May I wish everyone A Very Merry Christmas !!

Sebastian Oakley
www.sebastianoakley.co.uk
askseb@sebastianoakley.co.uk

Olympia 2014 Review: What a show!

Hi all,

As you all may know I went to cover The London International Horse Show Olympia at Earls Court as I do every year and I must say I was not disappointed! So what went on, what equipment did I use and what were my thoughts, well let me tell you.

The first day I covered (Wednesday) saw the tops riders in the world of dressage compete head to head to try and gain top position in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup competition. This day held the freestyle or Kur as it's also know saw some fantastic choreography and very well matched music but it was none other
than our Olympic Golden Girl Charlotte Dujardin and wonder horse Valegro that got top spot with a world record breaking score of 94.300%, and what a fantastic performance it was!.

Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro

Charlotte and Valrgro in Prize giving.

We also saw a great Puissance held on the Thursday which saw. Last year's winner Lusa Moneta have the wall down in the third round and it was left up to Karline De Brabander Riding her lovely horse Fantomas de Muze and David Simpson Riding Richi Rich in the last round to figure out a winner and it was David Simpson that took first place with Karline having a bit of the wall down in her last attempt.

Karline De Brabander Riding  Fantomas de Muze

David Simpson Riding Richi Rich

So now let's talk about gear and photo!,Olympia is a great venue and give the photographers a lot of freedom to shoot with both short sides of the area open to shoot from and photography sets provided from one long side you can take a lot of shots from every angle.

However I only shot from the press seats once on the Wednesday where I used my Nikon D800 with the 200mm F2 lens, this is one on my favorite combinations to use and at Olympia where the show is inside under stage lighting the lens let's in a lot of light  and produces a fantastic image which is great as I am still a bit old school and try never to go over 3200 ISO on my cameras as due to there high megapixel noise is more noticeable than on a sport range camera such as the Nikon D4S. As well as using the 200mm during the whole event I also used another D800 with Nikon's 50mm AF-S F1.4G lens with a wireless trigger system to use as a remote and I managed to get a different image of the puissance wall then the standard straight  on shot.

Wide angle remote shot of Jean Christophe De Grande Riding Boccacio Ec

What may come as a surprise to some is my next choice of lens which I used on the final day of my time at Olympia which was my Nikon 600mm F4, yes a 600 inside! But the results are stunning. I did think it might not work but I am always trying to get different images from different angles and not having that same image as the next 20 photographers and it worked very well, even being able to get 8 fences in one class from my elevated position compared to the normal 2-3 fences.

Elevated Office View with the 600mm F4

600mm shot of Scott Brash Riding Hello Sunshine

Before I sign out for 2014 I must say how well the new Olympia press office was, with separate working areas for photographers and journalists and a fantastic new space purely for press conferences, I take my hat off to H Power for listening to what photographers and journalists wanted and providing outstanding facilities.

This has been my time at The London International Horse Show Olympia, my I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sebastian Oakley
www.sebastianoakley.co.uk
askseb@sebastianoakley.co.uk

Social Media Accounts

Dear All,

This is just a very quick post on social media. As we all know social media is a very big thing now in anyone's  life and career, especially in the photography industry it's a great way to show off your work to a vast audience that would not have been possible 10 or even 5 years ago.

So for anyone who is intrested in my work then please feel free to like, follow, share and tweet me at my social media accounts below.

Facebook:
Sebastian Oakley: International Equestrian Photographer
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LinkedIn:
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Thank you for your time, as I said above this it only a quick post due to getting everything ready for Olympa, The London International Horse Show where I will be writing a blog after my time there on what went on, what equipment I was using and just give you a glimpse into what it is like to shoot at such an event.

Sebastian

Olympia Horse Show 2013 Look Back:

Olympia,The London International Horse Show is always one of my favorite events to cover in the UK and this year will be no exception with the worlds No 1's in Dressage,Showjumping and Driving attending this years show and I am sure we will see nothing but an excellent performance from all round and I will be reporting on what went on in my next blog.

Last year Olympia gave us some great moments for all who witnessed to enjoy for a life time with Great Britain's golden girl Charlotte Dujardin and her horse Valegro taking No.1 position in the Dressage leaving us all short of breathe with a truly outstanding performance and I am sure we all wish her the very best in this years competition.

Charlotte Dujardin  Valegro : © Image By Sebastian Oakley

We also saw some great achievements in the Showjumping last year with Luca Moneta winning the class which everyone wants to win and watch, The Puissance wall !. For all you none horsey people out there who have no ideal what I am going on about, The Puissance wall is a jump designed as a red brick wall and it increases in size each round, up to a max of 5 rounds. Luca was a big outsider coming into the event and over the competition was showing some great promise and moving up the field until the day of the Puissance and I think its save to say no one was expecting what happened next. A nail biting performance was left between Guy Williams and Luca Moneta, Guy have knocked down part of the wall so it was all up to Luca if he knocked down the wall they would share the prize money however clear it and he would win it out right, He won it ! and left Earls Court Olympia in a flood of cheer !.

Luca Moneta clearing the puissance wall © Image By Sebastian Oakley

 That rounds up my quick look back of Olympia 2013 and in my next post I will be talking about what went on at this year event, and dive into what its like to shoot as an equestrian photographer at these events, so watch this space!.   Sebastian.