MODELS
Kate O'Neal
From the moment you make contact with Kate O'Neal you get a comfortable feeling that here's
a model that's dependable and beautiful to photograph in one complete package. The key interests
that inspire Kate these days, aside from a full-time job in Bay Centre and her modeling gigs, are
love of equestrian events, BMX bikes and once in a while a sunny afternoon at the Victoria skateboard park.
And then immediately you understand how she keeps that trim athletic physique.
Kate's recent 3 year trek to Australia has also been a big event in her life and no doubti has also been a
maturing phase of life and opened her mind to the world at large.
So after the exchange emails and a couple of meetings I met up with Kate, cameras primed and batteries fully
charged at a nearby riding stable. One other development was there to meet us in the form of a pounding
all-day rain storm that was brutal and qualified for what my native Louisianan's term a "frog-choker". I couldn't
venture out into that monsoon until I had first duct-taped an umbrella to my body to ensure that I wouldn't have to be
shopping for a new camera the next day.
Kate was ready to go from the outset but admittedly, she confessed, the thought of an unknown horse and the jumping
had her a little on edge. The horse was a thing of beauty with wonderfully colorful markings and was quite a large
animal.
This majestic animal was slowly walked out to the arena in the storm. Saddles and hardware were adjusted and finally the
animal was mounted for the slow walk warmup stage. All of which came off without a problem. Test shots, exposure adjustments
and the search for the most interesting photo locations began within the small arena confines in which we had to work. The next
stage was to pick up the speed to a comfortable gait and Kate got things going, again very smoothly. Shortly, then Kate and the
stable owner began to discuss the jump plan. Finally the owner set up the supports and brought out the rail and installed it
in place. Then we go to action and Kate spurred the animalto a fairly moderate run and up and over it was. The horse performed
as if it has always been trained for the jump. While the photos reveal a somewhat tense Kate, in a short while when Kate
reviewed the jumping pictures, she quickly became relaxed and a smile replaced the terseness of the warmup period.
Photographing the horse jumping presents the problems of choosing the correct instant to trip the camera shutter. Admittedly,
today's autofocus and almost instantaneous automatic exposure calculation by the camera firmware takes a lot of the work out of
shooting this kind of event that would have dominated the photographer's mind just a few years ago.
For this event, the application of rear curtain sync shooting would have been an interesting exercise. Strobes firing at a
galloping horse and strobe gear out in a rainstorm--well I don't have to mention how poor a decision that would have been.
So the rear curtain sync shots will have to be on another day.
From the stables, Kate and I returned to Victoria, loaded the bike and skateboard into the truck and headed out for the park.
Still in a downpour, Kate showed her determination and grit and splashed about in some fairly deep puddles while braving
the prospect ofan accident aided by a much slicker riding surface. Only a single fall came out of it and thankfully
without injury. We gave this time our best and reassured each other that a soaking wet bike rider would make for interesting
shots! Then we put the bike away and shot skateboarding scenes. One of the camera setup challenges was to eliminate nearby
buildings and street traffic around the park.
But all-in-all when you're in Victoria and you're looking for a model with ideas, athletic strength to work many hours and with
the natural beauty you need, be sure to call on Kate O'Neal for wonderful shooting experiences.