It was a whirlwind summer. This summer I spent a lot of time on my photography, and with the Saratoga Race Course practically in my backyard, I took to the Oklahoma Training Track, the main track, and the back stretch to photograph horses in a variety of different environments.
On several occasions, I went to the Oklahoma track at dawn to photograph the horses warming up. The first time I went, I had my Tamron 150-600mm rental with me. This lens has an incredible range and a decent performance for the price, but the slow aperture made it difficult to use in a number of situations. If I were to invest in a telephoto lens, I'd rather have a faster aperture and less range, where I could add a teleconverter when needed.
The Whitney Viewing Stand allows you to view the horses from above without the rail getting in the way, but I find the composition from that vantage point to be less interesting.
One morning, my friend let me use her 300mm f/2.8 lens. She warned me that I would become addicted, and she was right! This lens is something else.
Onto the back stretch. Another friend allowed me to use her 70-200 during one of the back stretch tours I went on. 
The 70-200 has a great IS feature that compensates for only vertical movement when panning.
At the back stretch tour you get to meet Buddy, a pony who helps the race horses stay calm.
Now onto the main track!
At the end of the summer, I made a sort of time lapse of many of the photos I took at the track. I thoroughly enjoyed capturing the sights and scenes of the track, and I can't wait for next year!
Tools I used to create the photos this post: Canon EOS 60D, Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM, Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM, Adobe Photoshop CS6
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