My First Polo Match
Mar 20, 2022 16:54:18 #
Great action photos.
--Bob
--Bob
Rob47 wrote:
I was able to secure media credentials to shoot my... (show quote)
Mar 20, 2022 16:55:38 #
Mar 20, 2022 17:41:44 #
Appy
Loc: Flint Hills (Ks)
Outstanding shots. Can't go wrong with horses in action. These shots are terrific.
Mar 20, 2022 18:42:33 #
Mar 20, 2022 18:52:49 #
John7199
Loc: Eastern Mass.
Great shots!
I too have shot polo matches. More amateur here in Mass. The first time I shot polo I had a very long lens (400mm) and while looking through it the ball was hit towards me - It was quite a site to see the horses charge towards me while they were further away than they looked through the lens. My shots pale compared to yours. Great work shooting a fast moving sport.
A PS to BArthur 3 - It was photographer Eadweard Muybridge, in 1878, who showed that horses do have all 4 feet off the ground.
I too have shot polo matches. More amateur here in Mass. The first time I shot polo I had a very long lens (400mm) and while looking through it the ball was hit towards me - It was quite a site to see the horses charge towards me while they were further away than they looked through the lens. My shots pale compared to yours. Great work shooting a fast moving sport.
A PS to BArthur 3 - It was photographer Eadweard Muybridge, in 1878, who showed that horses do have all 4 feet off the ground.
Mar 20, 2022 19:49:31 #
Mar 20, 2022 19:50:36 #
BArthur3 wrote:
Nicely done! Several shots confirm what Edison demonstrated after considerable effort -- that horses do indeed have all 4 hooves off the ground simultaneously when in full stride.
Do you mean the motion photographs by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878 showing all four hooves off the ground or did Thomas Edison play a part?
Dennis
Mar 20, 2022 20:44:08 #
Rob47 wrote:
I was able to secure media credentials to shoot my... (show quote)
Great set for a first time. I really liked them. Would have liked the last one too show more off the rider. But there's are great
Good job.
Mar 20, 2022 22:34:45 #
rmalarz wrote:
Great action photos.
--Bob
--Bob
Thanks, as I said it was a fun day and I learned a lot. I was nervous at first but got more comfortable as the match went on. Over the years I've learned to anticipate what might happen next, especially in sports. That really helped as I tried to anticipate where the ball was going. When I go back I want to experiment with using a little slower shutter speed and pan. I think it will show more motion. Always experimenting means you're always learning. Making mistakes is a given but learning from them is most important. Thanks for checking them out!
Mar 20, 2022 23:00:57 #
frankraney wrote:
Great set for a first time. I really liked them. Would have liked the last one too show more off the rider. But there's are great
Good job.
Good job.
Frank, thanks for the compliment and checking out the photos. I tried to send a reply but somehow it disappeared. Anyway, it was a fun day and I learned a lot. Just an FYI, the last photo was not a rider. Look closely and you'll see "MP" on his helmet. The horse was exhausted and the medic had to lead him off the field. As they went by me, I still had my 70-200 lens on and they were a little too close. What I liked about the image was both the medic and the horse had their heads down. The horse looked so dejected and disheartened he had to leave the field. They are so competitive. I liked the horse's veins popping out. Overall, I was very pleased with the results. Again, thanks for checking them out!
Mar 20, 2022 23:28:48 #
These sure incredible!!! You mentioned how competitive and athletic the horses are. Have you ever seen professional cutting horses? They are incredible to watch too.
Mar 21, 2022 04:28:55 #
Man! I enjoyed viewing these. Thanks for posting.
Slightly on topic is "Banjo" Patersons "The Geebung Polo Club".
It was somewhere up the country in a land of rock and scrub,
That they formed an institution called the Geebung Polo Club.
They were long and wiry natives of the rugged mountainside,
And the horse was never saddled that the Geebungs couldn't ride;
But their style of playing polo was irregular and rash -
They had mighty little science, but a mighty lot of dash:
And they played on mountain ponies that were muscular and strong,
Though their coats were quite unpolished, and their manes and tails were long.
And they used to train those ponies wheeling cattle in the scrub:
They were demons, were the members of the Geebung Polo Club.
It was somewhere down the country, in a city's smoke and steam,
That a polo club existed, called the Cuff and Collar Team.
As a social institution 'twas a marvellous success,
For the members were distinguished by exclusiveness and dress.
They had natty little ponies that were nice, and smooth, and sleek,
For their cultivated owners only rode 'em once a week.
So they started up the country in pursuit of sport and fame,
For they meant to show the Geebungs how they ought to play the game;
And they took their valets with them - just to give their boots a rub
Ere they started operations on the Geebung Polo Club.
