The Camargue, Cloud, Cavalia and more!

Hello Friends! It was an exciting year for me and I am catching my breath and trying write it all down so I can share some of my latest galleries of my work with you. Just follow the links below to see more images.

 

This year I had the opportunity to travel to the Camargue region of southern France for the first time and photograph the fabled white horses of the area. In August we once again met up at the amazing Powderhorn Ranch for a week's photography retreat. After this event I travelled in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado and was treated to seeing and photographing Cloud's band in the Pryor Mountains as well as the Mustangs of the McCullough Peaks and the Sand Wash Basin.

To top off these amazing new photo ops, I was invited to attend media day when Cavalia came to Boston . . . if you ever get the chance to attend this dramatic show it is worth every penny!

Whenever I am in Pennsylvania I try to spend some time in the "Big Valley" there. This is a pristine valley where the majority of farmers still do things the old way, and it is a real treat to see, and photograph, the big horses working in the fields.

 

I was lucky to do some shooting in Vermont at the optimal foliage time, and a special treat was visiting Tamarack Hill Farm! Our group also enjoyed some portrait sessions at the Moses Kent Farm, fall trail riding fun with Joe and Delilah, an Icelandic Farm and a morning in South Woodstock with the North Country Hounds.

My travels for the year are not quite over, and I am already looking forward to next year! I will be heading to Fort Worth, Texas early this month, and in December I will travel to Chincoteague in hopes of catching the spectacular snow goose migration. Next year we will be back in Wickenburg, Arizona, as well as Shell, Wyoming and Craig, Colorado. 

Email me if you would like to set up a photo session or have any special photo requests.

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Spring Travels and Adventures

The month of May flew by in a whirlwind of epic shoots and fun adventures and travel with friends. In early May the annual EPNet workshop at the Sombrero Ranch in Craig Colorado followed by the Great American Horse Drive did not disappoint! Although we missed Ed Pinkard and daughter Sara as well as Kansas this year, head wrangler Chuck Hummel did a great job of running our shoots for us with the help of Alex and Jessie, Christy, Terry, Johnny and all the rest of the amazing cowboys and cowgirls! The light and weather were great, the horses fresh and the photographers ready for fun and fellowship. Year after year this is the week many of us live for and any other shoot pales in comparison. In addition, having Nikon rep Mark Kettenhofen join us with the latest and greatest Nikon gear is an added treat, and I was lucky to test the new 80-400 Nikkor lens which I now have added to my bag and have been using quite a bit. The drive was fast and furious this year with a near stampede for the first five miles making for lots of adrenaline charged photo ops! The new horses in the herd did not know that the drive is done at a walk and trot and were ready to do it at a full gallop, and took some hard riding on the wranglers' part to get them slowed down. All my photos from my trip to Colorado may be seen at this link, including a visit to the Sandwash wild horse range. 

 After a short visit home I was off again, this time to Europe. I spent a very lovely (although rainy) few days with my Aunt in Brussels recovering from jet lag before I flew on to the Camargue region of France to join a group of friends to photograph the white horses indigenous to the region. This was a long dreamed of trip that proved to exceed my expectations! We photographed horses in the marshes, in ponds, on the beach and in the sea and also visited local stables and equestrian centers. The horse and gypsy culture is strong and alive in this part of the world and very exciting to see and photograph. What can be more fun and exciting than a group of white horses running through the water? See my images at this link.

This spring I also attended the NC PAHA Arabian show in Pennsylvania and spent some time traveling in the Big Valley in Pennsylvania. It is wonderful to see the Amish still farming with horses and all the farms are so picturesque and pristine, it is always a treat for me to travel in this part of the world.

I will be staying closer to home for a while and in July I will once again be leading an online course, The Basics of Equine Photography. This is a very popular and intensive five week course that will cover all the elements of creating good equine images, I will share lots of tips and tricks and maybe even a few secrets, and will provide lots of feedback on photos the students take as well as address any questions or issues you may have. I hope you will join me for this course as we explore the world of equine photography together!

In the meantime please do not hesitate to send me an email if you have a shoot in mind or have horses you need some extra special images of. My travels will bring me all over the northeast and beyond this year and would love to meet up with you and your horses!

The last seven years of Sombrero Ranch and Great American Horse Drive in photos...

