I did this shoot recently for ESPN Rise magazine on the outskirts of DC. Kareem, Daymar and Brandon are three kids from Philadelphia who began playing Polo several years ago as part of an inner city program called “Work to Ride”. They’ve since risen to the top of the sport. It was a fascinating shoot as I had never experienced Polo first hand. We were supposed to meet up a few hours before one of their matches to do some portraits and then I was to shoot some action shots of the match as well. Due to some unforeseen circumstances (horrible DC traffic), the boys didn’t get to the arena until right before their match leaving them with just enough time to prepare their horses and not much else. I would have to improvise. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I LIKE to improvise, but I have become quite good at it with lots of experience. I was able to get a few shots of one pose before their match and then it was time for some action shots (and some scrambling to try to figure out how to get more portraits after the match).
The match itself was awesome, very fast and action packed, it was a great first Polo experience. In the midst of the all of the pre-match craziness I was able to find out that the kids would be stabling their horses at a barn nearby after the match and arranged to do some portraits at that location. It was an awesome location but it made for a LONG day. We finished up our shoot at about midnight and everyone involved was EXHAUSTED! Here’s one of my favorites from the barn:
