Hickstead 2013, The British Jumping Derby

I haven't written a blog in so very long, mostly because I rarely have much exciting news, however I have been keeping busy assisting other photographers at horse events such as The South of England show.

As the title may suggest though, this is just a quick insight into my second year working at The All England Jumping Course, Hickstead. After a brilliant experience interning last year I was thrilled to be invited back for this show season as a press office assistant!

The Spanish stallions of Stelling Minnis

Look at that, a photography post! I confess it's been a while and even still these photo's aren't new, I took them back in august. If you follow me on facebook or twitter however you will have seen glimpses of these every now and again. 

Andalusian horses are one of my favourite breeds and i'd resigned to photographing them "someday" for lack of knowing anyone who owned one. However, I am more than chuffed that my "someday" arrived a whole lot sooner and in a far grander scale than I could have hoped for. I discovered early last year a family run stud farm that are dedicated to producing purebred spanish horses and couldn't believe they had been on my doorstep this whole time and I never knew anything about them. I contacted Jayne, owner of the business, explaining who I am, what I do and how i'd always wanted to photograph this breed. As an avid Andalusian fan she was more than delighted to welcome me up to see them.

From the instant I arrived the horses were everything I could have hoped for and then some; expressive, lively and stunning! Jayne and her husband were more than willing to answer all my questions and I learned about their breeding programme, spanish riding/showing competitions in the UK and information about the breed.

The two resident stallions were the main point of interest this time around. Carceno V is a showing superstar and a total show off who exploded with energy the instant he was turned out. He seemed to be aware of the camera and took tremendous joy in performing for it, throwing his head around, rearing, bucking, leaping in the air, prancing and kicking. 

Carceno V

Ulano is the older of the two (If I remember correctly he's in his 20's) and has a unique gene that adds a silver sheen to his coat. There aren't too many spanish horses that have it but it's a characterstic which has been passed on to one of his offspring, a 2 year old colt that literally shone silver in the sunlight. He was let loose in the school and demonstrated a beautiful collected canter and extended trot with the elastic movement that is associated with the breed. 

Ulano

The full set of photos has been posted to my website so please click this link if you'd like to see them: http://lottesimons.com/andalusian.php 

For more on the work Jayne and her family do at Grays PRE Andulsian Stud head over to their website: http://www.grayspre.co.uk

All legs and personality.

This summer I returned to Stud UK Euro, they breed competition horses and I visited last year to get some shots for them and blogged a series of photos of their rising 2 and 3 year olds as well as the new foals.

I had seen them tweeting throughout spring this years new arrivals and was itching to go and play with some foals so asked if it would be ok to come and take some more photos, to which it was happily agreed that it was fine for me to come up any time.

He stalked me all around the field.
We became very good friends!

When I got to the offices to let them know I was there no one seemed to be expecting me so I mentioned that i'd arranged it with a lady over twitter that I was coming over to take some photos of the foals. Little did I know, twitter duties had been handed over from Katie, whom I had arranged things with the previous year, to Rupert (Husband & Business partner of the company). They called across to him to confirm that I was supposed to be there and directed me over to his office where upon arrival he introduced himself with "Hi, i'm the twitter lady." Bit humiliating!

Anyway, onto the foals! They're brilliant. In short, hilarious, sweet and cheeky. I had one little chap follow me around for a long time and kept getting in the way of my shots because he wanted ALL of my attention, I found myself sneaking round the field trying to outsmart him so that he would leave me in peace to work. For the most part they are all very inquisitive and as soon as I stepped through the gate I was full on ambushed by the lot of them, all curious to see who I was, what I was doing and what was in my hands. As well as the foals there is also the mares to contend with, those which are very sweet and enjoyed a scratch whilst others, understandably, were keeping an eye on the "kids." One in particular was happy to mind her own business and stay out the way but she had a particularly friendly foal who walked over to me a lot so she stood a little distance away but never took her eyes off me.

Hickstead Part I: The British Jumping Derby Meeting

If you were following the social networking feeds during the British Jumping Derby Meet you'll know that I was interning in The All England Jumping Course press office. Or if you follow any of my social newsfeeds then you'll also know because I didn't stop blabbing about it. Was far too cool and big a deal for me to ever shut up about! My main job was to be more behind the scenes and shoot specifically for the facebook page to give an idea of what life is like at Hickstead, though I did get a lot of opportunities to shoot some competition.

Customer Questionnaire

A rubbish guide to good photography: Horses

"Potentially good advice written poorly in the hopes it's useful to someone." 

