Jeff Hancock

@bradluttrell I prefer your shot

I've worked a few Kentucky Derbys. And royally f-d up at one. I was working as a journalist at the Kentucky Derby when I got a HARD lesson in storytelling as one of the horses collapsed in front of me. It was 18 years ago, but the lesson sticks with me today. I was shooting for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The senior photographers had the angles that mattered. I was a lowly intern thrown in after the finish line. I knew I was basically being given a moral victory of being able to say I was there. Or so I thought. My cake walk turned into stepping shoeless onto hot coals. In front of 160K people, Big Brown won. The first Derby filly in 9 years, Eight Belles, was second. Then Eight Belles fractured both front ankles after the race, right in front of me. Where horses had just torn through at 40 mph, panicked men in suits now ran. No, they sprinted. I didn't know what was happening (I was and still am not a horse racing guy). So I followed the track rules and didn't get on the track. I photographed what I could with my angle in front of me. I never moved. But I was losing the shot as trainers put up a tarp. I wondered: Should I move? Should I break protocol and run onto the track? Nah. Surely someone else was closer. A professional. I'm just an intern. I bet they'll have a better view. They didn't. I saw someone sprinting with a long lens over his shoulder. AP photographer Charlie Riedel jumped the fence and got the shot. It ran nationally that week. It wasn't mine. Back at the office, the photo editor spared no words. To paraphrase: I had stuck to my spot. I photographed everything I could. But I'd put my task at hand over the goal: covering the whole story. While Charlie's photo (and a few others) had the reach, mine got some play. But I had majorly screwed up the chance to tell the story because I let what I expected to happen challenge what happened. Today when I do audits for Prologue, I actually apply this lesson: Sometimes things come up. Unexpected findings, and we dig into those. I recently spent about 2 weeks digging into something seemingly ancillary with potential to be more. Storytelling is more jazz than reading the sheet music. You have to know when to ignore the task to reach the goal. 📸 My pic vs. Charlie's. In hindsight, I think mine is actually competitively interesting, with who I assume to be an owner or trainer running to the horse and jockey. It's a scene setter, but missed the action shot. And who knows what picture I COULD have captured had I moved.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆❗️ 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙆𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞 𝙑𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙡

@GeradParker1 Happy Anniversary!

20 years! We started in Raceland, back to KY, down to Martin, home to Marshall, up to Purdue, down to Duke, up to Penn State, West Virginia to an old friend at Notre Dame! Now TROY, AL! Can I get a hell yeah! Love you downtown Kandi Brown! Happy Anniversary❤️

@JustRockContent Too bad the video didn’t compliment the song’s vibe.

“Lunatic Fringe” is a song by the Canadian rock band Red Rider, released in 1981 on their album As Far as Siam. It reached #11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and became a staple on American classic rock radio. x.com/JVPALT2/status…

Happy Valentine’s Day to my love! Mrs M. N. Hancock!

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29 Words kill and words give life.

@PatMcAfeeShow Pat lives his life close to the edge

At one point this season I was the Mayor of CockTAHN in South Carolina #CollegeGameDay