Hoys Photographer

[foxylady]

Anybody else bought photos ? we did and are really disappointed in fact when my daughter got home with them I couldn't believe it it looked like they were taken in black and white !!!!! Come back RTI soo much better , have decided to email and complain they are so bad.

[hairy]

I have to agree Ive never purchased one from them that I really liked or was taken well, I have bought them because you have to get one when you are at hoys but totally agree with you, would love to see RTI there or even equinational, both of which take superb photos, I did spot Steve Dawe there taking pictures if showjumpers (on feet) in the lorry park so he was around.

[jm]

Who was the photographer? my photos weren't ready when i looked...

[bubblyxx]

The photographer is The Event Photographer.

I emailed them before HOYS because I was concerned about their ability to deliver a quality product.

They sent me a HUGE email - which they said I could pass on.
So here it is ......

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Thanks for taking the time to send us your pre-HOYS feedback email and thank you for being candid. I wish we had had some frank and honest feedback at the show in time to do something about some of the issues that have become apparent post HOYS 2008. It was not until several weeks after the show when we stumbled across some negative posts on some of the forums that we realized that we had disappointed some competitors because no such feedback was received during the show. In fairness to ourselves and to balance the overall picture we received a huge amount of positive comments during the show regarding not only the actual photos themselves but also our general business attitude e.g. no charge for copyright and use of viewing stations as opposed to proofs and this was reflected by the volume of sales in our tent. On the back of this we left the show feeling elated at how well the show had gone for us.

I am sorry to hear that you and some other competitors were disappointed last year. We totally understand the importance of HOYS and our responsibilities to all concerned by undertaking to cover such a prestigious event. Last year was our first time at HOYS. Despite 6 years intensive experience as equine photographers at county shows and championship shows around the UK, a photographers’ first year at HOYS is steep learning curve as a different and unexpected set of rules apply to HOYS. We have that one years’ vital experience and have put into action many changes for HOYS 2009. You haven’t been terribly specific in your email in terms of stating which classes you entered so I will attempt to briefly address some of the more general issued that we have responded to further to taking onboard competitors feedback and extensive discussions with Grandstand.



Last year’s HOYS saw a change in the hall used for the Caldene Arena. We came down to see HOYS 2007 (e.g. the year before we were to cover it) to see what lighting there was and thus what lenses we would need for that lighting and then arrived at HOYS 2008 to discover that a different type of lighting was in use. Prior to our taking over from RTI (Real Time Imaging), RTI was able to use flash photography which I’m sure you can appreciate makes a huge difference to the quality of indoor photography. We had to adapt our procedures to a non-flash environment and invest heavily on equipment that would have produced the goods in the Caldene arena as we saw it when we came down to visit HOYS 2007. This year with the benefit of last years experience we have purchased additional lenses which we believe will be ideal for both the Caldene and the International arena so the general quality of prints should be better. There is an absolute no flashgun policy in operation at HOYS (which for the record I totally agree with) and thus we do not use flash so we have to make do with the light that is available in the arena’s as is. That should address some issues regarding general print quality.


As regards the content of the prints e.g. issues concerning the downhill / uphill effect that we discovered was an issue for many people please see an explanation here on our website …


www.theeventphotographer.co.uk/cgi-bin/store/imageFolio.cgi?LooksLikeImGoingDownHill=1



… The solution of rotating the photos to get around this downhill / uphill effect affect can be done in camera whilst shooting OR afterwards on the computer at point of sale. This year we will be hiring a dedicated member of staff to rotate images that were not successfully leveled in camera sufficiently so all trotting and cantering shots should be level before you even get to see them on the viewing station.



