Here it is! My photos from the sorting event last Sunday in Okotoks, AB. Thank you again Susie Gittens Killam. Not much needs to be said, that was hard work. Let the photos speak for themselves.
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CUTTING & FENCING AT OKOTOKS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
What an event this was to take pictures of. Thank you to Susie Gittens Killam for having me out.
Of all events that I have photographed to date, this was right up there in terms of being the toughest. Not just in terms of the lighting but how much activity was always going on from all over the arena.
It was a very busy arena and I had to move really quick to get the shots that I wanted. Because this was my very first time taking photos of cutting and a bit of fencing (or even seeing it live for that matter), I wanted to focus primarily on the in-arena action so I limited my candid and out of the arena pictures. I only shot this from one side of the arena as the other sides were not accessible for me.
It did not take me very long to get my rhythm down. What an experience this was!
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HARNESS RACING AT CENTURY DOWNS RACETRACK & CASINO
Thank you to Chelsea Chase for having me out at the Century Downs Race Track & Casino last weekend. Though it got really muddy, it was still a highly educational day. Lots to learn, get adjusted to and train that muscle memory.
I have to say that photographing Horse Racing is incredibly fun but there is definitely a transition phase and adjustments that I have to make to get settled in. Expect to see better work in nicer weather the next go around!
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I WILL BE AT THE SPRUCE MEADOWS 2018 'NATIONAL' AND 2018 'MASTERS'!
I have people wondering and asking if I will be at Spruce Meadow's big events this year.
I will be at this years 'National' and 'Masters' held by Spruce Meadows in June and September of this year. No I am not going by an invite, I am going as a "spectator" but it's obvious that I will have all my camera gear along with me. I will only be there for the weekends for both events.
I will be shooting from the ground level bleachers. I will not be allowed to sell any of the photos that I do take - which is fine because I just want to be there and I just want to add my photos to my portfolio to show my audience again what I can do on the big stage and in this specific case, for the jumping world! I ultimately want to be in the grand stage of them all, so I will do whatever it takes to eventually get me inside the rings.
Though in this case I will have really tight restrictions to work within - which is fine. Challenges only make you stronger, they make you push harder to find new ways to accomplish what you are ultimately wanting to achieve.
I will be stationery as I will not have permission to maneuver around the rings - again that is fine. I will work with what's given to me and still make it happen and put out great work. A sign of a truly skilled photographer is one who works with any kind of restrictions and still manages to flourish and rise to the occasion in any given situation. This is exactly what I plan on doing.
PRESENTATION DAY WITH HORSE RACING ALBERTA
Thank you to Julie Brewster at Horse Racing Alberta for having me out earlier this week for their Presentation Day at Olds College. Now since this was my very first experience with Horse Racing, this day for the most part was an educational day.
As I predicted, it felt just like the very first time I photographed jumping at Spruce Meadows in the warm up arena last October. I took some pictures but for the most part I was observing and auditing since this is a very new event to me and I have to learn the ropes in how to best photograph them.
However, the next time that I will be out with Horse Racing Alberta, you can bet that there will be more photos for me to share as I will be at the racetrack. Even though I have not done it yet, I am confident that I could shoot a horse race today if I was at a track.
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WINTER FAREWELL TOURNAMENT AT SPRUCE MEADOWS
Thank you again to the wonderful staff at Spruce Meadows for having me back this past weekend for the Winter Farewell Tournament. As always, it was a blast!
This is a BIG one as this is by far my largest jumping album to date! I will say that nailing the constantly waving ribbons on a cantering horse during the victory laps was easily my toughest challenge.
I wanted to photograph this tournament as I would a regular show or event but it was really busy, a lot of tight spaces to maneuver around and I didn't want to get in any jumpers, coaches or staff members way so I kept my "out of the arena" pictures to a minimum.
With that being said, I have one main goal in mind and that is working towards an invite to the 2018 Masters in September and 2018 Nationals in June. That is my mission.
𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘. 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆.
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POLES & SPURS SKIJORING 2018
Here it is! My newest and latest album from the Poles & Spurs Skijoring event from this past weekend in Crowsnest Pass, AB. I promised everyone that I was going to redeem myself from my misfortunes at the Skijordue 2018 event a couple weeks ago and I feel that I most definitely have.
Thank you to Sacha Anderson and the Poles & Spurs Group for giving me this wonderful opportunity, it was an amazing experience. Such talented riders and skiiers in this event who all make it look so easy!
Thank you to Paula Johnson for being such a great assistant throughout the afternoon and even setting up a few shots for me! As crazy busy and fast paced as an event like this is, it always helps with the extra set of eyes because afterall I can only be in one location at a time. I can't wait until I find a permanent assistant because it takes a huge load off my shoulders without having to constantly watch my gear allowing me to just focus on shooting.
As for my friends who already know this about me in the fact that I generally do not take a lot of photos - I did not take a lot of photos at this event, but what I do take, I make it count!
Because the track was set up in an oval shape, at certain points throughout the event, I foreshadowed glimpses of what kind of photos I will be capturing when I begin photographing horse races later this year for Horse Racing Alberta.
This is just the second time ever that I have photographed Skijoring and I have to say that it is a very unique event to shoot. There are challenges that you work through when photographing Skijoring that I find unique to this type of event. You have the horse and rider but you also have the ski aspect of it and remembering that if you want to really sell this up and coming sport, then you have to capture both core elements of this event.
The very first time that I photographed Skijoring of any sort was about 6 weeks ago, shooting a practice run with Chelsea Brown, Dusty Wigemyr and their group out in DeWinton, AB. This was also the very first time that I have ever seen or heard of this kind of event. Before this day I knew absolutely nothing about Skijoring but after a couple hours in the practice run, I was confident in my ability and felt I was capable of shooting this type of event on a big stage.
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