Theodore O'Connor Legacy Fund...Photo tribute...

Yesterday I was doing a farm shoot and saw a couple of yearlings feeling their oats and doing what young horses do. Horse Play! One was bucking and running while kicking at her paddock mate. Somehow the filly got off balance while trying run, jump and kick at the same time and came down on her left rear quarter with a hard thud resulting in a pretty good tumble. I immediately thought of Theodore O'Connor and the tragedy he suffered recently. This little guy really held a special place in my heart and was such a pleasure to watch compete. The United States Equestrian Federation has launched the Teddy Legacy Fund to commemorate Teddy by constructing a new cross country obstacle at Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event remembering Teddy. Please donate if you can. The Horse magazine has several nice photos of Teddy by me and other photographers for sale on their website. Click blog below for a gallery of available photos. Here are a few more of Teddy...blog

Seldom Scene at The Festival of the Bluegrass
One of the first groups to catch my attention in bluegrass music was the Seldom Scene. Most teenagers were listening to AC/DC but the Seldom Scene kept my toes tapping' all through the 80's. It was the first music I turned my father on to that he actually liked. His exact words were "Now that's good music there"! Although Duffy and Starling are no longer with us, Seldom Scene continues to break new ground and offer that cutting edge bluegrass that I still love with Dudley Connell on lead vocals. And they still remain one of my personal favorites of all time. Festival of the Bluegrass wouldn't be the same with out them! Photos in 3 blog posts...

Big Brown and Monticule Farm...
Big Brown was bred by Monticule Farm. Dr. Knapp at Monticule is building a tremendous facility at and it is one of my favorite places to shoot. Unlike many other modern farms, Dr. Knapp has molded the farm around the rolling landscape which is true Kentucky. It's a modern state of the art facility but it looks like it has been there a century or more. It's easy to see that he loves the land as much as he loves the horses. I believe Monticule will be a major player in the thoroughbred industry for years to come... Read more on Marc's Blog.


Teddy O'Conner
Theodore O'Conner was more than a champion, he was a legend. Link to David and Karen's statement about the tragedy.

Few horses come along that touch all horse lovers the way Teddy did. On the night before the Belmont with the media spotlight on Big Brown and will he or wont he, I'm thinking of Teddy. He was the little horse that could! Big Brown may be able to run, but Teddy could FLY! Photos of Teddy  can be found on Pictopia...Read more on Marc's Blog.



High Hope Steeplechase
Okay, I know, I know! I am slow at posting things of relevance. I have had a lot of unique assignments in the past week along with my normal workload and things have gotten a little behind. Last weekend I shot the High Hope Steeplechase at the Kentucky Horse Park. The weather was absolutely perfect and I think I spent a little more time tailgating than I should have instead of photographing the event. I wasn't very happy with my racing shots this year. It seems like every jump I set up on never had a good "bunch" come over the jump at the same time. By the time they got to me, they were spread out and come over the jumps individually instead of in groups. But we had two races on the flat this year which meant fewer races with jumps. If I keep writing I will keep coming up with more excuses. But some days your on and some days your off. This was an off day for me. However, I did get a few nice ones...here they are...See photos on Marc's Blog...


Kentucky Horse Park
As soon as the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event concludes, the Kentucky Horse Park gears up for a month long event called the Kentucky Spring Classic which consist of two of the nations premier horse shows. I will be shooting there most of this week so if you see me, stop and say hey! By the way, there is a place for comments on each of these post and I'm not sure if it works properly. So if you see something you like (or don't like) drop me a line and let me know what you think. I am always interested in peoples comments on my work. Here are a few shots I got the other night at the Spring Classic. I couldn't stay long and the lighting in the arena is horrible for photographers. (Yes! The new arena will be much better). So I decided to try a few shots with slow shutter speeds on moving objects. Always a tough order to fill but I like a few of them. See you at the Ky Horse Park. more...

 

Scenes from Rolex-Kentucky 2008
I said earlier that would post some photos from Rolex that I took mainly for me. Many times I forget that I am on assignment at events like Rolex because there are so many opportunities to photograph...more...


Stadium Jumping at Rolex 2008
Sunday at Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event takes on an entire different mood than the other days of competition. There is a lazy tiredness left over from the previous days cross country for everyone from horse and rider to vendors and officials. The competition doesn't start till 1:30pm leaving time to wonder around looking for unique shots of competitors doing morning workouts. I was shooting for the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation again this year in the VIP tent. Sunday is the biggest day in the VIP tent with guest such as the Governor of Kentucky and many top owners, former participants and major supporters and directors of the Kentucky Horse Park and the USEF and USEA. The stadium takes on a festive atmosphere without an empty seat in the entire arena. Horse drawn wagons, pony clubs, color guards, introduction of past winners are just some of the photo op's available leading up to the Stadium Jumping and final segment of Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event.

 I spent about an hour walking around the stadium with a map of the jumps trying to decide where I would stand for the afternoon's competition. It's very important to select just the right place because from any one place you are only able to shoot about 3 jumps. Trying to determine the exact spot to get the best shots with the best background and angle on the horse and rider i crucial to getting great shots. There is an island located inside the jumping ring where photographers can stand that offers great shots, but once you go there, you must stay there throughout the competition. I prefer to shoot from the edge of the ring and have access to the competitors before and after their go. Lots of great drama around the end gate too. I selected my spot which happened to be the same location I shot from last year. I had a great angle on three jumps and one of them was the final jump at the finish line. However, it was a bit close this year and I like to get shots of the competitors after they cross the final jump. But it was by the end gate and I could get them entering and leaving as well as competing. Finishing up my shots in the VIP tent I headed to my secret little hiding spot only to realize a dozen other photographers were on to me and had already taken up positions in my secret spot that wasn't so secret anymore. Although this made getting certain shots a little more difficult, I still think it was the best spot there to shoot again this year.

The jumping competition was great this year with many riders jumping clean and improving their standings. Phillip Dutton on Connaught was one of them as they were perfect in jumping with only one rider to go, Becky Holder on Courageous Comet. I still don't understand the scoring in this sport completely but Becky's lead was only .04 of a point. This meant she had to make a perfect run through the course to win and if she failed to make time or knocked down one poll, Phillip and Connaught would win. The spot I chose allowed me to see the competition in front of me while every rider and most trainers were at my back watching to see if Becky and Comet could pull it off. As soon as I saw Courageous Comet scrape a pole and knock it down, I turned around and watched as Phillip realized he had just won his first Rolex. It was a great moment and I was so happy for Phillip, (who I picked to win on Thursday). Phillip Dutton is from Australia and rode as an Australian for many years. He recently became an American citizen and began riding for team USA but as he held the 2008 Rolex trophy over his head, he was beaming with Australian pride. Congratulations Phillip and Connaught. Good on ya Mates! more...