Writing From the Right Side of the Stall

Carefully curated musings about the writing life, horses, bitterness and crushing career disappointment. Fun, right?

Archive for the tag “Odysseo”

17 May 2012

Images of Odysseo

For the past six weeks or so, I’ve been lucky enough to work with Cavalia’s new show, Odysseo, as it has prepared to open in Toronto. I’m the local ‘equestrian coordinator’, which means I’m the one who knows where all the local tack shops and riding schools are, which BNR (Big Name Riders) to connect with, and which associations might enthusiastically help us promote the show. It’s been a combo pack of marketing, schmoozing, copywriting, and media relations, and one of the perks has been being able to invite several media friends to the gala opening night last night (Tuesday, May 15). More on that in a future post …

I’ve also been in attendance at the three media previews, the most recent of which offered a condensed ‘sneak peek’ of Odysseo’s unique melding of horses, acrobats, and aerialists, and let those of us with cameras have at it. (Cameras are prohibited for the actual performances, so this was our only shot at getting the shots!)

I knew my equipment was going to be underpowered for the challenging light conditions inside the Big Top theatre. My lenses aren’t the fastest and my old Nikon camera body has serious limits on its ISO. But experience has also taught me that shooting under these limitations can sometimes give really pleasing results. Some of my favourite images from the opening ceremonies of the 2010 World Equestrian Games, for example, are blurred and ethereal shots I got after dark, with the horses captured in coloured spotlights.

Herewith a selected few images from Odysseo. It’s not poor photography, people; it’s art! (Say that with conviction and you can almost buy into it.)

If you’d like to see some actual in-focus images, check out my friend Shawn Hamilton’s gallery here.