In April 2020 and in the interest of legacy I wrote a Wikipedia entry recording the thoughts and notable works of Harveywetdog. I admit I was ignorant of the rules concerning self promotion on Wikipedia and consequently my entry was correctly deleted and my account expunged from the system. As a result my original words and links were sadly lost but nevertheless here is a rewrite. Perhaps when I'm gone someone will be able to enter it onto Wikipedia as a fitting epitaph for my time on the Harveywetdog Project.
When my trip to Weston Park Horse Trials was cancelled (due to the weather) I thought never mind I still have Bicton and as we know the sun always shines on Devon. I even toyed with taking a day off work so I could visit Bicton on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to stock up on video to edit over the winter.
Unfortunately it transpired it does rain at Bicton and in the end I just made it on one day which was the final Sunday of the season.
Nevertheless it was a worthwhile trip, the sun did shine and I captured the action from the Empire Coachbuilders CCI 2 Star (S) and the Rathbones CCI 3 Star (S) cross country.
Of course I am prepared to video in the rain. The NX80 is well protected by its Manfrotto rain cover and it is possible to capture excellent video in these circumstances. The reason I didn't attend on Saturday was due to the forecast mix of wind and rain as it is the wind blowing the rain onto the lens that makes it difficult to keep the lens clear. As a photographer you can pick your shots to keep your back to the wind; as a videographer you have to follow the action and I find this makes it difficult to keep the lens clear in windy conditions.
The first horse was due on the cross country course at 09:00 which meant leaving home at 06:30 to be in position for the start. There then followed about six hours of pretty intense cross country action as I made my way twice around the beautiful Bicton Park setting.
I was working on the assumption that there would be 80 competitors in each class which gave me the chance to take my time and allow 4 horses per fence. I was a bit short in the 2 Star as I nearly ran out of horses for the final combinations (there are four fences in the final field 17, 18ABC, 19 and 20) and for the 3 Star I missed a few horses at the beginning as I had to walk back to the car to change the camera battery and have a drink.
It had been my intention to video the final Prize Giving but in the end with the light fading I decided it was best to head off home.
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