DAY 76

SPORTS & PHOTOJOURNALISM

Right Place at the Right Time

WOMEN’S 1,500 METER RACE

Think beyond the obvious. There were 20-plus photographers at the finish line of the Women’s 1,500 Meter Race at the 2005 Prefontaine Classic with their telephoto lenses waiting to get a photo of the winner passing through the ribbon.

I decided to take a chance, and using a 17-35mm wide-angle lens, captured the pack of runners sprinting to the finish from a different position. It was pure luck that this pileup took place directly in front of me. The probability of something like this happening in that exact section of the track was very slim, but my gamble paid off. The photo ran in the double-page “Zoom” section of ESPN The Magazine. —TH