Jillaroo Sprint, Carrathool, New South Wales

The annual Carrathool Races always provide great fun for the crowd, with special events such as the Jackaroo Dash and the Jillaroo Sprint, where most of the contestants doff their shoes for extra grip in the dirt track, which was officially classified as ‘Good’ on the day.

Biography:
Noel Butcher received his first camera around age 10. He enjoyed taking pictures but it was only in his teens when he began making prints in the darkroom that his passion for photography bloomed. This led to 20 years working for Melbourne's Herald & Weekly Times, starting as a copy boy in the Pictorial Department and finishing as Day Picture Editor of the Herald Sun, with many years in between as a Herald photographer; the Herald was a six days a week, four deadlines a day broadsheet. After the Herald, he freelanced for 20 years shooting for newspapers, magazines and corporate images with a photojournalistic approach. Retired, he now shoots images just because he wants to. His 'retirement' work has appearing in a few books with other photographers, as well as a solo book, 'Old Sheds'. While his cameras have definitely improved since his first, he is still learning and hopes his skills have also improved a bit over the years.