Hello Friend, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
It has been such a long time since I have been anywhere near a show ring. It is crazy to think of it since I was so involved with horses as a kid. If you didn't know me when I was growing up I suppose you wouldn't know that about me. I was crazy about horses. It was all I used to dream about as a girl. I remember begging my parents to let me have a horse. I did eventually get my own horse (though I had to work my tail off to get her) and from then on horses were pretty much my life. I was at the barn before and after school and all day on the weekends. I loved every second of it. There is something so special about having a connection with an animal. Something that would drive a young girl to spend every last minute with a horse and not even think it was strange to have her clothing permanently smell of horse sweat and manure.
Curious, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
So, a while back I was feeling particularly nostalgic and really missing my horsey friends. I emailed a few equestrian centers in the bay area and offered my photography services. These images are from a schooling show at La Jolla Equestrian Center in Pleasanton last Sunday.
Excited, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Dressage, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
La Jolla Equestrian Center is beautiful. The grounds are well kept and the trees and perfectly groomed arenas are what I dreamed of as a kid. It was a sunny day (100 degrees, ouch!) and everyone seemed to enjoy the event.
Taking notes, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
A job well done, photography by Sara Atkins photography.
A big kiss for a job well done. A big smile from mister horse. He is clearly proud of himself.
At the show I had a sign up sheet for people so that they could be emailed when their images were ready to be viewed. When they signed up they were also entered into a drawing for a free personal photo session with their horse. Well, the winner of that drawing is little Bella Hartman! Congratulations Bella, be sure to email me and let me know when you would like to set up your photo session!
Warm up, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Horse and Rider, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Thank you to everyone at the La Jolla schooling show! I had a great time photographing all of you and I hope you enjoy viewing the images as much as I enjoyed taking them! To see all of the images from the show please go to my proofing site. You will have to create and account with a password of you choice. When you have done this you will be able to use the access code, 'la jolla' to view the images. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Wayne, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
This is Wayne. He works with Charlie and occasionally plays tennis with him as well. A while back I begged Charlie to ask Wayne to come out to our place to play tennis (they usually play in the city). I was dying to finally see Charlie play. Can you believe I have been married to this fella for two years, and I have never seen him play tennis?? Well, finally I asked Wayne myself and sure enough, the next day he was in our backyard playing tennis. It was a great opportunity to work on my sports photography, and great to see Charlie really work up a sweat.
Charlie, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
Shasta, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
As luck would have it, they guys decided to play the same day that mom and dad had stopped by with my favorite four legged critter (next to linus and frankie of course). We all sat in the court and watched them play.
And for those of you that have been asking, Shasta is doing great. She has grown her coat back for the most part and is all puppy. I regularly get reports on the latest thing she has chewed up. She has a special place in her heart for remote controllers. When I go down to my parents place to visit she never leaves my side. She is amazingly well behaved when I take her trail running and thinks she is a lap puppy. I miss her like crazy when I am up here without her.
Tennis triptych, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
OK, back to tennis. So, I was able to shoot to my hearts content as the boys fought it out on the court. I have to say, tennis is among the hardest of the sports I have yet to shoot. That ball blazes across the court, it is a challenge to get a photograph that is interesting and not completely blurry.
Audience, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
It was fun watching Mom and Dad and Shasta sit together watching the match. they would all three in unison follow the ball. I am sure I missed at least a couple of great shots of the guys because I was laughing at the three amigos across the court.
Wayne Tryptich, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
The light was pretty nice because it was in that beautiful hour before sunset. So, I bumped the ISO way up allowing me to have a super quick shutter speed so I could stop the motion (no blurry shots!). I shot with my long lens (70-200mm) to allow me to get close to the action with out risk of death by one of those speeding balls.
Together, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
After the boys were done, I decided that it would be a perfect time to get a few shots of my parents together. They so often have their hands full taking care of everyone else (cooking, cleaning, taking care of grand babies) that getting them alone with each other is a special treat. I am pretty sure that these few shots are among the favorite I have of my mom and dad together.
Mom and Dad, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
pre-game huddle, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Last weekend were the Rugby Play-offs in Austin and it was a sloppy mess!
Line-out, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
I had a great time shooting this one. I was in a mud pit and could only shoot in short intervals. I would run out, snap a few, then head for cover to dry off the camera.
get-em, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
The fella's were slippin and sliding all over the field and I was doing the same on the sidelines. Luckily I didn't have to contend with the opposition trying to push my face into the mud.
Run!, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Scrum, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
mud, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
A great day for Rugby!
Mud Bath, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Boys will be boys, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
The guys did great! Unfortunately they lost by a single point 8-7. I had a great time shooting the game though and considering the conditions I thought they did a great job. You can see (and purchase) all of the photos from this game and the rest of the rugby games I have covered at my website at www.saraatkinsphotography.com/photocart under the sports section.
Preparation, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Saturday was a great day for rugby. Well, aside from the rain. The fell's played East Palo Alto and once again Charlie made it about 15 minutes before getting ANOTHER head injury. Ray says he doesn't take direction very well. I agree.
National Anthem, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
The players all stood and proudly awaited the completion of our national anthem. Our national anthem sounded like it was being played through an ipod with toy speakers. It was a nice sentiment though.
Rugby, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Pick him up, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Pass it!, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Superman, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
I managed to get two of these great mid-air shots. Mid-air shots make me happy.
Superman 2, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
Run, Photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
It was a great game. I wish I could have stayed longer for the post-game Braai. I guess that is they way it goes when you are married to a guy that likes to run into people with his head.
Any of the images can be purchased as prints or for downloads at:
You can see a slide show of all of the images here (be patient, it may take a while to load):
