Prior to the July 4 weekend, I chose to get out to do some practice shooting with my new D300s. I hadn’t taken much time to review the manual as I was all excited about getting out and getting to use the new camera. One of the placed I had in mind on visiting was a horse show/exhibition which was being held at the NY State Fair Grounds.I shared my intentions with some fellow photographers of mine and that sparked the attention of one photographer, Lynne, who was available to accompany me for the shoot.

The atmosphere at the NY State fairgrounds was indeed different for me, there was a musky scent that filled the air; there was the  chanting and whistling of the crowd; there were the exhilarating  rush of the horse carriages; and, there were the focused practice rings where the riders were deep in concentration reading their horses to be taken into the arena.

It was in one of these practice rings I came across a rider which I can only refer to as three-sixty. After warming up with her horse, she took a stance which, with the beautifully lit background, crystallized into an image which I thought was worth of taking and which I included into this post. I was certainly taken not only by the posture of the horse and rider but the way the evening light struck the horse and emphasized the muscular structure of the creature. Further, I was also mesmerized by the back lit scene which helped to set the environment of the place.

If my memory serves me right, three-sixty went on to win her competition that evening and right now, I wish I had her contact information to share the photo with her. There is some romantic, yet beautiful atmosphere of the image which has made it one of my favourite photos of the year. Yeah, I like three-sixty.