The Judge
Rider taken from ground level
Welcome to the first blog on sabelaimages.com. This coincides with the launch of a new home page. A new gallery has also been added to showcase the two most recent events that I have photographed. First up will be the Carolina Renaissance Fair where I spent the day on November 15th, and an Equestrian event at Thoroughbred Training Center on November 8th. There are numerous other small changes throughout the site, mainly to improve navigation. I welcome any comments and suggestions on the website, and please report any problems.
The plan for future posts is to write weekly about related topics. Initially I will include several basic photographic “how to” discussions. Future subject matter will be guided by your feedback, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Talking of photography, which I have been doing for many years, I was reminded by a recent experience that I am still learning. My approach when photographing events is to try to be as unobtrusive as possible. The best or worst example was a wedding I photographed years ago. The bridal couple seemed a bit agitated when I met them a few days after the wedding, to hand over the proofs. Their mood changed dramatically when they saw the proofs. Turns out they had been concerned that during the wedding I wasn’t taking any pictures. I had been a bit too unobtrusive! My learning experience happened a few weeks ago at an equestrian event. I was doing my usual thing trying not to get in anybody’s way. To add a bit of variety, I thought of altering the angle, so I lay down on the grass, tripod set very low, with the camera about 6” off the turf. I was just outside the arena, shooting upwards through the fence. Suddenly the judge, from the center of the arena, called out to me to get up off the ground and back off! I complied of course, but didn’t know what I was doing wrong. I had been lying very still and thought I couldn’t be a distraction to any horse or rider. Later I found out that horses tend to look straight ahead. If they notice something lower, they will look down, maybe drop their head a little, or worse, the horse could get spooked. The judge had become concerned when he saw a slight hesitation from a horse approaching me. So no more lying on the ground close to the fence at horse shows for me!
Thank you and I’ll talk to you again in a week.
Duncan