This incredible travel image was captured by Yasser Alaa Mobarak (AKA @yasseralaamobarak) at the 15th Horse Show of El Jadida (Salon du Cheval d'El Jadida), which took place between October 1 and 6, 2024. This particular demonstration is known as T'bourida (Fantasia), an equestrian performance that’s hundreds of years old and practiced by North and West African countries such as Algeria, Mali and Morocco, situated in the Maghreb region.
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The Horse Show of El Jadida takes place in the Moroccan city of El Jadida and attracts tens of thousands of visitors, so when travel photographer, Yasser, decided to photograph the historic event, photographic opportunity was everywhere. The golden-clad horses, muskets and incredible line formations present an extremely photogenic scene. But for Yasser, timing was crucial.
His method was to fire the shutter of his Nikon Z5 at the same moment he heard the pop of igniting gunpowder, shortly followed by thick, white plumes of smoke. Not only does this visually denote that the muskets have been fired, but it obscures the busy crowd in the background, allowing horse and rider to stand out even more.
Yasser expertly balanced his shutter speed and ISO, so he could retain optimum image quality while freezing the cavalry’s movements. At 1/1000 sec, the horses are tack-sharp, but there’s still a dash of motion blur in the kicked-up dirt, further conveying a sense of motion.
The photographer intentionally dialed in an aperture of f/8, to increase the depth of field so as to render as many horsemen in focus as possible. A 70-200mm lens was used to get close to the action at 200mm. Yasser intentionally framed the horsemen with a tight crop so as not to frame the many distractions around the arena.
Yasser’s top tips for equestrian photography…
"Patience, practice and concentration." Patience is a great point. When shooting fast-paced action, the tendency can be to just keep shooting and disregard basic composition. As for practice, if you’re interested in equestrian photography, see if a local stables will allow you to photograph horses as they train. When it comes to concentration, it can be hard to focus when multiple things are going on around you. Try picking a subject and sticking with it for a while, rather than moving too quickly between subjects.
To see more of Yasser's incredible work, visit his website.
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