In 2006 I travelled to Craig, Colorado to attend the Great American Horse Drive for the first time, and have returned every year since. It is the highlight of my year to attend this incredible event and it has been a huge pleasure to facilitate the Sombrero Ranch photo workshop and photographers portion of this event through the Equine Photographers Network for the past six years now. What a treat and so much fun to share this unique event with fellow photographers!

Every year I return from this event with many new and exciting images that I use to create my calendar, show in art competitions and exhibitions and license for stock usage, the photo ops are just so endless, exciting and unique. At the moment five of my images from the Horse Drive and Sombrero Ranch Workshop are hanging at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum Cowgirls with a Camera show in Wickenburg, Arizona, as well as locally in the Sidney Library in Sidney, New York. All the prints at the library are for sale at greatly reduced prices, here is your chance to have some great western art to hang and enjoy in your home!

For the month of April I will be sharing a photo a day from these shoots on my Horse Drive Photos page. Please go on over and like this page so you can enjoy the photos every day. At the end of the month I will be picking some lucky fans for some great giveaways, including prints and calendars. Thanks!

Saying Goodbye

Gulliver
(Taliszman x Rushcreek Guna)
 1998-2013

The animals that live with us are family members and we have been with many of them as they were humanely put to rest. Some have lived long, happy, healthy lives and laying them down has been bittersweet, but something we were able to prepare ourselves for, others we lost before their lives had barely begun and those have been harder to swallow. It never gets any easier and the worst thing of all is seeing an animal in such pain that the only real option we have is to release them from that pain.

Unfortunately yesterday was such a day when I had to make this decision for my gelding Gulliver, a big, stong, healthy horse that was bred and born here 15 years ago. He and his two bay sisters were always a trio, and being the only gelding in my little herd never seemed to faze him. Doing chores last night felt so strange and the place he left empty was a big gaping hole. Life is always changing, and our time here is so fleeting, please take a moment to appreciate all you have and take good care of those four legged babies that depend on us for so much.

Horse Radio Network Interviews

I have found since most of my online presence is on facebook that when I go to look for an old link to share it can be a real challenge actually finding it, so I am going to make more of an effort to share these links through my blog on a (semi) regular basis. I hope you find these links interesting and useful, and maybe entertaining also!
A while back my friend and colleague Scott Trees and I were interviewed about horse photography by Glenn from the Horse Radio Network for the Stable Scoop Radio Show. It's hard to believe that was in 2008! But it's a fun interview and contains some useful tips. More recently I have started doing photo tips for them again, and there is actually a great archive of photo tips here from both Scott and myself.

Winter Catch Up!

Well I must apologize for having neglected this blog for so long. It is a dreary Saturday afternoon so I thought I would sit and catch up on my latest travels, although things do tend to be quiet this time of year.
In November I traveled to California where I organized a photo workshop for my friend Scott Trees. We had a great group of people and a perfect location at the Santa Rosa Equestrian Center and were blessed with perfect weather and lovely light. We were treated to a nice variety of horses and models, it was a very fun and enjoyable workshop in a beautiful part of the country. After the workshop I drove from Santa Rosa up to Seattle to visit my daughter that had recently moved there. From spectacular coast line to old growth forests, mountain passes and pristine high deserts it was a treat for me to be able to explore a part of the country that I have never had the chance to see before.
In December I met up with some friends in Chincoteague, Virginia. Unfortunately this area is still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Sandy and the snow geese had not yet arrived so the photo ops were limited this time. We did however find a group of ponies in the wild life loop and went for a boat ride while the weather was nice enough that we were only half frozen by the time we got back...
We have had our share of snow this winter, and some temps down around zero, but the days are getting longer so let's hope spring is just around the corner! I was able to take a little break from winter earlier in February and traveled to Arizona for some fun in the sun with some friends at the Flying E Dude Ranch in Wickenburg. What a treat! From sunny, bright blue sky days and brilliant stars at night to cowboys and horses and cows, the highlight of this trip was a brief encounter with a bobcat that I will never forget! Speaking of Wickenburg, I am pleased and honored to have been invited back to participate in the second Cowgirls with Camera Show at the Desert Caballeros Museum, if you are in the area stop in and take a look, there will be some great work hanging at this show!
I also explored more of Arizona and have a new appreciation for the wonderful and diverse landscapes of this region. Yes, I love to travel! Upcoming travels for the year include Colorado, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Wyoming .... and France!