Project: Santa Barbara's Polo Scene

Brooks Institute of Photography
September 15-16

Brooks Institute of Photography students capture Polo season in Santa Barbara

Majestic mountaintops proudly display large homes with multi-million dollar views like trophies on a mantle. Miles of white sandy beaches extend for as far as the eye can see and palm trees stand at attention along the streets like soldiers protecting its citizens. This is Santa Barbara; an oceanfront town located about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

As with all other Project Photoshop Lightroom assignments before this - and those to follow - the students at Brooks Institute of Photography wanted to find an aspect of Santa Barbara that would accurately represent the town and surrounding areas - in short, it's beauty, elegance and sophistication.

While there were many options for illustrating any one of these, one truly represented all three - the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club. Upon entering the property we were immediately hit with a level of serenity that deserves the same quiet respect one would give to Tiger Woods attempting to sink a putt to win the The Masters. And with acres of plush and meticulously maintained green grass, one could easily mistake this for Pebble Beach.

The Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club is the perfect location for this assignment. To us it is indicative of a lifestyle that attracts people from around the world and identifies with the true spirit of Santa Barbara.

The students were immediately drawn to the 200-plus horses that call the polo club home and the stable hands who are the caretakers for these beautiful animals. An early morning arrival presented great picture-taking opportunities including the grooming, feeding and exercising of the horses. Shooting, high, low, up close, and from afar the students began to capture every conceivable detail this location had to offer.

The polo match provided additional opportunities to photograph the interaction of man and animal in action on the field. Horses in full gallop carrying men swinging wooden mallets would certainly add another dimension to the portfolio.

Colin Finlay made certain to spend time with each student, answer questions and provide helpful hints, techniques and encouragement. During our lunch break Colin was extremely pleased with some of the images he had seen from the morning's shoot and offered this quick commentary. "Many of the images I have seen thus far show that students are looking well beyond the obvious. They find the shot and then move one step closer to take it. That's what this project is all about - carving out a space for yourself and exploring every aspect - every detail - until that space becomes a reflection of who you are and what you want to say with your pictures."

The students returned to Brooks Institute to download their images they all had a look of satisfaction - like they captured what they hoped to find -or more.

Julieanne Kost greeted the students in the digital lab to assist with their downloads and importing the photos for final edits using Adobe's Lightroom beta software. A team critique session would assist in cutting each student's final five down to three for final posting to the Website.

We hope you find their portfolio as interesting to view as they found to produce it.