins in Nome and travels along a historic route to the ghost town of Candle, and back to Nome. It was last run in 1983 and won by Rick Swenson of Two Rivers, Alaska. The excitement of the historic race has brought a field of 16 Alaska mushers to the Western arctic Seward Peninsula. Many are champions from other sled dog races throughout the years, including 4 time Iditarod champion Jeff King, and defending Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey. The race traverses difficult terrain, requires no mandatory rest stops, and requires check-in only, no check-out, of race check points. These unique elements in the spectrum of dog mushing will make for interesting strategies, and surely, a very competitive race.

While the winner is anyone's best guess, I'm impressed by Lance Mackey's small and lightly packed sled, his strong dogs, and both his and his dog's ability to travel with short rest periods--not to mention the inertia of winning the Quest and Iditarod in the last two months. Trail conditions, weather, dogs, and musher strategies will add their influence. The record finish time was about 74 hours and you can keep up to date on musher status and other general race information through their website: allalaskasweepstakes.org

Lance Makey interviewed by channel 2 news before the race start. When asked when he expected to return, he said with a smile "I plan to be back for breakfast on Saturday morning". Which translates into a new record if Lance accomplishes that.

Temperature at the race start was about zero degrees

Jeff King leaves the start chute on Front Street in Nome.

2008 Open North American Championship

Musher Egil Ellis wins the ONAC

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100-400mm f4.0L, 1/640 @ f16, ISO 400

Musher Buddy Streeper takes second place in the ONAC

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100-400mm f4.0L, 1/640 @ f16, ISO 400

Musher Ken Chezik takes third place in the ONAC

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100-400mm f4.0L, 1/640 @ f16, ISO 400

Police officer Dan Hoffman stops traffic as mushers cross College road during the ONAC

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-105mm f4.0L, 1/640 @ f11, ISO 400

Sprint musher and defending champion Egil Ellis won the 2008 Open North American Championship on Sunday March 16, 2008. The three-day race is run every year in March from downtown Fairbanks, Alaska, with heats of 20 miles the first two days, and a grueling 30-mile heat on the final day. Buddy Streeper took second and Ken Chezik took third place.

Open North American Sled Dog Race

Musher on the final day of the 2007 ONAC, Fairbanks, Alaska
Canon 1ds Mark II, 16-35mm (16mm), 1/800 @ f8.0, ISO 320

The dog mushing season is in full swing as Iditarod 36 moves to a close in the next day or so. In the interior, the Open North American begins on Friday, March 14th. It is said of the ONAC:

"Open North American Championship (ONAC) is the premiere sled dog sprint race in the world, attracting the best sprint mushers from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. The three-day race is run every year in March from downtown Fairbanks, Alaska, with heats of 20 miles the first two days, and a grueling 30-mile heat on the final day. The ONAC is the oldest continuously run sled dog race of any kind in the world. First run in 1946, the 2008 race will be the 63rd running."

I plan to do some photography and will post images after the race.

2008 Yukon Quest

Sled dog at the 2008 Yukon Quest sled dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (275mm) 1/80 sec @ f9.0

The Yukon Quest start unfolded on Saturday, Feb 9th in Fairbanks, under minus 40 degree temperatures, which slowly warmed up to minus 20 as the day progressed. For those not familiar with this dogseld race, it is reputed to be the most difficult dog race due to rugged terrain and extreme cold conditions. The race name is derived from the "Yukon River" the great river highway of the north. Check out their website for current standings and information: www.yukonquest.com. Poor and dangerous trail conditions over Rosebud (from Chena Hotsprings to mile 101) resulted in a route deviation-which altered my plans a bit.

When photographing in these extreme temperatures I find myself doing a lot of point and shoot photography, since my viewfinder gets fogged up and push button auto focusing becomes invaluable. Additionally, camera batteries freeze up quickly, but usually not as quickly as I do. I took a few token pictures at the start and then a day later on Eagle Summit, where violent winds and drifting snow had closed the Steese highway temporarily. See more Yukon Quest photos.

Sled dog at the 2008 Yukon Quest sled dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (260mm) 1/100 sec @ f5.6

Sled dog handler at the 2008 Yukon Quest sled dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (340mm) 1/400 sec @ f5.6

Race vet in the chilly minus 40 degree temps at the start of the 2008 Yukon Quest sled dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (400mm) 1/640 sec @ f9.0

Musher Didier Moggia at the start of the 2008 Yukon Quest sled dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (400mm) 1/640 sec @ f8.0

Musher Phil Joy heads down the Chena River at the start of the 1000 mile, 2008 Yukon Quest sled dog race, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (400mm) 1/640 sec @ f8.0

Ground blizzard conditions and wind blown snow on Eagle Summit.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 16-35mm f2.8L, 1/125 sec @ f16.0

Strong winds and minus 20 degree temperatures temporarily closed the Steese Highway on Eagle Summit.
Canon 1ds Mark III, 100-400 f.40-5.6L IS, (120mm) 1/640 sec @ f9.0

Dog mushing

The dog mushing season is about to unfold in Alaska's interior. The Yukon Quest, a 1000 mile race between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse, Canada, begins on Saturday Feb 8th. Following that will be many sprint races at the Dog musher's race grounds and the North American Limited and Open series in March. More daylight and warming temperatures entice people outside.

Dog mushing is a fun sport to photograph but sunny conditions on white snow can make for contrasty images. With a digital camera, it is easy to check your exposure against the histogram, shoot on manual, and go from there. Lower ISO settings and "exposing to the right" optimizes shadow detail and will give the most ability to boost the shadow areas in the RAW processing. In this case, I needed a little more depth of field, and a pretty fast shutter speed to stop the action in the dogs. There is a always a compromise to be made, since as you can see, that even at f10, there is not a lot in focus!

Open North American dog sled race, Fairbanks, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark II, 300mm f2.8L IS, 1/640 sec @ f10, ISO 500