Colette's Horse & Dog Shows at Barville Farm

While this event was a relatively quiet, as Colette's shows go, the requests for photos was anything but. We have a huge choice of images ready to go to the mags this time and a few of them can be seen below.

Featured Riders

Otterden W.I. Fun Horse Show at Otterden Park

This, to me, is what a horse show is all about. A hot sunny day in a beautiful country estate with lots of people freely contributing their time to make it as enjoyable as possible. And, at the same time, raise some much needed money for charity. With a bacon roll, a cup of tea and still getting change from two quid, it was almost like stepping back in time...

Featured Riders

Colette's Evening Jumping at Blue Barn

A very pleasant evening of showjumping complete with a parade around the arena by Elise Pilbeam on Gucci who won the Leading Rider of the Year. To round the evening off, she also won two of the three jumping classes.

Well done Elise...

Colette's Horse & Dog Shows at Ingatestone Hall, Brentwood, Essex

My first day out with my new "Portrait Studio" trailer and all new computer systems. Even if I do say so myself, it all worked perfectly and I am really pleased with the images produced in what is, as studios go, a very small space. I'm also happy that I can now offer you something new and a little bit different. I've posted my two favourite shots below to give you an idea of what can be achieved on the day.

Phew!!!

Two 2 day shows in a week. Not had too much time to catch my breath but I've finally finished printing the last of the orders taken at Speedgate, they just need posting which will have to be tomorrow now. If you are one of the people still waiting, they will go first class so they should be with you on Thursday.

I will post some images (as usual) when I get a few minutes. Meanwhile, I have to prepare for this weekend where dogs will be the main subject for me...

Event updates...

I must apologise for not posting lately. I've have been busy these past couple of months redesigning the computer systems in my truck, kitting out my new trailer and, at the same time, trying to re-write my website. As you can see, the website hasn't changed much. Mainly due to the fact that the work I had done so far was lost when I changed servers, so I pretty much have to start again.

I thought I'd better post something now because I'm getting a lot of enquiries for the Speedgate Ride last weekend. Anybody who didn't get to see their photos due to the sheer number of people queueing for the monitors can receive their proof images by e-mail. They will be small and heavily watermarked but you will be able to see enough to make a decision on which ones you want to buy. You can also purchase the same size images without the watermark for just £3 each. Less if you want a quite a few...

I should finally get around to posting a selection of images from the last few shows on here very shortly. I will insert them below this one on their correct event date to keep everything in order.

Colette's Horse & Dog Shows at Blue Barn

Ah well, it was a lovely day for Mother's Day. Quiet for horse shows but nice for the mums. My new ordering system was so clear and understandable when I designed it last week but by the time I finished explaining it to many of you I ended up being confused myself. Obviously a simpler package is required that is easier to understand - at least by me!!!

The most important points seemed to be grasped though;

1) I was only photographing those who asked me to and who filled in the form. This makes it easier for me to spend my time on those who want a photo without wasting it on those who don't.

2), I was giving loads of images away. Yes, that's right. I wanted to give more value for money to those who bought a photo or digital file.

To this end it was a very successful day and here's a slide show of just some of the best images...

End of an Era...

From now on I will no longer be uploading any event images to my website and as from last night I have started the process of deleting all of the hundreds of thousands of images from my events archive on my website. Since the turn of the century when the internet became a viable sales platform, I have uploaded virtually every single image from every event I have ever taken. This gave me the opportunity to make additional sales many days, months, or even years after the event. But what was once a valuable sales tool has now grown into a double edge sword and is now on it's way back to bite us all in the proverbial backside. What was a shop window where people could choose which photos to buy, the new generation of computer kids found out how to remove the glass and just take what they wanted.

As you know, I've tried a few methods of overcoming this - which caused an outcry from some - but it was more trouble than it was worth. It just made things more complicated for my customers while making 'others' more determined. Unless people are prepared to throw a lot of money at internet security like the bank's do, they are just wasting their time. It reminds me of 'Woolies' using ten grand's worth of video equipment to guard fifty quid's worth of 'Pick & Mix' - and we know what happened to them.

All is not lost though! If you want to have a look at some old photos just give me a call or drop me an e-mail to find out when I am next at an event in your area and I will bring all the relevant images with me for you to see at full resolution. You can then get a print done there & then while you wait. "Simplezze"

Two of my favorite models at Kearsney Abbey

Despite being quite drained after two shows on the trot, I still managed to drag myself up the road to join two of my favorite models at one of my favorite locations. I only managed an hour though because I forgot to take extra cards with me for the camera but we still managed to get well over 200 images. I plan to do much more portraiture this year both family and equine so, hopefully, I will be posting a lot more images like these.
Let me know what you think...

Colette's Horse & Dog Shows at Blue Barn

My first Colette's show of the season. A beautiful day, a steady stream of entries and a small taster of how I will be approaching pretty much all of the horse shows that I'm booked for in the future. More about that in a later post but let's just say it was one of the most relaxed shows I've done for a long time with no noticable loss of sales.
I'll add a small slide show here later in the week...