Formerly My 2p, established in 1999.
Irish event rider and championship medallist Cathal Daniels was teaching in Leicestershire this week. The 23-year-old from County Galway had been competing in the arena eventing class at the Liverpool International Horse Show and found time to teach at the newly opened equestrian centre at Hyde Lodge Horses, near Tilton on the Hill. Daniels, whose horse Rioghan Rua recently won …
The Cottesmore Hunt, founded in 1666, continued the tradition of meeting on Boxing Day in Oakham as they congregated in Cutts Close today. Despite heavy rain there was a good turn out of mounted and foot followers as well as a handful of quiet protesters. Although fox hunting was banned in 2004, exemptions include trail hunting (the following of a …
The Quorn Hunt traditionally hold their opening meet at their kennels at Kirby Bellars, just West of Melton Mowbray. Since the 2004 Hunting Act, fox hunts have become clean boot packs, following previously laid trails for the hounds to follow, and carrying a bird of prey in case a fox is flushed by hounds accidentally. After the meet itself, attended …
Caveat: I am not an audiophile. My AV receiver and speaker set-up did not cost five-figure sums (quite the opposite). BUT, if you want to know how to achieve proper surround sounds. The need for better sound from my PC Some time now, my desktop PC has been connected to a pair of those Bose Companion II speakers, designed for …
Many computer systems nowadays come with SSD (Solid State Disk) drives for the operating system to ensure quick start up times and fast read/write times for the operating system and applications. The only problem with this superfast technology – particularly the small on-motherboard M.2 drives – is that it is relatively expensive compared to larger format SSD technology and you …
This year I was once again commissioned by Land Rover to photograph the Burghley Horse Trials for them as title sponsor. In addition to photographing the equestrian competition event in a way which incorporates Land Rover branding I was asked to photograph the Land Rover “activations”: the company’s stands, hospitality areas and other public-facing activities. The images taken during the …
One of my freelance jobs every year involves taking Royal Welsh Show photos for the official equestrian photographers. Sadly it was not always a pleasure. There is a list of official Royal Welsh Show photographers listed on the RWAS website and the company I work for is clearly listed. However, throughout the show we were seeing photographs listed for sale …
In May I was phoned by Thomas March, Piggy’s long term partner, who asked me if I was free to photograph a party which was being held to celebrate Piggy’s win at Badminton Horse Trials a couple of weeks previously. I said I was and the date was duly secured. Nearer the time, Tom rang again and asked me to …
My images of Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials will be uploading to the archive throughout the event, starting on Wednesday the 1st May with the first vets inspection. Commercial and editorial enquiries are welcome at any time – images will be available via a rights managed licence immediately they are uploaded. Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials 2019. Mitsubishi Motors Badminton …
I have had to wait a long time to publish my images from the Quorn Ball in March. I agreed to an embargo with a national magazine but hadn’t realised it would not be in their next issue, but the one after. The event moved to a new venue this year, which seemed to work very well. The ball was …
Belton Horse Trials are traditionally one of the warm-up events for horses heading to Badminton Horse Trials in May. There are international sections at CCI4*-S – The Grantham Cup attracts over 100 entries – and CCI3*-S level, as well as national classes from advanced down to novice. In previous years I have been employed by the event photographer at Belton …
There are different styles of equestrian photography for different purposes. Put simply, (equestrian) editorial photography is about the person on or with the horse, while event photography is all about the horse itself. This simplifies what is a wide gamut of photography styles for different people with different needs. However, it is true to say that an editorial style is …
In the first blog in this workflow series I described how I use Photo Mechanic to ingest images from my camera cards, adding appropriate metadata at the same time to ensure that when the images go online they will be easily found by search engines. So now the images are safely imported onto my hard disk and it is time …
For some time now it is been frustrating me that, as a photographer, when I want to add multiple images to a blog post using the new WordPress Gutenberg interface I have to do each image one at a time. In fact, it annoys me so much, that I started to post multiple images as galleries instead. WordPress galleries though, …
I traditionally start my eventing season at Oasby Horse Trials, near Ancaster in Lincolnshire, where the four-day competition runs sections from BE90 level up to Intermediate. The intermediate competition includes open sections which have become a recognised warm up for horses planning to compete at Badminton in May, followed usually by a three (now four) star at Burnham Market or …
The Melton Hunt Club Ride is an unusual event. There is a prescribed starting gate and a matching set of flags at the finish. In between there are markers, some of which must be left to the left, some to the right. Besides these restrictions it is up to the riders to choose their route to finish as quickly as …
For the first time in in recent years the Belvoir Hunt Ball was held in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, in February, having previously been held in mid-Summer, in a marquee at the kennels, on the Estate. The Grade 1 listed castle is the ancestral home to the Dukes of Rutland and sits in of 15,000 acres. It is currently the home …
UPDATE – The ride has been POSTPONED due to the ground conditions and we will try again on Sunday 17th February. UPDATE – The gate onto Pasture Lane (next to fence 19) will be open. This year The Melton Hunt Club Ride is sponsored by Chestnut Horse Feeds and RoR to whom the organisers are very grateful. Download the course …
Hippo is a family company based in Lincolnshire which manufactures hot water horse showers for equestrian establishments of all sizes. Each one is lovingly hand-built by a fully qualified gas engineer using top quality components – no cheap ebay boilers here. They have no pilot light so they do not experience the same wind problems suffered by cheaper makes. Hippo …
I was recently approached by Samantha Finnemore, a Rutland-based veterinary physiotherapist, looking to revamp her web site and add new content. She was keen to commission me to produce both video and still photography of her at work, with horses and dogs. Sammy was keen to use a realistic working environment for the shoot, and we were very grateful to …