The other issue that some competitors complained about was “funny angles”. Whether competitors were referring to the downhill / uphill effect or photos taking at an angle other than the classic exactly-side-on-shot I don’t know as competitors tend to make complaints and observations of a more general nature without being terribly specific. In addition to getting the exactly-side-on-shot I wanted to get some other shots from other angles like this one for example …


(There was a photo here of a horse taken 3/4 on - quite nice actually


… which I think makes a nice alternative to classic side-on movement shot. Competitors were buying a lot of these alternative angle shots. This photo is almost a classic dressage shot rather that showing shot in style but I think looks great when you get it exactly right. This competitor brought several of this even though there was a large choice of classic side-on movement shots of her and her horse. In the Caldene arena we had one cameraman taking the classic side-on movement shot and one taking photos like this one above. We noticed in shows that we covered in the run up to HOYS that these shots were big seller as our customers were telling us that they were getting a bit bored of the classic side-on movement shot and that it was refreshing to see something different. The problem arose when we discovered that competitors were not impressed with the background of the classic side-on movement shots. Due to the two pillars in the Caldene arena and the position of the judges and stewards the cameraman who was taking the classic side-on movement shots was getting the walkway into the retail hall as a background. It seems that competitors were largely ignoring these photos and thus were just left with the classic dressage style shot alternative angle shot. The feedback that I got from the tent staff was that the classic dressage style alternative angle shot was selling like hotcakes; indeed much more than the classic side-on movement shot. Taking this feedback into account and the fact that we had seen a massive interest in the classic dressage shot alternative angle shot on the lead up to the show we believed that we had hit on a winner that was working both at shows before HOYS and at HOYS itself. Little did we realize that whilst some competitors were happy with these shots in actual fact they weren’t buying the classic side-on movement shots because of the unfortunate backdrop e.g. the black walkway into the retail hall with little spectators in the background! You can see how valuable some in-show feedback would have been in this instance! This year we will be looking hard for an alternative position for the second cameraman in the Caldene and absolutely ensuring that we get the classic side-on movement shot right as a matter of priority before providing any alternative choices. Last year we had issues over the number of photographers in the ring in the Caldene and how much this had the effect of restricting our movement in terms of finding somewhere to shoot from that also has a desirable backdrop, whilst negotiating the two very awkwardly placed pillars and ring party. You will have noticed the fencing all the way down one side of the arena used to demarcate the confirmation area used by judges. No one wants a photo of their horse taken with a white fence in front of it. We have discussed this issue extensively and it’s impact on our ability to get in the optimum position to get a photo from with Grandstand and they have done their best to accommodate us.


As regards Working Hunter photos the additional lenses we will be bringing this year will address the issues we had with low light focus in these classes. The same applies to Show Jumping photos. At county shows etc you will normally find that judges are reasonably relaxed about having an experienced and well behaved photographer in the ring during working hunter classes. As there is so much at stake at HOYS even if we were granted access to the ring during these particular classes I wouldn’t have allowed any of our photographers in the ring as it is just not fair on competitors. It is a competition first and a photo opportunity second. Taking photos from outside the ring whilst not getting in the way of the spectators again restricts our ability to get in the ideal position to get that perfect photo. Again this means there are additional restrictions to work to at HOYS.



Presentation photos have also been the subject of much discussion. HOYS runs like clockwork which is something that both competitors and spectators should be grateful for, however this also means that there is a only a finite amount of time in which to take a presentation photo. Whilst working to very unforgiving time restraints we have discussed how best to ensure that the best possible presentation photos with the eyes of the sponsor and rider / handler on the same camera simultaneously happens this year (instead of perhaps the sponsor looking at one cameraman and the rider looking at another cameraman which generally looks awful).



As regards charging a premium price; HOYS is an extremely expensive show to put on for both Grandstand and us. The fact that a show of this considerable size with this many spectators still relies heavily on the generosity of it’s sponsors should give an indication of the large sums involved in just staging such a show. The money generated from our photography rights are an important revenue stream for Grandstand and due to the sheer cost of putting on such a grand show Granstand are justified in charging us a premium rate for Official Photographer rights. The downside of that for you is that we have to pass some of that cost on to you as a competitor which means higher prices per print. As a rough guide line of how much more expensive it is for us to attend HOYS; we pay approximately six times what we pay to attend the Royal Welsh Show which is considered an expensive show for trade stands to attend. Our takings aren’t six times that of the Royal Welsh they are just shy of two times that of the Royal Welsh. For obvious economic reasons, much as we would like to, we cannot charge the same amount per photo as we do for the Royal Welsh and all the other shows that we do. Whilst appreciating our responsibilities as the official photographer to provide an excellent service and product we mustn’t get carried away and forget that we are a business and are there to make a profit as well. A modest increase in price per print is necessary for us to do that and make worthwhile all the work we do in preparing for and covering HOYS. As a rough guide we figure on recouping our cost of covering HOYS by halfway through day 4. Anything we take after that represents our profit.



