It was great fun to arrive at the 2015 International Hunter Derby Championship in Lexington, Kentucky, last month and see that the United States Hunter Jumper Association had selected my images of Brunello and Liza Boyd for this year’s limited edition poster.
This was a particularly challenging event to photograph in 2014, because just as the top horses and riders were set to return to the show ring the rain went from a sprinkle to a deluge.
Thankfully, I had access to a tent for cover, but the angles weren’t ideal, so to photograph the jump in the poster (below) I covered my camera with my raincoat and darted outside. I constantly had to readjust my camera settings as well, and I finally switched to manual focus due to the raindrops. As one who has worn glasses all of my life, focusing manually isn’t my forte’, but I managed to get lucky for this image.
While my shiny new Nikon D810 huddled in the camera bag, the workhorse Nikon D3s served me well once again, taking the bulk of the evening’s images. The one above was shot at ISO 8000 at 1/800 of a second at f3.2.
Without the inclement weather in 2015, the D810 had its chance to shine. Likewise, so did Brunello and Liza, winning their third consecutive USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship with an amazing performance under the lights.
It was a privilege and pleasure to document and join in their celebrations yet again, and to be a part of the Finally Farm family as their website designer and content provider.
