East Yorkshire Equestrian Photographers touch down for the Big Bank Holiday Show!

As an East Yorkshire Equestrian Photographer, my favourite event to shoot by far is show jumping. To capture an effective image takes good technical skills and an innate sense of timing that can only be developed by watching the sport and practicing, practicing and practicing some more.

Today I covered the Bank Holiday Show for the Cottingham Parks Yard in Cottingham, East Yorkshire. There was a great turn out, the weather was awesome and the sense of competition made for some really exciting eventing.

This is one of my favourite images of the day on a fence that lent itself to consistently good shots due to the excellent approach angle and the cloud in the sky in the background which I think really adds some depth to the images. The camera set up was Nikon D700 with my trusty Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR lens attached. Exposure was around 1/800 second at an aperture of around f5.6 at 200 iso. I usually shoot my long lens wide open at 2.8 but wanted a little extra depth of field due to the angle of approach so stopped down to f5.6. What was really important to making these shots work was pre-focusing the lens on the peak of the action and then letting rip with the Nikon's amazing 8 frames per second.

Congratulations to the showjumping champions today, you gave an excellent competition and made it so exciting for me as a photographer to capture, the rest of the shots from the day can be viewed here.

Head Shot Photography

Head shots are an important tool for people such as actors. A well taken head shot can make all the difference between an actor bring chosen for an audition or being left having to spend even more valuable time in a desperate search for work. As they are so important it is crucial that you choose the best possible photographer to take the picture. Jo (left) approached Insight to provide her with her first headshots, now that she has graduated from her BA in Performing Arts and will be using the shot we created to market herself to agencies and directors.

A good photographer may well take several different shots, with changes of hairstyle, expression, and various looks from serious, to a more relaxed. This is essential for an actor seeking impress producers theatrical directors with their ability to play different roles. Extras such as hairstyling may add to the cost of your head shot, but it will be money well spent if it helps you receive work.

Having decided that you need to have a photo taken, the next task is to choose your photographer. There are many photographers out there but you will need to find the ideal one for you. This can be done by searching on the web for photographic agency websites, or via personal referrals from fellow actors.

When visiting a photographer's website it is advisable that you seek out those who specialize in head shots. After all, some photographers may produce excellent wedding pictures, others may be skillful sports snappers, but not every photographer is top class at everything. Having identified someone who you believe is capable of excellent work, take a look at his or her portfolio. Does this confirm that this is the man or woman to do the job for you?

Your fellow actors may also be able to advise you of the best photographers. Even if a photographer comes specially recommended to you, it would still be wise to find out what he has to offer on his website before making an approach.

Having decided which photographer you want to use, the next task is to make contact with him. Upon meeting him the questions you will need to ask or his rates, plus the cost of any extras for hair styling, the format the photographs will be produced in- digital or hard copy, and who will own the rights for the pictures.

Not only actors can benefit from a good head shot. With more and more business being done over the internet, business people may do well to have a professionally taken image to appear on their website.

Therefore, carefully choosing a photographer for your head shots is something that must be taken seriously.

Insight Photography are specialists in producing head shots for actors and entertainers as well as other portrait photography

Wedding Pre-Shoot

A vital part of my Hull wedding photography service is to meet the happy couple before the big day. This allows us to get to know each other and to do a pre-shoot. I feel that this process is really important as it allows me to see the couple interact with one another and for me to really get to know them in a photographic sense. A pre-wedding shoot is hugely important and I feel a very worthwhile exercise both for myself and the happy couple.

Below is a pre-wedding shoot with Jane and Neil.

A Few Gadgets

I have to say I love my gadgets and there are quite a few you can use with your PC or MAC if you are into photography.

Apart from software such as Adobe Photoshop there are some nice pieces of hardware you can use to edit or store your images.

A graphic pad is always useful and the ‘pen’ enables very detailed editing and refinements to be done. Another gadget I like is my memory card reader.

A memory card with all your images is placed in the reader which is then plugged into the computer. Using a reader like this enables images to be uploaded a lot faster than by the usual method of connecting your digital camera directly to the computer.

Andy Crozer is a Hull photographer specialising in weddings, portraits, head shots and commercial work