As a further comment on pricing it is probably worth mentioning that we don’t charge extra for the frame or lettering as did our predecessors RTI; we offer an all inclusive price because everyone wanted a frame and everyone wanted Horse of the Year Show 2008 written on their photos. When you add up the cost per single print with a frame and lettering we are charging exactly the same price per single print as RTI did. Where we differ is that if you order more than three prints the price per print drops by £4.69 per print for our smallest size a 9” by 6”.



Also please remember that as I pointed out earlier we don’t charge for Copyright and never have done. From the point of view of the bigger picture regarding equine photographer it is healthy to have companies like us around because our getting the HOYS contract as a company with an open CopyRight Policy has I forced some of the established companies to review their Copyright Policy and fall into line with ours. Having said that I fully appreciate that an open Copyright Policy is worth nothing if you believe the photos aren’t worth buying in the first instance!



There are other changes we have made this year. We have upgraded all of our computer system used at the show so processing of customers should be faster. Our web server has now been upgraded twice since last years HOYS so we are hoping that post show viewing of photos on-line will be a more pleasant experience and the photos should be available more quickly this year. We will be taking our web server off line (except for a short message explaining why we have done so) so that we can upload the photos more quickly this year. We have also dramatically upgraded our Broadband connection just for the month of October to allow this faster upload. We also have more staff employed compared to last year’s show.



“There is more to photography then pressing the multi-shoot button!” This comment shows a misunderstanding of how the multi-shoot button it works and is used. If you use the high frame rate burst or multi shoot button as you call it, this in itself does not guarantee that you are in step with the horses’ stride. You still have to get in sync with the horse and the if you were to listen to skilled photographer using this technique you would hear that the camera drive stuttering as they endeavor to make tiny adjustments to the sync as they track the horse around the ring. Our use of this technique does appear to offer an opportunity for other equine photographers who coincidently are our competitors to put in a cheap dig at us. We have heard them level the accusation of our use of the multi-shoot button as though this were synonymous with a lack of experience or skill. Most of the equine photographers who offer a better quality product use the same camera bodies which are all capable of high frame rate burst but I’m pretty confident that I can guarantee that they won’t be getting the same results as us as use of this feature is a skill in itself. If it were so easy to use this technique to such productive effect why doesn’t everyone use this feature as it is a feature which is now widely appearing on run of the mill semi-pro SLR’s.



All the photographers who worked with us last year at HOYS had two seasons worth of experience and I myself have six years experience. It is simply not true to say that we attempted to cover HOYS 2008 with inexperienced equine photographers.



As I have said before there has been much discussion between ourselves and Grandstand with a view to providing a dramatically improved service all the way across the board both in terms of quality of the photos themselves and the purchasing experience. There are some issues that we are totally empowered to change and some where it is still the case that we do our best job given the restrictions that apply at HOYS. We are not slow learners and have taken on board all criticism in so far as we have had specific criticism to respond to. If you have more specific concerns you would like to discuss with us pre-show you are very welcome to contact either myself on 07779 147 229 or my wife Rebekah on 07973 360 181. I have tried to cover the main issues that affected our performance last year as has been apparent to us via horsey forums and direct feedback to Grandstand. Also any feedback in show would be welcome as long as it is delivered in a pleasant and constructive manner.



On a parting note I think that it is pertinent to remind you that a lot of competitors were far from happy with the RTI experience before us and that we were offered the job on the basis of the consistently excellent service we offer to competitors at the other shows that we attend throughout the UK. We would not have been offered the job if we didn’t have a good reputation. Whilst we are aware that there is clearly a lot of room for improvement over last years service I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we received a lot of compliments in our sales tent and we sold a high volume of photos.



