I worked on a few of the cross country images I shot at the weekend and ended up with a few shots that I love to bits. It’s really cool when you can get a few iconic images from every shoot, whether its a portrait, wedding or equine shoot, clients just love a real wow shot.
I had a really good time yesterday shooting a x-country training session at Home Farm near Alconbury. I have watched x-country in the past, but this is the first time that I’ve been that close and in the thick of the action. The course was over four miles which I race around on my mtb trying to keep up with the horses, I don’t know who was more tired, them or me?? We got some great shots through the day, some of which I’ll be converting to HDR, watch this space.
I had a bit of fun the other day photographing Kim washing Marley. He didn’t exactly enjoy himself to much though, but he came away look very clean and shiny. Once Marley got back in his field, he became very loving and a bit frisky, lol. Casey, the other horse in the field must have been a bit upset that she looked dirty stood next to Marley as she tried chewing off her hoof!!!!
I had a great day at Santa Pod race track yesterday with my best friend Adam Sorenson. Adam invited me to shoot some of the fastest drift cars in the UK, in the hands of two stunt drivers from Los Angeles. Unfortunately because of the nature of the shoot and what the images are required for, I can’t say to much more about the day for a few weeks, then all will be revealed. The shots below depict the fun we had but don’t really do justice as to how close these cars were when they were drifting around us, using a 16mm fisheye lens meant I could touch the bonnets as the cars passed at speed, so cool. The rest of the day was spent inside the cars being thrown about like a tennis ball in a tumble dryer.
I usually shoot my equine jumping shots from a distance with a zoom lens, but as an experiment, I decided to move that much closer to the jump and use a wide angle. I was more or less under the horse as it jumped and it felt very intimidating, I could feel the horses hooves hitting the ground through my chest!! The shots are quite dramatic and the closer you get, the more impact I feel they have. The only downside with a wide angle lens is getting the angle wrong results in the horses head and limbs looking out of proportion and the jumps even though they were up at 3ft, don’t look as big. The practice will continue…..
We had a fab time at the Milton show near Peterborough at the weekend. Blessed with another fine day of glorious weather, I was able to shoot the show jumping and then got inspiration from some beautiful light to capture a few of the horses in the trees. This sort of light is perfect to capture animal and owner sharing some special moments together.
I was at South Farm near Royston on Sunday for the wedding of Juliet and Dan and what a great day I had. We were blessed with another glorious day of sunshine which made for some great shots around South Farms beautiful gardens. For me the day was topped off with a lovely sunset prompting me to drag the happy couple away from their guests for a quick photo shoot, well worth it though.
I’ve had a great day photographing my fiance Kim and her horse Marley during a photo shoot/clinic with instructor Nikki Herbert. Now I’ve had my first lesson, I can really appreciate how hard this sport is and what the rider and horse go through and the bond they need to develop. Kim left the clinic beaming ear to ear after Nikki told her that Marley will make a great jumper and should go a long way in the sport. Watch out for the editorial in the June or July edition of Your Horse magazine.
I had a wedding in Louth on Saturday, a bit of a drive for me, so I combined it with a visit to my parents making the weekend action packed and fun from start to finish. The wedding day itself was blessed with glorious sunshine, which was perfect to highlight the detail in Laura’s beautiful Benjamin Roberts dress. The Brackenborough Arms hotel is a perfect venue to hold your big day, with feature interior designing and beautiful gardens to whisk the bride and groom off to for a romantic photo shoot.
I had lot’s of fun last night at Sissans Farm evening show jumping event. Even though I go as the official team driver and unpaid groom, lol, I still take the camera to get a few shots of Marley and Cassie. With the studio now branching in to equestrian photography, it won’t be long before we sponsor a horse or two and have our branding paraded around all the local events and shows.
