Letter from the MHC President THE MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL


by Kimberly K. Egan, MHC President Equestrians of my generation grew up with precious


few photographs of themselves riding a horse, much less competing a horse. Te photographer at the aver- age competition was a proud parent or other relative and occasionally an instructor. Tere were good reasons for this – the average automatic camera was not well suited to photographing subjects at


speed, and production values on non-professional cameras were nothing to write home about. You can see the evidence in this 1981 picture of yours truly, which happens also to be the only picture ever taken of me as a child in competition. Is that really me? What color is that horse anyway? Was there an eclipse in progress? Or Is the light weird because color film was still pretty “meh?” Te struggle was real. Good quality sports photogra- phy was the domain of professional sports media covering marquee events. Te experience today is entirely different. Ac- cessible and moderately priced professional pho- tographers abound, and talented amateurs with means can purchase equipment of a quality unheard of in the mid- to late-20th


and from good to outstanding. Digital cameras mean you can take as many shots as you want without worrying about running out of film, and it also means you can save yourself a bundle by not needing to buy film in the first place. Gone are the days when you have to know how to oper- ate a darkroom or send your film out to be developed. Now you know instantly whether the shot is worth saving. And if it isn’t, you delete it. Done. Te result is that we are now swimming in fan- tastic images of horses, horse people, and farm life in general. Spend a moment on Facebook and you will see enough images and videos of horses to last a lifetime. Why am I talking about this, you ask? Because


An example of early 1980s average ama- teur photographer production values.


century. Digi- tal editing software can transform a photograph from average to good,


August is Te Equiery’s annual photo contest issue, when amateurs and professionals alike submit their best work in the hopes of being chosen for the cov- er. Tere is no way we could have run a contest like this if we still had to acquire print copies of every photo, and if contestants still had to wait weeks to get pictures developed in order to submit. Submis- sions would be a fraction of what they are now, and


the average production value of the photographs would be inferior. So grab an ice cold beverage, sit on the porch, and flip through these stunning images taken by Equiery readers.


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