There are still situations that may arise that can dramatically impact the photos you get or even prevent us getting a photo of a competitor’s horse at all. For example if a horse stops right in front of the part of the ring carefully selected for it’s background during the trot around then until the camera person finds another suitable gap between the arena party and other photographers or the horse moves on they cannot resume shooting. There is about a 3 minute window at the beginning of each class where the horses trot and canter around en-mass. Even a 30 second delay until a misbehaving horse stops causing a disruption to the pace of other horses in the class has a dramatic affect on our ability to cover every one. HOYS is not like other shows where there is a possibility that the horse may be captured in another class in the same show. So you can see that there are quite commonly situations arising where we can simply cannot get a good photo or even a single. Even with out things like this happening there is still a fair bit of overtaking in the ring due to different horses or ponies simply having a different pace. No one has yet bought a photo with another horse in the background or foreground so when this happens we have no option other than to stop shooting until the next horse with a clear background arrives. This is again something beyond our control. We can only photograph a horse going well if it is going well. If a horse isn’t going well because it is being blocked a misbehaving horse ahead of it or for what ever other reason then there is nothing we can do about that. We can only photograph what is in front of us. Circumstance will dictate to a certain extent our success rate.



As I said earlier on in this email; you haven’t been terribly specific in your email in terms of stating which classes you entered, and therefore which particular classes the photography was an issue for you. If you would be so good as to reply with that information and be a bit more specific about exactly what the issue was for you (e.g. was it movement shots or presentation shots or perhaps we didn’t capture you at all for some reason) that would be immensely helpful to us.



On a final note please trust me when I say that we have taken every measure to correct the problems that have come to our attention and implement a solution that will improve our product and customer satisfaction. We are a company that has taken on board over the years our customers comments and concerns and I hope this response has been of some assurance to you. Please pass this email onto anyone else you know who may have similar concerns to yourself.

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I hope this gives you some idea of what to do

[coffeepot]

fair do's for a very professional and comprehnsive reply. I hope they do get it right, proof of the pudding and all that

[tiptoes]

No better this year, I am afraid to say. My daughter's FIRST ever visit as a competitor. She decided to make a proper "book" of the event, from packing thelorry etc etc.
Half the photos taken were missing and those we saw were of odd angles. Pony (sorry, horse as is a mini) looks as if it has a massive head. Diagonal wrong.........and the writing at the bottom ("horse of the Year show 2009") is over the pony's feet (very small feet). We spent forty five minutes in the "tent" waiting for the piccies to be "found and uploaded" (they weren't).
To be honest she is totally "gutted" (as I believe is the correct teenage expression.)
I did not have the energy to complain at the time but will be doing so on a more formal basis.
There were 3 photographers in the ring - anyone know who the others may have been ?

[sageandonion]

It was a comprehensive reply but hardly professional. A professional would not go on and on and on but be too the point and polite. I really could not be bothered to read it all. It kept going to conclude and then there were several more paras. Oh dear.

[sageandonion]

I can't see any photos, surely the photographer at HOYS should be geared up to have them online almost immediately. Our riding club photographer manages it!

[foxylady]

They will not be allowing access to website until next week when they have downloaded all their pictures because last year due to the number of people trying to view the pictures it caused it to crash . I have compared this year's photo to last and it is loads worse , at least last year you could see the colour of my daughters jacket . I am told by my husband that it is probably due to the use of different lights that give out a cool grey colour opposed to the warmer yellow lights but in my opinion we are paying through the nose for a professional service and thats what we should recieve.

[goodgollymissmolly]

Oct 9, 2009 16:46:48 GMT foxylady said:

They will not be allowing access to website until next week when they have downloaded all their pictures because last year due to the number of people trying to view the pictures it caused it to crash . (

So much for upping the broadband limit this year

[crazydaisy]

nope sorry i wouldnt waste my money its very very disappointing - waited for the photos to appear on web site last year which were taken in the International Arena - absolutely rubbish - all taken in such a stupid position in the ring, anyone would think it was tiny, all photos had the railings behind the horse - doesnt seem to be any better, PLEASE bring back RTI never had one bad photo anywhere.

[tabbyx]

bring back RTI they take such good photographs always level and ponies always on right diagonals
the event photographer last year took so many with animals on the wrong diagonals.

[tessy]

To be honest we bought quite a few this year and found them far better than last year. They even gave us a larger version of one we had ordered FOC as they thought it was such a fab photo.

