I took my grandsons to the US Cavalry competition in El Reno recently. Since I had photographed this even before, and my grandsons are learning photography, I let them take pictures with my digital cameras while I stuck to film photography. I shot this photo with my Toyo VX-125 large-format 4×5 film camera using my Nikkor-W 210mm F5.6 lens on Ilford Delta Pro 100 black and white film.
I set up my camera right outside the “arena” that was used for the competition. This rider was due to compete in a few minutes. I had little time to work. I set up the camera on a tripod, got my composition the way I wanted it, everything in focus, then started loading film. Before I got the film loaded, the horse moved forwards slightly. I knew this was probably my only chance to get this photo so I took the picture knowing the horse’s head may not have been in the photo. Luckily I got most of his head and only lost the very tip of the horse’s nose.
