Over the years, sports photography has been quite a large part of my business repertoire. I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph world-class athletes and a multitude of sports and disciplines. These have included Formula 1, Premier League football, boxing, cycling, kickboxing, world champion windsurfers, County cricket and Olympic skiers.
The realm of Endurance Photography is certainly not new to me. In the motorsports arena I have photographed car races in the World Endurance Championships in Europe and the USA. Races were 6, 12 or 24 hours events with the most well- known being the famous Le Mans 24 hour race in France which, when taking into consideration the pre and post race coverage, has me photographing for an impressive 36 hours.
Triathlons have also been wonderful sporting occasions that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed covering, my favourite being the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon in Leeds. Capturing the superb competitors of Team GB in action, especially the Brownlee brothers, was such a delight.
This summer, Endurance photography featured prominently in my calendar as I had the honour of photographing the equestrian Euston Park Endurance Rides in the grounds of Euston Hall in Thetford, Suffolk. With around 100 entries from 11 nations including Argentina, Spain, Belgium and Hong Kong it really has been super seeing some of the world’s top horse riders compete up to 160 kilmoters in one day.
As you can see from the photos, we were blessed with a gloriously sunny day. I covered a lot of riding action out on the course loops, the action in the stables and the regular veterinary checks.
My 15 plus hours of photography at each Euston Park Endurance Ride required a variety of shooting techniques. These ranged from being out on the course capturing the speed, agility, power and grace of the horses in the lush, verdant countryside through to the reportage and documentary style of the behind the scenes team work in the stables, interaction with the horses, lifestyle and atmosphere all making me one very happy photographer!
I hope you enjoy looking through this little collection of images from the events. It is a wonderful spectator sport and by all accounts from the lovely and talented riders with whom I spoke, a superb ride in which to participate.
Btw – If you’re keen to keep up to date with what I’m up to in my photography world, you’re very welcome to follow me on Instagram > @juliet_lemon