The photo essay is posted at KLM Images.

Before the meet begins

Arm & arm

While the iconic photos of foxhunting at the start of the meet involve hunt staff posed with their hounds ready to hunt, you can find many things of interest to look at well before that point, beginning with the hound trailer.

Whenever I meet a hunt for the first time, I try to be especially diligent about getting shots of the hounds.  I can’t capture their foxhunting abilities with a camera, but I can start to get a feel for their personalities and to identify some of the individuals.  Paying attention to the hound trailer is a good start.

Each hunt’s setup is a bit different, depending on the sort of trailer they use.  Often you are restricted to a view of noses through slits which, while amusing, is a bit limited.  In this case, the interaction between one hound and the huntsman captured some accidental symmetry. Read the rest of this entry »