The rain held off, despite looking very ominous in the sky, for my return to Ham Polo Club for the Gaucho Sundown polo, (I’m sure it was called Sunset polo last year, but nevermind) in fact we were almost bathed in sunshine at times! Ham Polo Club has many memories for me as my grandparents lived in Ham and I can remember walking past the ground with my Grandfather on the way to the river.
In terms of photography, and as a spectator too, if there’s ever a great time of day to be photographing something, it’s on a summers evening, preferably with the sun shinning, the light is just lovely. Personally I always try and shoot into the sun, which I know goes against all the photography rules, but we all know what rules are for 😉 For me, it just accentuates the evening light and can give it a hot summers evening feel regardless of the actual temperature.
So, with a good crowd beginning to build up after their buggy ride along the Thames from the Gaucho Richmond to the Clubhouse for drinks and Polo. IG Index provided their “Bucking Bronco” or probably more appropriately titled ‘”Polo Training Pony”. This rather clever mechanical horse can be a great training aid with no doubt considerably less risk to both pony and rider. A fast paced game with a few near misses as the ball whizzed passed me in my position behind the goal. I learnt some time ago not to bother trying to catch one, a) I either miss it or b) it hurts when you do, you’d be surprised how fast that ball travels!
After the game and prize giving the evening was turning into an after party, so I just managed to grab a few social shots before the light went completely.