HDR Photography
A year onward from the 2017 Kentucky Summer Classic and Pony Finals, I’m looking back at many of the images I captured. Many of these only saw the light of day previously through my Instagram account, so I thought it’d be appropriate to give a complete spectrum of the the KHP experience. Some of these shots are the from the Rolex Stadium’s Grand Prix, others from the humble warm-up ring; all of them show people focused on the equine world.
When the Grand Prix is over and the crowds are heading for the exits, the good horses go back to the barns to sleep.
After a Grand Prix at the Rolex Arena in Lexington, Kentucky: some very excited young riders meet a very special horse.
At the Kentucky Horse Park, the Kentucky Summer Classic has wound down and Pony Finals are about to begin. This particular arrangements of trainers, riders, and well-wishers was arrayed at the the warm-up ring, and the gradient of shadows beneath the tree branches brought to mind some modern take on a Renaissance painting: linear, repeating patterns and strong, horizontal lines.
Riders are the stars of the show (in this case, the Kentucky Summer Classic), but I love to see the way the natural form of horse and rider fit into the lines and structures, tents and fences, of the grounds. Where do the spectators, trainers, grooms (and photographers) fit into that equation? Are we also a part of the horse show structure?
Shooting candids at the Kentucky Summer Classic means some fantastic horse-show swagger. Though landscapes and architecture are more frequently my speed, I sometimes find a picture from my other work with so much style that I can’t help but include it.
The Kentucky Horse Park (particularly at Pony Finals) is a Mecca for pony-obsessed folks around the continent. Even this tiny corner of the facility, all paddocks and fences and barns, begins to show how that came to be the case.
Decaseconds 