[hopeteam]

My friend qualified last year, and one of the ponies she rode was very special to her because she broke schooled, and got her to HOYS herself! and her photos are off diagonal, funny angles etc..


Bring RTI back, or Equinational!

[busybusy]

I have to say that the photos RTI took of our pony in 2007 were awful - I left the photos with them at the show so they could make the necessary adjustments.....it arrived at home 2 days later unchanged. They said there was nothing they could do - the camera was faulty and we were one of 2 rounds affected until the replacement camera arrived. They would not offer a refund or reductin (AND I had paid for the postage).

The photo staff this year spent quite a lot of time making adjustments and we were pleased with the results - especially as they were not allowed into the actual arena during the whp classes!! The only problem we had was that we hadn't realised they had at least a couple of cameras covering each class - so you have to check the whole class or you could miss half of the photos of your pony!

[slj]

The HOYS photographer is POO.............?

Was last year too my friend got pictures of her and
her horse but the photographers helper with the TIC TACS
is half on all the pictures too..................

I have heard of some other photographers trying to get
the contract but the Event photographer got in ......again!

[alo]

Well.... our pictures were great!!!!!

Really chuffed

[springer]

Our photos were awful. Some were completely blurred & some were taken at a perculiar angle. Plenty of pictures but we only found one we liked. The trotting shots were taken when the pony had gone past so taken from behind. Had one printed then went back 2 days later to get 3 copies & when we got home we compared the colour & the 3 copies were so much paler than the first pic. I think they needed to replace the ink cartridge!! Much prefer RTI. Much more professional shots.

[zeebeedee]

Must admit all ours very fine and they took loads although I only bought one was spoilt for choice. May end up with another when they are online. I do find that at RIHS you tend to only get one photo taken and it is nice to have a choice. We had trot on both reins, canter and gallop as well as loads in the lineup taken. Wish they had been a bit cheaper though.....

[ahj]

I have to say that I thought the pictures were fantastic! There were loads taken of our horse, and all of good quality with a wide variety of different angles and shots. We really couldnt be happier, and the staff have also been incredibly helpful.

They have obviously taken on board what people on here have been saying, and their website clearly shows that if you arnt happy with you picture, they will do their best to change, and improve the picture for you. With this in mind, I really cant understand what everyone is so unhappy about!!

[baileybob]

I too was disappointed, the staff were friendly and helpful and quite obviously worked their socks off, however all my pictures were as if the horse had gone past and the picture taken from behind. There are plenty of pictures but despite wanting to spend my money, there were only 2 I bought (And I tell everyone who see's them "They're not that good, but....."). It appears to me the photographers don't seem to "see the picture" lots of mine were at awkward moments, mid-stride etc - or maybe this is time pressure - they just get as many as they can taken in a tight timescale and hope some are good?

[hairy]

Oct 16, 2009 8:49:10 GMT baileybob said:

I too was disappointed, the staff were friendly and helpful and quite obviously worked their socks off, however all my pictures were as if the horse had gone past and the picture taken from behind. There are plenty of pictures but despite wanting to spend my money, there were only 2 I bought (And I tell everyone who see's them "They're not that good, but....."). It appears to me the photographers don't seem to "see the picture" lots of mine were at awkward moments, mid-stride etc - or maybe this is time pressure - they just get as many as they can taken in a tight timescale and hope some are good?

Totally agree, exactly how mine were and many others I have just viewed on there website, I wold have happilly spent a fortune forgood photos a memory lasts for a lifetimes but I like you show people and say I have much better ones of him!

[Scribbles]

Am I being impatient or is the website going super slow?

Didn't have a chance to buy or see ours at the show as we had wagon problems as some of you know ha ha! Hoping to god there is at least ONE decent picture for me to buy, will be really disappointed if there isn't.

[columbine]

Can't get on their website now.

[Annoyed Competitor]

I cannot believe that the HOYS photographers have to explain why they are rubbish as photographers. I have shown at HOYS for the past 4 years and upto them getting in at HOYS, I never had a problem with the photographs.

Firstly RTI gave me a choice, i could either pay £15 or have the choice of the additional extras and pay £20. Because of the greed of the new photographers, i now have to pay a minimum of £20.