I don't think I have once ever posted genuine photography advice and I think it's because I don't feel i'm in a position to do so. That only comes from a comparative point of view though. Comparatively I have far less experience than a lot of other photographers but then if I take that same opinion and flip it slightly, I have a lot more than others. So I thought "why not?" and here I am biting the bullet and sharing what knowledge I have.
Had you not already guessed from the title, this post is all focused on horses so if you're here for portraits or fashion then i'm sorry to disappoint. Perhaps i'll write about something more specific to those two areas another time.
So if you're ready to join Lotte's class of 2012 then you'll want to keep reading because all the useful parts of this blog will start at the end of this sentence. Or this sentence. Maybe it will never start because i'll just keep writing in more sentences. If I were you i'd just stop reading the rest of this paragraph and start reading the good stuff. Seriously if you've not skipped this bit I question your value of time.

Jade & Zatessa

Click to enlarge

A couple of weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and photographing Jade and her lovely mare Zatessa (Tess).
It was a lovely warm day and courtesy of Tess's charming but adventerous personality compelling her to go forth and explore new patches of road, grass, tree, sky, fence, leaves, gate and all other inanimate objects worthy of her attention, I was boiling hot and probably managed to burn 2 days worth of food keeping up with her. I have to say thank you to Jade for her infinite patience riding back and forth up the road for the perpetual lens changes.

I adore shoots where I have the chance to photograph both portrait and ridden images as you spend most of the day getting to know the owner and the horse as individuals within a co-existence. A relationship that you then have the responsibility of doing justice in the photos, setting up moments that represent that as well as sneaking shots of the spontaneous incidents where that just naturally happens.

Ridden and working shots, on the other hand, tend to leave me on the sidelines. Aside from giving tips as to where exactly to ride or circle around me to catch the best light, this is a chance for me to take a step back and watch the pair transform into one perfectly attuned team.
This is why I love shooting for horse owners and taking on private clients, it gives me that opportunity to witness and document the I, You and We of equestrianism and the challenge of making sure each shoot depicts the unique form of each one of those.

Jade Power:
www.drewdana.com
info@drewdana.com

Beautiful all year round

If you're the sort of horse owner who deems spring/summer the only seasons you can get good photos of your horse then you're certainly missing out. No, you wont get the shiny, sleek looking coat during autumn and winter but you do get a wonderful snap of their character shining through and the potential for photos that create a lot of drama.

Whilst I can appreciate the seasonal quality to equine photography, throughout the winter months I have clients book shoots for spring/summer when "the weather's a little better" or their "horse doesn't look so scruffy" Embrace the scruffy, fuzzy look! That's their appearance for half the year and they look just as beautiful as they do in summer, it's a variation to the normal horse images. The windswept look and grey stormy clouds can be incredibly dynamic and show your horse in a different light.

Also, don't worry about aspects of shooting in various weather conditions that are of the photographers concern. It's our job to do all the clever logistical thinking and planning and if we're not worried about it, you shouldn't be either. We have experience and equipment that can cope with all sorts of issues raised when shooting on location, infact, there's one photographer who posted a set of photos of a man herding his horses up when they escaped after the volcanic eruption in Iceland. His photos are striking and he was in a situation where there can't have possibly been much light due to ash cloud coverage and the weather conditions were volatile.

Furthermore, the concern of any stuck in dirt is nothing a good groom wont take off OR you can get some great action shots of them stampeding round in the mud, if you have access to a stable that has atleast one natural light source there's always the opportunity for simple yet effective portraits and finally there's the ability to use lighting equipment. Admittedly that last point is horse dependent, if they're easily spooked it's not necessarily going to be the best option for them.

I really hope i've managed to sway atleast one or two peoples opinions that horse photos don't have to be seasonal and the change in weather and your horses appearance can be used to your advantage.

Stud UK Euro

At the end of last month I paid a visit to Stud Uk Euro, top class horse breeders & suppliers, to take some photos of their young stock to be used on the website. This included their 3-4 year old stallions & geldings as well as getting to spend time with the mares and foals.

I find the toughest part about photographing horses in their field is mastering the art of getting them to leave you alone first! Their inquisitive nature to say hi and get right up in your personal space, although endearing at times, is far from helpful for getting shots of them when you're using a telephoto lens.

After I spent a good few hours in their field and double checked I had photos of everyone in there I decide to head back as I still had to pop and see the foals. In true annoying horse fashion, just as I decide to leave a couple of them start fighting and then gallop off down the field with the rest of the herd hot on their heels and whilst I did manage to get a couple photos of them rearing I was no where near close enough for an incredible shot. I hate horses.

2 hours and hundreds of shots of grazing.... they really do pick their moments to liven up. Sulky Lotte is sulky. So in my animal related grudge I head back to the yard to rendez vous with Katie, my very lovely stable guide for the day, to walk over to the field that has all the mares and foals in...oh...and one stallion. What a stud ;) Literally, that is his job so there's never been a more appropriate moment for the phrase.

