Not quite to plan…… Prague and Poland (Strzegom)
A great thought, this is on the Lennon Wall in Prague.
There is no question one item has dominated my trip to Prague and Strzegom, RAIN. It has rained every single day. I had one afternoon of perfect weather which was Friday when the cross country for CIC1* & 2* ran.
But that is it, no more mentions of the rain. My first few days in Prague were just unbelievable, this city is just stunning. I could spend weeks exploring every new nook and cranny.
The Vltava River was still rising this morning when I went for a walk. The Charles Bridge was closed.
This is the lock in the Vltava River, normally there is a difference in the water levels at either end.
This is a very cool piece of engineering, it is a temporary flood wall that can be erected in hours in case of a flood.
At night Prague took on a whole new character, it truly is a 24/7 city I was walking the streets both late at night and very early and there were always crowds out and about.
Heading to Strzegom in Poland I honestly wasn’t sure what I was in for, the information I had received before the event was limited but I could not have had a better time, even with the weather.
The Strzegom team is diverse, but every single member of the team bent over backwards to make sure everything possible was achieved. In the end we did not complete two classes the CICO3* Nations Cup and the CCI2* class, this was simply because cross country was no longer safe. Every effort was made but you can only have so much water on a track.
The experience and quality of the riding was more diverse than I have seen before. I saw the best riding I have ever seen on cross country in Niklas Lindback’s round on Cendrillon.
Niklas Lindback and Cendrillon on cross country.
By the time Niklas went out on Cendrillon 30 horses had been before him, the going was deep but this pair saw distances 6-10 strides out and were is complete harmony throughout. If you can find some video it is worth a watch.
Having left Poland early after the cancellation the CCI2* which I was the TD of I spent some more time in Prague this time to do some shopping (not for me but everyone else). After a very late dinner the weather had cleared so I decided to head out one last time to shoot the Old Town Square in the dark.
Prague’s old town square by night.
There is much more to tell but I am currently sitting in Prague Airport and the internet is not so reliable.
Signing off from Prague.
John (ESJ)
You are being watched.
Heading to Prague and Poland this week
I am well aware that I lead a privileged life, I have a great family, a job I enjoy and the opportunity to pursue my dreams no matter where they are or what they might be. So this week I am heading off to Europe for a short 10 day trip on my own, again to pursue my dreams.
Thanks to the FEI Global Education Program for Eventing Officials I am off to Strezgom in Poland to be the Technical Delegate (TD) for the CIC2* and CCI2* classes. This is slightly daunting, not the least because every single rider entered comes from a nation where English is the second, third or even fourth language spoken. Personally I speak very poor German and slightly better Italian but realistically I would struggle in both of those countries. My Polish is non-existent.
As a traveller that gets slightly fanatical about research and flight bookings, I learned very quickly that the closest International Airport to Strezgom was Prague, BUGGER!!
Prague is a photographers dream, so the plan was easy, I leave early catch a few days in Prague then drive up to Poland. So this Friday I fly out of Sydney via Dubai and then on direct to Prague. Gotta love that Emirates do it direct, no going through a second or third airport just two flights.
I arrive in Prague on Saturday afternoon and then have until Tuesday morning, it was Wednesday morning but I am needed in Poland early ;(. Never mind after the event finishes on Sunday arvo I will head back to Prague for an extra night before flying out Monday afternoon.
I am currently studying another level in my photography and already have my portfolio list which is great, so I have a plan for my time in Prague.
Need to shoot:
- Landscape
- Long exposure
- Dramatic black and white
- Environmental portrait (hopefully)
Anyhow I have about 60 hours at the start of the trip in Prague and I plan to use them all. Sunday morning I am off on a Segway tour of Prague which should be fun and will help me scout some sites for shoots.
That said, I have some great inspiration in these shots from Miroslav Petrasko on his site HDRShooter http://blog.hdrshooter.net/top-5-spots/top-5-photography-spots-prague/ while I wont be aiming for HDR I will be aiming for some great night scenes, fingers crossed.
Anyhow three more days at work, two more sleeps (please let me sleep), a PT session, photography class, soccer & music lessons for the boys plus another day trip to Sydney before heading off so I should sleep well on the plane.
No pics for this post but I suspect the rest will be very pic heavy and light on for words, see you in Prague.
John
Adelaide Pics
Earlier this week I uploaded some of my Adelaide pics, although despite the Photoshelter uploader telling me it had completed the job some images are missing. I need to work out which ones, more work.
Anyhow, I have been on my 365 project for about eight months now and I can see the difference in my photography in that time and I hope you can too. On reflection, my Adelaide pics are not nearly as good as my most recent Sydney pics. This is good. That said there are some standouts for me, some I like purely for the moment they capture rather than the quality of the image like this one of Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester or Festy to his friends. This was just after cross country in the 10 minute box. This was Festy’s first four star after his fateful trip to the US for WEG and probably his last four star. You can see the love in both their eyes. Best thing is Megan didn’t know I was shooting so it was just a perfect moment, just the two of them.
Megan & Jester, in a beautiful moment, image by ESJ Photo
But then again I do I do love a good galloping horse pic, and there were a few I liked from Adelaide, both close ups and at a distance.
Jaymee Tinney starting her two star run at Adelaide 2011
And this one of Seamus Marwood up close I do like very much.
Seamus Marwood & Wild Oats up close
Here is the full gallery, please help me out if you like this post and my pics, share it with your friend on your social networks.
Thanks, yours in Eventing
ESJ
Sydney Three Day Event
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Another weekend at Sydney watching Shane Rose blitz an event. I had a great time coming to SIEC for the first time in many years without an official role at the event. I was there purely to shoot, record and write, I had fun. There was lots of fun in our very small Media Centre where Lauren, Michelle & Harriet from Equestrian Australia based themselves as well as Alison & Deb from An Eventful Life (I wasn’t working for them at Sydney), Anna & Julie from Horse Deals and myself, plus a few who popped in and out.
I was lucky enough to sit in the Judges box at C to shoot my Dressage pics, thanks to the lovely Christina.
The new Mike ES designed cross country course looked awesome despite the fact it was missing the new signature complex, a water element right in the centre of the park. It wasn’t finished in time thanks to the horrid weather we have had since Christmas.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Nonetheless the action was great and the final result I believe added more questions than answers for the Aussie team selectors for the London Games. I loved watching Shane and Taurus tear up the event from start to finish but my favourite performance of the weekend was Emma Scott and Mustang who looked awesome and came in a deserving second place.
Vodpod videos no longer available.I finally got to meet @Cazdrop who I felt like I had known for years thanks to twitter, we hung out and shot XC together. Got to do that again Caz.
Off to Camden next for the Eventing Equestriad, until then yours in Eventing.
ESJ
Kihikihi Horse Trials
In April I headed to New Zealand for the Kihikihi Horse Trials, this was my first trip to NZ and my brother Michael came along for the ride. I had a busy trip as my primary reason to be in Kihikihi was to be upgrade my training as a Technical Delegate in Eventing.
Over the weekend I was taking part in the training course during most of the day, plus I was writing for An Eventful Life, working with the wonderful Libby Law as my photographer. In addition I was also doing a daily story for Eventing Nation, where I was both writing and shooting.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
It was a busy weekend, most days were 5am til 10pm. I’m afraid I wasn’t much company for Michael who managed to read a couple of books. Mick got some great video on cross country day as Libby let him tag along with her so his first ever day watching XC was inside the ropes standing besides Libby.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Here is my favourite of Mick’s videos on XC, a funny moment.
Until next time, yours in Eventing.
ESJ
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