Secondly I am informed by the old HOYS photographer that any payment made to HOYS from the photographers is a "Commission" bid (A voluntary payment). So I deduce that Event photography bid the most. I also know that Event photography have a very good friend on the HOYS committee, hence another reason for their successful bid.

Thirdly I am part of a committee, that had Event barred from photographing at The South Of England Show, because of their unprofessional manner as Equine photographers.

Fourthly Why do "Event" have to explain why they are so bad at Horse Photography. This "Classic" Dressage shot is no such thing. It is a photograph that i have had the unfortunate experience of seeing used by many equine photographers, of my horse and quite frankly does not show my HOYS horse as it should be shown. The Side on shot, is important because when shot correctly, it will show the full extension of the horse and all its musculature from the side, it will show the correct position for the horses head and neck and emphasise the horse movement. this "Classic" dressage shot as they glibly call it, will never be able to do this. It is a bad shot and i think it is used by Event because they cannot get "The boring" side on shot. when the horse is moving towards the camera it is difficult to see whether the extension is a full extension, and therefore if the picture has not achieved this "Movement" and there is a bend in the legs, it is hard to make this bend out. I have shown horses for 25 years and the side on shot is the hardest to achieve. there are a lot of so called photographers employing the "Multi shoot" who still cannot and never will be able to guarantee getting the correct moving shot. RTI did manage to get most of them at the HOYS that he covered and I am informed that he does not and never will use the "Multi shot" technique. Most of my friends try to take their own pictures at Shows and they have to use this multi shot effect in order to try and get that moving shot, but they still fail 9 times out of 10. There is absolutely no skill involved as my 6 year old daughter will testify.

Fifthly for £20 a picture I would expect a cardboard frame that does not fall apart.

"Event" claim that there are reasons for missing various moving shots. but during 2008 they had 3 photographers in the arena, and when we did our individual show, they still kept a photographer in. so how did you miss us then? No misbehaving horses then?

I am absolutely annoyed at the feeble excuses given for their poor photography and absolutely disgusted that in 2 years of HOYS coverage I have not, nor have my friends, had a decent picture taken. I cannot believe that HOYS have employed "Event" as their photographers.

[columbine]

I did eventually manage to get on website and wanted to see Friday and Sat Caldene photo's. Great if you have a day to spend, never known anything so slow. Would probably bought a couple of pics, but gave up.

[popsox]

My daughter has spent most of today trying to look at the photos, with no luck at all!!

[hairy]

I have tried several times to get on also throughout today with no luck!!
Please bring back RTI!!!!!

[simoncooke]

Hi All,

I would like to reassure anyone who is trying to use our website that we at The Event Photographer are not taking the "michael" as someone has suggested! Since the show which is a 19 hour working day for us I have worked around the clock to get some 70,000 photos on-line. When the photos went live at 8 o'clock this morning our website ran fine. By 9.30am and word got around that the photos were available there had already been 1,800 different people trying to get on our site. Where all these visitors come from I have no idea considering there are only 1,500 competitors but the server stats do not lie. Our website is not running on a cheap and cheerful business hosting package; it is running on a dedicated top of the range monitored server. A monster of a machine, it may be, but few web servers can cope with that kind of load for which, by the way, we have to pay some £299 / month to run plus VAT. We wouldn’t be shelling out that sort of money if we didn’t care about our customer’s photo browsing experience. Much as I would like to, I am powerless to do any more to make your browsing experience any better. Please believe me when I say it is as frustrating for me as it is for you having 4 days (and four nights) after a marathon of a show preparing the photos. Please remember that we are painfully aware that if you get fed up with the experience then you will give up so you can see that we have a vested interest in doing our best for you. At noon on Saturday 17th October our website hosting company discovered a hardware failure which was making the problem worse. This problem was fixed by 2.45pm.

Please try to be mindful of the fact that whilst we might be able to control how powerful our web server is, we have no control over the number of people trying to access our website. Over the next few days the initial rush to view photos should subside and gradually you should be able to get access. I hope!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the good folks on this and other horsey forums who have spoken up for us and been complimentary about our photos this year. A lot or preparation goes into our coverage of HOYS just as on your part a lot of preparation goes into qualifying and attending the show. We take HOYS very, very seriously and quite apart from wishing to make some money from the show (as we are a business) nothing would please us more than the satisfaction of knowing that we have done a good job and that you are pleased with your photos. We have taken on board all criticisms and feedback from last year and we hope that this improvement process will be continual. We are also very grateful for the positive feedback we have received both at the show and since the show on the phone. Most of you have been very kind.