The foals were all incredibly sweet, my favourites being the two you can see in the photo as both are very pretty and move beautifully. All were very sociable coming over to give Katie a sniff which I thought was very forgiving of them seen as moments before she'd just chased them around jingling my car keys to get them all to move for some action shots! Made some lovely photos though and in my mind it made up for the fact that I missed the boys playing around a couple hours earlier.

You can see a small selection of my photos on the Stud Uk Euro website where they have been used in the galleries of some of their stock www.studukeuro.com
I will also be publishing more images from my visit to my website and facebook page shortly.

Zoe & Prince

As you may remember, back in March I ran a competition for fans on my Facebook page to win a photo shoot.

Zoe Hart won with a photo of herself and her horse, Prince, and last month I road tripped with Becky to go and shoot with her. Here are some of the results:

Yorkshire 2011

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr you'll know I went to Yorkshire for two weeks last month and that my trip up north is gradually becoming an annual visit to see my friends and indulge in horsey photo projects.

Myself and Becky decided that this year we weren't going to plan anything specific, Shadow was still recovering from an injury and therefore we figured spontaneity was our best option. Seen as we both share the same philosophy when working with horses and will never ask something of them that is impractical, forceful or discomforts them the choice to just see what she was capable of and happy to do at the time was the best option.

The focus of my photos on this visit were largely geared more towards documenting training sessions and Shadows ability to listen and respond to instruction as opposed to last year where I used her more as a model playing out a character that I wanted for photos.

For the images below Becky was working on teaching Shadow to bring her head in (which you can see in the middle image) whilst our friend assisted in draping material over her. Again we wouldn't have done this if we didn't think Shadow would be comfortable with it but she is a very relaxed mare and barely acknowledged it being on her and rather focused on her training.

Having a different perspective this year was interesting, as although I saw the horse for who she is last year, my visit in 2011 really highlighted the close bond between Shadow and Becky. I saw more emotion and a heart tugging motive that all Shadow wanted to do was please her friend, not because if she did it right she was rewarded with food but simply to see the big smile on Becky's face knowing her horse truly understood her.

I have a lot more photos of Shadow and other horses at the farm to work through which will be published online soon.

Alkham Valley Community Project

A few months back I did some work for Alkham Valley Community Project, a charity that provides riding and carriage driving opportunities to disabled children and adults. They were running a campaign for the peoples millions with the national lottery to win funding to buy another wheelchair accessible carriage and a few more ponies to cut Teds workload.
Now, as you have witnessed and i've stated many times, because I am completely useless at keeping my blog updated the voting on this particular scheme ended a good few months ago (absolute fail on my part) however I wanted to spread the word about this charity now because I know they do some wonderful work and from the day I spent there taking photos of the kids who regularly visit the centre it really does brighten up these peoples lives.
I'm not going to get into the detailed side of therapeutic benefits of being around horses, it's long and i'm sure it will bore you, but even as an activity it gave these kids something they could achieve and were incredibley good at doing!! I learnt from the team that the only other place to offer disabled carriage driving is in scotland... that would be a long journey from the south coast!
so i'm just showing my support and hopefully raising some awareness to an organisation that you may not have heard of but may feel you'd like to lend your support to.


Whilst i'm on the topic, there's also The Paddocks. I've shot regularly for this riding school at shows who give riding lessons to less fortunate children. I believe they even have riding for the blind. These establishments can only keep running so long as they receive funding so please check them out and if you feel they're the "right charity for you" show your support :)

www.avcp.co.uk
www.thepaddocks.org

I'm terrible at blogging

r.i.p Woody

I first want to briefly mention my friends horse in this blog post who sadly died a few days ago. She was a lovely pony and will be missed.

I need to work on keeping my blog updated this year, it's not something i've mastered yet!
I've just come back from spending a week in Brighton for photo shoots and i've decided that I very much like it there. I'd only ever day tripped before and having spent a week to experience day life, nightlife, work life, I can conclusively state it's a lot of fun! Also (as expected) it's a very creative town so I had a lot of fun exploring The Lanes with my stylist sourcing new vintage boutiques and visiting photo galleries.