Now my readers can imagine how the contest ebbed and flowed,
When the Geebung boys got going it was time to clear the road;
And the game was so terrific that ere half the time was gone
A spectator's leg was broken - just from merely looking on.
For they waddied one another till the plain was strewn with dead,
While the score was kept so even that they neither got ahead.
And the Cuff and Collar captain, when he tumbled off to die,
Was the last surviving player - so the game was called a tie.
Then the captain of the Geebungs raised him slowly from the ground,
Though his wounds were mostly mortal, yet he fiercely gazed around;
There was no one to oppose him - all the rest were in a trance,
So he scrambled on his pony for his last expiring chance,
For he meant to make an effort to get victory to his side;
So he struck at goal - and missed it - then he tumbled off and died.
By the old Campaspe River, where the breezes shake the grass,
There's a row of little gravestones that the stockmen never pass,
For they bear a crude inscription saying, "Stranger, drop a tear,
For the Cuff and Collar players and the Geebung boys lie here."
And on misty moonlit evenings, while the dingoes howl around,
You can see their shadows flitting down that phantom polo ground;
You can hear the loud collisions as the flying players meet,
And the rattle of the mallets, and the rush of ponies' feet,
Till the terrified spectator rides like blazes to the pub -
He's been haunted by the spectres of the Geebung Polo Club.
The Antipodean, 1893
Slightly on topic is "Banjo" Patersons "The Geebung Polo Club".
It was somewhere up the country in a land of rock and scrub,
That they formed an institution called the Geebung Polo Club.
They were long and wiry natives of the rugged mountainside,
And the horse was never saddled that the Geebungs couldn't ride;
But their style of playing polo was irregular and rash -
They had mighty little science, but a mighty lot of dash:
And they played on mountain ponies that were muscular and strong,
Though their coats were quite unpolished, and their manes and tails were long.
And they used to train those ponies wheeling cattle in the scrub:
They were demons, were the members of the Geebung Polo Club.
It was somewhere down the country, in a city's smoke and steam,
That a polo club existed, called the Cuff and Collar Team.
As a social institution 'twas a marvellous success,
For the members were distinguished by exclusiveness and dress.
They had natty little ponies that were nice, and smooth, and sleek,
For their cultivated owners only rode 'em once a week.
So they started up the country in pursuit of sport and fame,
For they meant to show the Geebungs how they ought to play the game;
And they took their valets with them - just to give their boots a rub
Ere they started operations on the Geebung Polo Club.
Now my readers can imagine how the contest ebbed and flowed,
When the Geebung boys got going it was time to clear the road;
And the game was so terrific that ere half the time was gone
A spectator's leg was broken - just from merely looking on.
For they waddied one another till the plain was strewn with dead,
While the score was kept so even that they neither got ahead.
And the Cuff and Collar captain, when he tumbled off to die,
Was the last surviving player - so the game was called a tie.
Then the captain of the Geebungs raised him slowly from the ground,
Though his wounds were mostly mortal, yet he fiercely gazed around;
There was no one to oppose him - all the rest were in a trance,
So he scrambled on his pony for his last expiring chance,
For he meant to make an effort to get victory to his side;
So he struck at goal - and missed it - then he tumbled off and died.
By the old Campaspe River, where the breezes shake the grass,
There's a row of little gravestones that the stockmen never pass,
For they bear a crude inscription saying, "Stranger, drop a tear,
For the Cuff and Collar players and the Geebung boys lie here."
And on misty moonlit evenings, while the dingoes howl around,
You can see their shadows flitting down that phantom polo ground;
You can hear the loud collisions as the flying players meet,
And the rattle of the mallets, and the rush of ponies' feet,
Till the terrified spectator rides like blazes to the pub -
He's been haunted by the spectres of the Geebung Polo Club.
The Antipodean, 1893
Mar 21, 2022 09:18:44 #
LeeK wrote:
These sure incredible!!! You mentioned how competitive and athletic the horses are. Have you ever seen professional cutting horses? They are incredible to watch too.
Yes, many years ago we lived in Texas and saw plenty of rodeos with cutting horses. So athletic. Thanks for checking these out.
Mar 21, 2022 09:26:45 #
Thanks, that was a great poem. Appreciate you checking out the photos and forwarding the poem.
Mar 21, 2022 10:37:09 #
Great poem! By the way, I was hired to shoot "cowboy polo" one weekend. What fun! The arena was muddy from a rare rain, and so mud balls were flying everywhere. I squatted on top of a barrel in the arena and prayed for my safety!
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