If I can address some of the issues raised here …

As regards the comment that some of the photos are being taken after the horse has passed. We generally only do this as an absolute last resort if there is another horse in the foreground or background and we want to get at least some sort of photo of you. Sometimes we would like to have the superhuman ability to follow you around the ring to get that exactly side on photo but the fact is we can’t so sometimes there is a compromise to be made.

Taking the photo on the “wrong diagonal” relates to the above paragraph and is another thing that we cannot always control. It often depends on which diagonal the horse is on as it passes the photographer. If a horse or pony is on the wrong diagonal when it passes the photographer exactly side on that is the photo you will get. If we wait until moments later when it is on the correct diagonal it may have passed the point were it is side-on and raise the complaint (in the previous paragraph) where it looks as though it has gone passed the “sweet spot” as we call it. This is what can make it look as thought the horse has been taken a bit from behind. If you photograph horses outside in a big county show ring this is not nearly so much of a critical issue because you can put some distance between yourself and the horse. If you are photographing when you are virtually on top of the horses in an indoor arena such as the Caldene (which is the arena which seems to generate the most complaints) it is difficult to always get this right given that you cannot chase horses around the ring.

Whilst on the subject of the right diagonal I am myself quite often surprised to find that given the choice of a photo of their horse on the right diagonal or wrong diagonal quite often our customers choose the wrong diagonal. Don’t ask me why this is; it may be for one of several reasons. Whatever the reason is doesn’t change the fact that this is commonly the case and that’s why we include these photos as well as those taken on the right diagonal.

On the subject of focusing and some of the photos appearing blurred; we use the best sports cameras money can buy together with the best lenses. That said even the best cameras can struggle with the combination of low level indoor lighting AND a fast shutter speed necessary to freeze the motion of a horse. It comes down to a percentage game. A certain percentage statistically will be out of focus even though the camera is pointing directly at the horse center frame. Not so much of a problem in the International Arena which is brighter but perhaps more of a problem in the Caldene. If the 5 to 10 % that are out of focus happens to coincide with the exact moment when you trot or canter merrily past the photographer it is unlucky. Unlucky for the photographer but possibly devastating for you as a competitor. All cameras “hunt” for focus to a certain extent; more so the darker it gets. On a sunny day it very rarely ever happens. In a dark indoor school you might very well be lucky to focus at all sometimes. The Caldene Arena lies somewhere between the two!

As regards the colour of photos in the Caldene there is already a comment on our website about this. Whilst this is a fundamental issue it is also a very technical issue in the Caldene as there are both yellow and white lights running at the same time. A dilemma for the photographer is; do you set the colour by the yellow lights or the whiter ones. There is no easy answer. I could bore you for hours with the pros and cons of either option and get into a very long and very dull debate that photographer have been arguing about since photography was invented! Suffice to say we will do all we can to achieve a nice warm balance of colour in any photos you order. This will be done on a per photo basis. Each and every photo will receive individual attention and will be colour balanced to the best of our ability. It is a lot easier to add colour and warmth to a photo than reliable remove a yellow cast and still have a natural looking photo.

I hope that addresses some of the issues. Sorry if I’ve been a bit long winded but it’s good to provide an explanation where possible. I hope you had a good show and that you’ll hang on it there until our website traffic calms down a bit and thank-you again for your understanding and patience with us and the issues we have been experiencing with our website!

Best wishes to all,

Simon Cooke
The Event Photographer

[tuppence]

Thanks Simon for coming on to explain, but this issue is not unexpected. Surely, you can recognise that for every horse that actually competes there are 10 interested parties (parents, grandparents, aunties, teachers)? You need to provide a portal that can cope with the demand. It would help you a lot if you could send people home during the show to start adding photos. (Unemployed teenagers could do this).
I know you get ripped off by Grandstand Media but your photos don't come cheap either.

All this diagonal and lighting stuff is out of your hands so we can't blame you for that.