Harness: Conrad carries on a tradition

They are as ubiquitous as the outrider or track announcer, always at the finish line to snap the winning horse under the wire and then to catch the winner’s circle celebrations. There are a lot of good ones out there: Chris Gooden; The Lisa Brothers; etc. But if you are racing in Ohio, you need only two words – Conrad Photographic. Ok, now Conrad Photo (Conrad Photo - Ohio Horseracing Photography).

Currently Brad Conrad, carrying on in the tradition of his late father Barry, not only shoots at three of Ohio’s four pari-mutuel tracks, but he also shoots at nearly 30 fairs each year, including Delaware, the home of the Little Brown Jug.

It’s a very specialized type of photography.

“It’s funny,” Brad said. “At one point my wife wanted me to expand the business to other types of photography. I told her I don’t shoot babies or weddings. A few years later she was at a convention with me and the keynote speaker started their talk by saying, ‘I don’t shoot babies or weddings.’ I think she got it.

“I picked it up innately. I was good at it. I have had several people work for me – I trained them – but some people have it and some don’t. I think I’ve been involved since I was a kid – in the lab after school, printing race photos by hand for both pictures – wire and winner’s circle – plus adding text [name of horse, driver, owner, trainer, time, purse, etc.]. I got a business degree in college at Muskingham, but I knew what I was going to do.”

One reason Conrad Photo was successful is because they operated their own full photo lab and actually developed and printed photos for many other tracks.

“We were doing printing for the photographer at Maywood and Balmoral, Buffalo for a while, The Meadows, and Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred tracks all over Texas and Oklahoma,” said Conrad.

While Brad Conrad doesn’t shoot babies or weddings, Barry did, at least at first. He did all kinds of photography and having his own lab gave him a level if control other photographers did not have.

“I’m not sure how he made the contact at Scioto Downs, but he started shooting there in the seventies [1970s] and eventually took over,” said Conrad. “Dad wanted me to be in business and I enjoyed it. I really like photography and really likes racing. I hung out with dad at the track as a kid. Dad also had a couple horses of his own [notably the aptly named Telephoto, an Ohio-bred son of Sydney Hill who won 20 races in his career].”

The county fairs keep Brad busy. He travels to Greenville and Delaware (multi-day race meets) in a camper, explaining, “It’s not easy bouncing around like that. I have a lady who works for me, and a couple of other photographers who cover for me so I can be somewhere else. The fairs give me a good spot and I can get the work done.”

Many people don’t realize it, but the tracks do not pay the photographer even though their publicity offices often request promo photos for major events, or win photos to send out after big races. The tracks provide the photographer with a small office and that’s it.

“I am strictly reliant on what gets ordered. Publicity wise, good relationship with the tracks are important so there is trade off – I may get an ad in the program, that kind of thing, but I try to provide PR photos when they are needed as a courtesy,” he explained.

With Northfield Park searching for a permanent photographer and having issues finding one, I asked Brad what the key to his success and longevity were.

“Speaking for myself, it’s a good-quality product and good customer service. It’s no different than any other business. That’s no big shocker – with things going on at other tracks, I’m lucky that this is my full-time job. Working in the lab was kind of stressful. I thought ‘If I could just do the racetracks that would be pretty cool.’ And I have been lucky enough to do that. When an e-mail comes in I can answer it right away. I can get it done pretty quick – other track photographers may have other aspects of their business to deal with, shooting babies and weddings,” Conrad said.

Wait, e-mails? They weren’t around when Brad first started.

“The technology has sure changed,” he pointed out. “The transition to digital was difficult but it was good. It took a lot of getting used to. I am kind of resistant to change, Dad was actually better at it and dove into it, and once you get into that process it is a lot different. I’m sitting at my desk with computer on and working on pictures instead of in a darkroom for hours. I’m doing it all on the computer – a few flicks of the mouse.

“It’s so much easier,” Conrad continued. “I can remember I would hang out with dad – weekend featured race, that pic had to go out to publications, we would have to back to the lab, pick an imager, print it and drop it in a FedEx envelope. Now, I usually have the Scioto feature race posted on X [formerly Twitter] and to media outlets before the next race. It’s amazing.”

Conrad is always generous with his time and willing to help out aspiring photographers. He has the following advice for those who are interested: “Get as good as you can with your photos, with the quality. But again, customer service – when I hear horseman complain that they order pics and don’t get them from a track or from a fair, that’s wrong. If you are going to do it, do it right. Give them good service. Dad was a stickler on quality and service, and it got entrenched in me.”

Brad Conrad is not only a great photographer, he is one of the nice guys in our business and while he won’t mention it, that goes a long way toward his success, too.

That’s all for this time. Now go cash. And if it is at Scioto Downs, order a photo from Conrad.