bjohnson

My wife competes in an equestrian sport called Combined Driving. She has been training hard all winter, leading up to the Live Oak International show in Ocala, FL. This is one of the premier driving shows in North America, and it's been a dream of hers to compete here. My role on the team is to be her personal paparazzi. The media team at the show was kind enough to credential me. I've had some challenges before because I "look" professional with that big white 100-400mm lens and a monopod. All due respect to the real pros covering the action - I'm not trying to compete with them. And we do support them at the shows I cannot attend. And at this event I helped them out and covered some stuff they were not able to. So that's a win-win I think. A Combined Driving event has three phases held over three days. The first is dressage. All competitor drive the same set pattern, and they are judged on precision, control of the horses, and proper gaits and movement in each portion of the test. Accuracy and elegance are the goal, not speed. Prior to the start of competition, the horses are presented and inspected by the show judges and veterinarian to ensure they are sound and capable of safely competing. The second phase is called the Marathon. The team will travel several kilometers over a cross-country course. They will face several obstacles which must be correctly negotiated. There is a minimum and maximum time that the course can be completed in. And each obstacle is timed as well. The fastest through the obstacles is the winner of this phase. It is a test of endurance, speed, and maneuverability. The third and final phase is Cone. You can see this better in the first photo. A course is laid out in the show arena with cones, and each cone has a ball balanced on top. Drivers must complete the course under a maximum time, and are penalized for each ball that is knocked down. Speed and control are of the essence - as well as memory, as they must remember the correct order to run each gate on the course. After the first two phases, my wife was in the lead with "two balls in hand" - meaning if she came in under the maximum time allowed, she could knock down two balls and still win the competition. She has been showing this pair for several years now. There are actually three horses in the team - two mares and a gelding. The gelding rotates in for the marathon phase, while the girls do dressage and cones. The gelding, named Altivo, is a Lusitano which is a breed originating in Portugal. The two mares are full sisters, born a year apart. They are Andalusians, also known as Pura Razs Español, which are a breed originating in Spain. Enough of that sidebar, you want to know if she won! Tears of a winner. Not only did she win, but it was the first time she had a double-clear round in cones with the pair. Meaning, she drove the cones course without error and didn't knock down a single ball AND came in under the maximum time. Giving the hugs in our good friend Cheryl, who rides along as a groom and navigator. Being the driver, my wife Jenni hold the whip - and that is the proper term for the person driving the carriage - she's "The Whip." So that was our big March adventure, and my big photo effort for the month. Photos were mostly shot on an a9 and 100-400mm G-Master and 24-105mm G series lenses. I had an a6000 and RX100 as backups. A Sony Tough Card in the a9 kept up nicely with my excessive use of high-speed drive mode. My wife would stay in Florida for a few weeks of additional training. I took the time to put together a collage of photos to surprise her with on her return home to our farm in Virginia. It turned out great, and I used the CollageWall product from MPix to produce it. https://www.mpix.com/products/homedecor/collagewall I was really impressed with how easy it was to mount on the wall and it turned out PERFECT. And it shipped and arrived several days sooner than I expected. I'll definitely be getting some more of these in the future. It made a great memento of this big milestone in her showing career. Learn more about the Live Oak show at their website https://liveoakinternational.com/ You can learn more about combined driving at https://www.usef.org/compete/disciplines/combined-driving

I had similar challenges with horse photography - either other horses getting "caught" by the AF or foreground objects. You might want to check out "Back Button Auto-Focus" - here's a good place to start for setting it up:

It's been a few years now, but for me one of my favorite adventures was the "Bro-Cation." My best friend from childhood and I celebrated a milestone birthday by traveling by train across the country. From Denver to San Francisco to Portland to Glacier National Park and finishing in Minneapolis. It was an epic tour of cities and wilderness and everything in between. It was an adventure of many flavors - different food, different environments, and on the train literally different views every minute. Looking through the photos always brings great memories of spending that time together with a great friend. You can follow the entire "Bro-Cation" here https://snvboy.exposure.co/brocation-2015 All shot with the greatest travel camera ever, the #RX100 III

Really awesome stuff! Can you tell us a bit about getting there and getting around? Did you go as part of a tour, or use a local outfitter/guide? I really like the shots where you've got snow with heat-shimmer in the background.

I'm certainly not the expert (those folks are over at community.SonyCine.com). But a big motivation for using cine lenses is how they integrate with the rest of a film rig. The focus ring is geared to work with a remote focus, the iris doesn't have detents at each stop. Like everything in the creative world they are just tools - there's not necessarily any right or wrong or better. It's the right tool if it works for you. Read more here https://community.sonycine.com/forums/topic/84-cine-lens-or-photo-lens-are-cine-lenses-better/ for a concise overview. I've always thought the most important ingredient in "cinematic" is lighting. A great Director of Photography will make lesser cameras/lenses look good. And a poor DP can make great gear look terrible. If you have time before your shoot consider renting a cine lenses that is similar to one of your E mount ones and do a little side-by-side.

Studio Selfie. Doing a side project for a friend who needs headshots for her veterinary practice. First time I've taken this on. I'm not shooting for spectacular, just hoping for competence. I think this delivers on that. Sony a9, 24-105mm G, three Alien Bees, and speed light on the camera mainly to trigger the Bees because I forgot to grab sync cables for the remotes. Triggering the shot with Sony Imaging Edge Mobile on my Xperia phone. Open to any feedback! I'm shooting the 'real' people next week.

If you see this happen again, please grab a screenshot and pass it along with the URL to the post so our team can look into it further. Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about timing a purchase for the 'latest' RX100 - these cameras have incredible longevity. My RX100 mk III is now the oldest camera in my back (er, pocket) and still making great images. It will burst fast enough to do sports in a pinch. If I were to replace it, I think my decision would hinge on picking between the fast 24-70 of the mk V or the longer 24-200 zoom and Eye-AF on the mk VII.

Here's the article from AlphaUniverse.com - it's definitely a great reference for setting up for shooting any sport.

My RX100 mk III is still trucking, and still my go-to when I'm not sure what I want to carry and when I don't feel like bringing out the "big dog" kit. One of the best things I bought was an extra battery and battery charger. I also like using the Imaging Edge Mobile app on my phone to remotely control the camera - very handy for group selfies, and when putting the camera into weird angles that I can't contort myself into to see the finder.

What an opportunity! If only I was... let's just say a couple years younger so I would be eligible to apply. https://worldcurling.org/2023/01/smtp-2023/ Chosen applicants will cover an international curling competition, with travel and incidentals covered by the World Curling Federation. Deadline is Sunday 19 February 2023 at 5pm (GMT). Hear from past participants in their promo video: Have you covered curling before? Share your tips and best shots below.

Horses in the snow? We got that! Introducing Skijoring - the sport of skiing behind a horse. We're just messing around here in a rare blizzard in Virginia. In Nordic countries it's a pretty serious sport. Sony Alpha 9 | 100-400mm G-Master

And here is the current "Trade In / Trade Up" promo that is running until the end of the year. If you are thinking of upgrading body or lenses, check this out. Runs through the end of the year, all the details and official terms are at https://alphauniverse.com/promos/trade-in-trade-up/

If one of your favorite parks is Shenandoah, applications are now open for their 2023 Artist-In-Residence program. https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=11162