Sarah Lessler
Asking a photographer to choose a favorite photo is a seemingly impossible task, but when I think about the images I’ve taken that stand out to me the most, the ones that come to mind are the pictures that led me to where I am today. A large part of my business is photographing thousands of three-day eventing riders from the intro level all the way up to five star. But just seven years ago, when I was covering the international show-jumping circuit in Europe, I rarely saw an eventing round.
I was lucky enough to attend CHIO Aachen, Germany several times, and this image, taken in 2015, was when I began to fall in love with the sport of eventing. For the riders, doing this sport is truly a heart-in-your-throat task to take on a top-level cross-country track, and for photographers it is our task to capture that feeling. It is the grandness of this image that has stayed with me: the spectacular windmill certainly helps the moment, but so does the horse that is flying through the air with the rider softly in balance.
Today, as I photograph three-day eventing, this shot and a few others stick in my mind as I try to illustrate the grandness of the moment for each rider that passes in front of my camera—no matter if they are racing past a windmill in Aachen, or completing an Intro course for the first time. They both share equally in that grand accomplishment of successfully completing a cross-country round.
Prior to establishing Erin Gilmore Photography, a successful business covering sport-horse events in the Northeast and beyond, Erin Gilmore covered international equestrian sport around the world, with career highlights that range from covering multiple Olympic Games, to working with international equestrian brands and clients.
To read the rest of our May/June issue click here and to see more of Erin Gilmore’s photos check out her website.