I did two shoots with make up Artist Lydia Pankhurst and stylist Vicky Smith on the first day, one of which was a night shoot. I have to be honest, shooting in a field in the pitch black was fairly terrifying! Especially when a car slowed down as it drove past then parked at the entrance to the field we were shooting in and would not leave for a lengthy amount of time but we got some great shots and the model who we called upon last minute was fabulous :D We also learnt that she actually lived just a few doors down from Vicky, small world!
Behind the scenes images from photo shoots

(Photos courtesy of Vicky Smith)

Latest to join the clan

I think the top photo sums up Chester quite well! He's lovely really.
This group of horses belongs to my friend, well, half the horses of the group belong to one friend and half to another. I remember when it was just Chester as Lucy was away at stud and since she came back the herd just kept growing. There are now nine of them and Gizmo (in the last photo) is the newest addition! He was 6/7 months old when I took this photo and followed me round the field trying to give me kisses, hugs or eat my camera. Very sweet little colt.

I love it when they buy new horses, gives me more to photograph! :D

Day 2

Another +1000 photos later.

I had my main photoshoot yesterday, the one that me and Becky had been planning and organising since september. It was so so cool to see Shadow perform in real life, she's such a beautiful horse. I don't want to give away too much until I get home and edit some of the photos so I can post them. Rachel (B's little sister) modeled the shoot and did a great job with it. I gave her some modelling one on one time with a tree ;)

I'm having a dress made for me by Becky's mum which she started working on yesterday, it's looking amazing already i'm so excited to see it finished and I may possibly do photos in it with Shadow for next months self portrait but we'll see how that works out.


Behind the scenes:
(Thank you Charlotte for the photos)

Yorkshire: Day 1

I would've had this up yesterday but I didn't have internet on my laptop till right now, so we'll have two blog posts this evening ;)
Provided I can be bothered to type up for today.


what an exhausting day!! After about a 4 and a half hours drive I arrived at my friends house, the weather was
incredibley hot up here, being inland they don't get the coastal breeze i'm used to.

I hadn't stopped long to eat lunch and drag my stuff inside that we were off out to bath Shadow (the horse i'll be using in the photoshoot) She is so incredibley pretty and I can't wait to use her. Whilst my friends were washing her I was snapping away and Shadow is working it for me already ;) So so beautiful. I also tried using flash, i've wanted to use try it out on a horse for so long and she wasn't scared of it so I have a good few dramatic shots of her.

We also went to see Charlottes horse Holly, a very pretty and sweet 16.1hh Clydesdale. I much prefer big horses to small nippy ponies, they tend to be so much calmer and have a better temperament....usually! Holly was so adorable though, i'm doing a shoot with her and Charlotte on friday for them, although I already have a lot of photos of the two of them cantering and galloping round. When we turned her out for the night I got to ride her back to her field tackless. I haven't done that in so many years when I brought Chester in from his field when I had him on loan. Although mildly uncomfortable in jeans I loved it so much, Charlotte took some photos of me on her hopefully I can ask her for some and i'll put one up. I've only been back on a horse once in March this year for 2 years and that was with someone leading me round, it felt really natural and normal to be back up there.

Becky has another horse of hers at the same farm as Charlotte so we'd popped over to much her out and see her too. Kara, who is Shadow's daughter, is such a cute little thing. I think she's just over one years old. Such a sweetie and had so much character, she does make me laugh.


The dress we're using in the shoot was made by Beckys mum. I saw it for the first time today and it's incredibley beautiful and fits perfectly with the shoot theme. It's a lovely blue colour and floaty (I love my floaty dresses!!!) Beckys little sister will be modelling it in the shoot and she looks really really good in it.
We're heading down to the fabric store tomorrow to pick up some material to start on my dress! It was very kindly offered to have a dress made for me as i've come all this way and shooting for free. I'm so excited!

Trailblazers

Trying to keep this up is proving mildly difficult, I'm going to keep forgetting to write.
Anyway, yesterday I went to a horse show to do photos for The Paddocks, they're a registered charity that offer riding opportunities to those that wouldn't otherwise be able to ride...kinda thing. Check them out they're an awesome group of people that I love to shoot at shows, it's a lot of fun.
(website)

Anyway, I wasn't originally supposed to be able to attend I was busy elsewhere but it was canceled so I blasted my little 1 litre yaris up the motorway as fast as it could go to Limes Farm Equestrian Center.
SIDENOTE: I DROVE SENSIBLEY, DON'T BE AN IDIOT DRIVER PEOPLE :D

So I arrived just before midday and shot two classes (can't remember which ones they were) fairly soon after arriving. The ponies they ride are great and really enjoy they're jumping, so much fun to watch the team ride.

We were waiting around for HOURS for the 95cm class but photowise, I was happy to wait, bigger jumps are so much easier and interesting to shoot. Unfortunately no one from the paddocks team rode a clear round although I two of them still won 2nd and 3rd place.
Everyone all rode really well and the horses/ponies were brilliant as well. I'm really happy with the photos I got and i'm always more than happy to shoot for them. I had a great day and I hope they like the photos as much as my bias self does!!