LION BRIDGE, HARRY MEADE AND AWAY CRUISING, BURGHLEY 2018

I have always gone horse racing from a fairly early age, but apart from watching my daughter compete at various shows when she was younger, I had never really considered any other equine related sporting events (apart from Olympia, we went to that), until a friend of mine suggested that I tried going to the cross-country at one of the major British Eventing fixtures. She said, 'You'll absolutely love it and there are so many opportunities for your photography too, so make sure that you take your camera !"

I travel up and down the A1 quite often, I actually quite enjoy it, usually on the way to Donny or York. There are various truckers cafes that I frequent to break up the journey. Talk about value. £5.50 for a proper breakfast with a free re-fill as well. I usually bung them £5.60 to show my appreciation.

I had often seen signposts for Burghley House on the A1 and was aware that their meeting in early September was a highlight of the British Eventing series.  I'd left it too late to buy a ticket in advance, so I drove up on the Saturday morning arriving in plenty of time for a day of watching the cross-country. I'd decided to get there early so that I could walk the course prior to the event start and have a look at public accessibility and places that were conducive for good photography.

It was glorious weather this day, plenty of blue skies and feeling pretty warm. Whilst sunshine can provide great light for photography it can also limit the amount of places where you can photograph for optimum exposure. When I was walking the course all this was going through my head. I was looking for angles, for backgrounds, but all the time being aware of my positioning with regards to the light. This is one of the frustrating parts of racecourse photography as an amateur, the inability to change position in the public enclosures at certain racecourses, to photograph to best effect. Apart from the odd silhouette shot that can sometimes work late in the afternoon, shooting into the light, for me, is not preferable.

As soon as I saw Lion Bridge I knew that there would be a great opportunity here. 

As you can see from this test shot that I  took the reflection is screaming that there is optimum light. When I visited the Lake District for the first time last year one of the the first things that I did was to google the best places for light. I think Derwent Water was somewhere towards the top on that list and when you arrive there the first thing that you notice (given good weather) are how distinctive the reflections are. Derwent Water is a fantastic place for landscape photography and somewhere where I want to explore deeper. 

What I liked about Lion Bridge was the symmetry of the bridge's arch, being able to see Burghley House through the arch, and the splashes of colour created by the trees before they shed their leaves (I'm a poet), the red flag of the fence and the blue skies. It is always good if you can 'brand' a shot. The Burghley Horse Trials are the event so the house becomes a pivotal part of any photo that you can capture which includes the house within.

I explored so many parts of the course. It was such fun. I was everywhere. I saw lots of people that I knew too, more than I thought I would. I was in my element. I thought why haven't I done this before ? I had my mojo back. It was a great atmosphere, a real horse loving crowd. I was enjoying the freedom of movement and being able to vary the shots that I was able to take. There were plenty of dogs too, and you know I love dogs !

However, I kept getting drawn back to Lion Bridge. I experimented and took photos from the top of the bridge looking down, and from both sides of the bridge, from different angles and different positions.

The shot that I had made my mind up that I wanted to take though was as the horses enter the water after clearing the Anniversary Splash (Fences 25/26) and head under the bridge to take the fence (27). The objective of mine was to get a horse and rider on the turn, with splashback, with the arch of the bridge opened up and with Burghley house featuring centrally in the shot too. There were accredited photographers on the other side of the bridge taking photos of the competitors coming towards them who were going to be visible in my photo, and initially I thought that this may detract from what I was aiming to achieve, but actually I think that their presence compliments the photo. The more that there is to look at in a photo the better that photo becomes. Just like with art and great artists. Additionally equine related water shots always have great impact value, especially in optimum light.

I took a few photos and had a look. I wasn't getting the desired effect that I wanted. The horses were coming on a wider arc to approach the fence under the bridge and covering up the bridge's arch. I thought back to when I used to take my daughter to her gymkhanas and worked out that for a competitor to take the shorter route then he/she had to be in contention and hence would be after a fast time. 

I looked down the list. I had my position behind the rope. I wasn't going anywhere, i had pole position. It was busy. There are always people jostling for position at crowded events. From my knowledge of this event I noticed that in about 6 horses time Harry Meade and Away Cruising were due. They are the ones I thought !! They were in contention and will be after a fast time I thought. Again my heart skipped a beat a little, the adrenalin starts pumping. I'm questioning myself, "Have I got this right ?" Horses continued to take the wide arc. It was Harry Meade and his beautiful grey horse next. I could hear the thunder of hooves coming down the hill. I dropped down under the rope to get a different angle. They came downhill into the water, Harry was pulling hard on his left rein..........they were cutting the corner !!! YES !!!! YES !!!! I took the shot....splashback, action, colour, light, Burghley House........I did a merry jig. Now it was too sunny, I needed somewhere dark to look at the photo on the camera. I headed under the trees close to the bridge. Perfecto !! I couldn't wait to see it on my laptop. Job done, as they say. I was delighted with the end result and a message to all of you out there that enjoy your photography, the more thought that you put into it, the more satisfying the end results. This was the shot.

Thanks very much for reading.