what a weekend.

George eventing – Inter provincial Champs.
My first time in George (actually _in_ George, not down the road in Klein Brak, which is as close as i’ve ever been) and my first time at an event that big and important.

Drove up with M and M and K on Friday – we left a little late because of trailer issues, but nothing major.
Friday was a STINKING hot day! Well into the 30s and humid as well. The afternoon was spent riding the horses around the grounds to get them settled after the 6 hours in the box, getting them ready for the dressage phase the next morning.
My camera worked fine at that point – got some lovely photos of M and Witchy and M and Cuppi warming up, and K and Nemo as well.
Then… Saturday morning arrives, we get there bright and early – not early enough though, unfortunately, as i missed most of the Lanelings in their tests, and they did pretty well – my camera starts out fine, got some nice ones of various WP riders (I didn’t have any means to offload photos from my cards, so i was only taking photos of the WP riders – i didn’t feel too bad, because there was a photographic “company” there taking photos of everyone else) and then the dreaded shadow started appearing in my shots… at first i thought “no WAY, that can’t be what i think it is…” but it was… my poor Nikon is worn out once more and the shutter reflex is not lifting the mirror out of the way in time.
i was utterly miserable. found a quiet spot and sobbed my little heart out. why THIS weekend? why NOW? and i hadn’t even gotten to M and M doing their tests yet, and they were 99% of the reason i was there!!
Then i pulled myself together and went to the other photo people and asked about tools or anyone who had experience with the camera innards… they said they’d love to help but they really didn’t know enough. they very kind.
Luckily, M had brought his little Sony which he very kindly offered to me – there wasn’t too much room left on the card though, and i couldn’t use my SD cards, as Sony has its own type of memory stick. So i got photos of M and Witchy, and a few other WP riders… but that was it. I had to take photos of M and Cuppi with my camera and i was terribly frustrated by that.
And all my other friends: L and Jefferson, K and Nemo, C and Payday, I and her horses… i was so upset.

I also missed ALL the show jumping rounds on Saturday – couldn’t bring myself to take those. I would have just upset myself more: I have a certain style of photography, and it was blown off track by the stupid shadow in the shots.

Then, Sunday rolled around (windy and cold) and i thought i’d be taking cross country photos with my camera, as the Sony didn’t have ANY room left on the card at all. Thankfully, L stepped in with her Canon – i don’t know Canon’s very well, and i must admit i’m not keen on the colours that they produce in shots, but as my mum said “use the loan camera and make the best of the weekend”. So that’s what i did. I got some nice ones, once i got used to the camera (it’s very different from my Nikon) and i think i got all the WP riders that came passed the jump i was at. There were quite a few eliminations, however, so a few of them never made it to my jump :/ Sorry L! I was really hoping i’d see you and Jefferson come flying by! What a pity!

I also got the final show jumping rounds and the prize givings – all in heavily gloomy light!
M and Witchingham placed 2nd in their class (Adult Novice) with M and Cuppi just out of the placings (they were 8th, and the prizes only went to 7th place). WP did pretty well, even with our 3 rider teams (instead of 4) and i think we can walk away proud of ourselves.

As we were all leaving, after the ceremonies, the rain began to fall… the storm had held out the entire weekend and it couldn’t wait any longer – massive thunder and lightning which even took out the power for the show grounds for a while! Carried on all night, into the early hours of Monday morning!
We had dinner, two nights running, at La Capaninna – delicious food, reasonable prices. If you’re ever in George, go there, it’s next to Panarotti’s, bright yellow sign, you can’t miss it.

Monday was still raining and we left around 8am for the stables, to collect the horses and be on our way. We were all tired and subdued, but the sight of our mountain cheered us up and we were all in a good mood when we turned in at the farm in Noordhoek.

A good weekend, despite the camera issues – spent with wonderful people, and horses, in a beautiful setting.
Hopefully this time next year i’ll be rich and famous enough to have a spare camera, and a laptop.
*sigh*

Blogged with Flock

Tags: camera, horses, photography, issues, eventing, George, a long drive, Western Province Teams

A proud Mandy, on the incredible Pohland’s Cuppachino – pipped at the post for first place by a mere tenth of a second. Cape Hunt and Polo Club’s Derby.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: horse, smile, CHPC, Durbanville, Derby, show jumping

I feel so bad, because E has lost all her email – the server were were hosted on has been shut down, and we got such a late warning that we couldn’t get her email in time. or her website. i don’t think she’s too upset about the website, but her email was very important… all her email addresses and stuff.

There’s nothing much I can do now, though. I’ve done my best. moved her domain and email to my hosting server etc…
*sigh*

Some good news – someone has bought one of my photo books on Lulu… i’m very proud!

I’ve also had some photos published in a magazine, and they are sending me a copy …

Still haven’t heard back from NatGeo

Or from the Australian lady who is making the equestrian instructional book who wanted my photos as well…

trying not to slip into that dark place though.

shots in the dark, nothing i have control over, so i’m trying not to let it get to me.

Ex is so happy in his new “happy mouth” bit… we had such a blissfully chilled ride yesterday afternoon. exactly what i needed. J says he was very well behaved on friday when she rode him.
I’m going to take Al for a walk this afternoon, and perhaps Catch as well, if i get back in time with Alchemy. Poor Catchy hasn’t been out in weeks now – S hasn’t even come to visit him.
We’re still waiting on test results for him. :/
But i’m sure that a nice gentle stroll will be fine – i won’t ride him, obviously, i don’t want to get on S’s bad side again. If B asks, i’m going to tell him to ask S first. Himself! Not leave it up to me.
But I don’t think Catch is up to being ridden right now anyway.

Busy uploading the Eventing show photos from the weekend – took me ages to sort through Saturday’s… took nearly 1900!!
Sunday’s are going to be done in a moment, just taking a lunch break before my eyes start wobbling again.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: horses, photography, eventing, my beautiful boys, email and website issues