Libby Riddles - The first Woman to Win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race

Winter 1980 - I had been working as a cook for a geophysical research crew out on the ice of the Beaufort Sea and

I think my schedule was something like 6 weeks on and one week off.  It was a fascinating experience full of

24 hour daylight, single engine airplanes on ski's and 60 degree below zero wind chill's.

I was just getting into photography at that time and was reading a lot about it and experimenting and taking lots of

pictures. I was also writing away for information from Brooks Institute and Art Center College of Design,

hoping eventually to pursue photography as a career ;-0

One of my breaks coinsided with the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race that year and it happens that I was

spending my week off with a friend who lived in Wasilla.  So, on the day of the start we decided to go and watch.

I had a new Canon AE-1 35mm camera and was excited to play around with the concept of "panning".

That's where you use a slowish shutter speed and pan or "follow" a moving subject with your camera.

When you get it right, this creates a sharp subject with a movement blur in the background.

The sled dog race was perfect for trying this out! So there I was panning away as the race contestants came swooshing by.

It just so happened that while panning, I got a pretty clear shot of Libby Riddles as she went by.

1980 was her first Iditarod race and in 1985 she was the first woman to win.