The last few months

Well the autumn seems to have been and gone and it's nearly Christmas. I would like to wish all my customers a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Talking of the new year, plans are well under way for a complete new look to my event website - http://www.ultimate-images.co.uk/ The new site will have a fresh new look and have an enhanced ordering system that will hopefully make it easier to offer discounts and incentives. I'm really excited about how the project's coming together, and hope to have the site up and running by mid to late January

Home and Yard Visits

Sorry to talk about Christmas in August but if your always stuck what to ask for why not suggest an Ultimate Images Yard Visit. Even if you compete on a regular basis these visits really do offer something different.

This time of year really is a great time to have them as the daylight hours are still long and the rugs are still where they belong, in the tack store.

I've recently shot a really great set for Emma at my local yard as a birthday present, with an eye on other products for Christmas (canvas prints, Acrylics etc etc). I spend a couple of hours with her at the yard. We started off with some natural shots in the field, then some riding / jumping / lunging or what ever takes your fancy. Then as the light starts to drop (the last hour before sunset really is something special) I shoot some images of you and your horse together.

Below is a montage print that Emma wanted put together. Click on the image to see it larger



Here are a few of the other shots I got on the day. As you can see Sam was a bit of a character. Again just click on the image to see it full size



So to book a really special Yard Visit just get in touch on 0845 838 3199 (A Local rate call no matter where you are) or 07854 170 711 - or drop me an e-mail at info@ultimate-images.co.uk

Le Mans 2007

I've been playing with some software that is available at www.photobucket.com, which is a great site for sharing images quickly and easily online.

Anyway the slide show below was created using images I took at this year Le Mans 24hr race. the race is an annual pilgrimage for me as this was my 19th year, and the 12th year having full press access. It also shows that it's not just England that's getting drowned...

I hope you enjoy the show

A weekend in Bucks and Northants

I had a weekend of showjumping this week, and to keep up the trend I was very damp on Saturday, and reaching for the sunblock on Sunday !!.

Saturday found me back at the excellent facilities of Milton Keynes Eventing centre www.mkec.co.uk for their annual Mini One Day event, it's a great chance for a fun day out for the unaffiliated rider with all 3 disciplines available over simple well built fences. The idea of these days is to provide a taste of eventing and an education for both horse and rider.

The day had been rescheduled from earlier in the month due to the weather, and despite some sticky conditions in the trade stand area the event went ahead as planned. With the paking accessed via a compacted road, and everyone facing down the hill access in and out is never an issue at Milton Keynes. As we all know the weather this year always wants to make it's presence felt, but shirt sleeves seemed the order of the day for some hardy riders -
It was raining so hard at this point the camera focused on the rain rather than the rider!!

I must commend the photographer I had working for me on the day - Lucy - she used to work for Chiltern and Thames magazine, but now works freelance. Lucy was pretty damp by the end of the day, while I just popped out in the sunny bits and took a few of my favourite snaps while puppy spotting -


On Sunday I was at Earls Barton at the invitation of Rockingham Forest Riding club www.rfrc.org.uk for a team showjumping for both seniors and juniors. The facilities at Earls Barton are really first rate with a very level field with crushed gravel access to the lorry park and very firm ground, so no chance of getting stuck on matter how bad the conditions. the ground conditions in the rings were also first rate. There was some excellent jumping on show and the team from Cambridge swept all before them winning both the juniors and the seniors competitions. I did again indulge in some puppy spotting with a very adorable Labrador puppy, and some inspiring head shots of ponies while they were competing rather the more static head shots I usually take, i think they work rather well

And here are some shots of the winning Junior team.

And lastly one of my favourite shots from the day -

Welcome to my first ever blog entry. The idea behind the blog is to give everyone some insight into what goes on, and what I get up to.

This month (July) is proving to be very busy, which is nice, with lots of variety. I've been covering events up and down the country from Osbaldeston North of England Pony Show with it's £1000 first prize champion of champions class to Cranleigh in the south for a dog agility event, which are always great fun. I even found time to attend a celebrity event hosted by Halpern PR at the Haymarket Hotel. Halpern always put on a good event, and this was no different. Celebrating the Westfield London and British Fashion Council fashion Forward event, most of the listed celebrities attended, and a few over skinny 6' models, who all looked in need of a good meal.

The Pony event at Osbaldeston took some getting to, with the M6 proving it's normal troublesome self, but as I'm newly equipped with a Tom Tom I managed to avoid the worse as it keeps me updated on the traffic far better than any radio station. The event itself was unfortunately moved indoors, but the classes were still very well attended and the event ran well into the night finishing around 9pm.

The late finish gave me a bit of a problem as I had to drive to Cranleigh in Surrey to be ready for the dog agility on the Sunday. Dog agility always brings a smile to my face, and utmost admiration for both the dogs and the owners, the dogs of all shapes and sizes know their left and right far better than I do.

Anyway enough waffle here are some of the pictures from the various events, and I promise to keep subsequent entries shorter.

Amy Sargent from Halpern making sure everything works to plan