Skip to main content

Featured post

If Harveywetdog did Wikipedia

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.  

Happy: Mitsubishi Motors Grassroots Championships

This is my second video of the Grassroots competition at the 2015 Badminton Horse Trials. This is very much me going back to the roots of what I do with slow motion, stirring emotional and meaningful music and close close ups of horses in action.





Key Moment
On the day there was heavy wind and rain at times which makes holding a camera still impossible. Even the tripod was in danger of blowing over. so although at times horses go slightly out of shot I don't think this detracts. I spent some time matching the action to the music; "what if it hurts me" was obvious but I'm most pleased with the way the horse explodes into the air on the drum crash at 13b. I also thought about "I just want to be happy" using images were riders weren't as a juxtaposition and to force home the message of the song.

The outburst of joy at the end is totally spontaneous and wonderful to watch and shows just what it means to people to complete at this venue. Last time I checked the rider was ultimately eliminated for missing out Fence 6 but either they didn't know or didn't care at the time.

Julian Portch putting his faith
in a thin bit of string
Final note: the photographer in the thumbnail is Julian Portch and is my way of saying thank you for the help and advice he gave me over the two days I was at Badminton.

Funny what you see when you go back over the video; the rider
looks puzzled what the photographer is up to but I suspect he is
looking for the next fence!

Comments