Melbourne International 3-Day Event - Equestrian Photo Shoot
Melbourne International 3-Day Event © Neil Anderson
Sixteen members attended the Show Jumping event of Melbourne International 3-Day event at the National Equestrian Centre, Werribee.
The weather was very pleasant; chilly early, which soon warmed up and there was no wind. There was blue sky all day, which was quite contrasty for photos.
There was a wide range of jumps in the show jumping arena, and there was an adjacent area where contestants and their horses warmed up with jogging around this area and three different jumps.
Jumps had a range of different orientations (some west facing, north and south facing and some in between). These different orientations provided opportunities where horses and riders were well lit by the contrasty sunlight. Although some horses and riders sometimes decided to take an angled approach to a jump, which occasionally negated the best paid plans of photographers.
For show jumping it is possible to focus on a jump and then capture a horse and rider as the front legs of the horse clear the jump, and then continue to take images are the horse and rider clear the jump. Variations were head on, partially side on and completely side on for captures, and the variability of different colours of horses. Lenses with a focal length of 100 to 150mm were an advantage, and a shutter speed of greater than 1/500th second stopped the motion.
Viewing spots around the arena were definitely not crowded. It was very easy to move from one location to another to get photos of different jumps. Selection of contestants for Paris Olympics was decided, and it was amazing the number of younger riders that participated very competitently in the last events.
In addition to the show jumping, there were plenty of opportunities for photos of a rider interacting with their horse in the warm up arena. Other opportunities were presentations of winners for an event, the "walking of the course” by contestants prior to their event to decide their approaches to each jump.
There were a rang of distractions around the show jumping arena: tents along one side, vehicles parked at various locations, and a grandstand. Getting down at ground level, and shooting from close to the ground allowed most of the distractions to be minimised, and improved the perspective of horses clearing jumps. (When I got home my wife had a negative comment on the sand and other debris on my black trousers. An opportunity for improvement next time would be to take a sheet of plastic to lay on.)
The general consensus was that members enjoyed this photoshoot, and would be interested in the Cross Country Course next year.
