Ryan's Journal

I went shutter happy and shot for a couple hours during and after the Boston Marathon.

This is third place in the men's wheelchair division coming down Commonwealth Ave. before the turn onto Boylston, the home stretch.

Third place in the women's wheelchair division; I missed most of the first and second placers precisely because the first time around, there was always something that needed correcting - either the autofocusing wasn't tracking or I wasn't near enough to the track to get a good shot in. By the time third came into view, though, I was prepared.

Third place in the women's open, from Italy, right past the mile 25 marker.

A random fellow in the men's open (from Arizona) on the Boylston stretch. I ended up taking a hundred or so pictures from one spot, most of which didn't turn out very well due to the lack of directions in which I could aim without getting most of somebody's head in the way. This is about the only worthwhile photo.

The Boylston stretch from afar. I saw a good number of photographers (many of whom had telezooms to give mine major envy). One encounter took place where I was taking this picture earlier in the day. I had been headed towards the spot when he arrived and started setting up some of his equipment. As soon as he saw me, he told me to go away. His reason? More photographers would start crowding around if we both were there. Terrible logic.

Note to self in dealing with other photographers: be generous. Photography is an art, not a bloody war. Find a good shot and share it.

Having never run a marathon, I can only assume this is one of several postures of victory (he has a finishing medal).

It's the post-race photos that end up saying the most. I ran out of space on my memory card and had to find a shop to buy a bit more so I could make sure to find some of these stories. If I'm not running next year, I need a female companion to come with to lend a slightly better feel to subjects of my photography walkabouts.

My favorite from this set: superwoman.

Well done, runners of the 109th.

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