The Traveling Photographer and California

One of the beautiful Andalusians at Tilleywood Farm

One of the best AND worst parts of my job is the fact that I get to travel all over the world. I think if you are going to be a successful equine photographer you must have a love for travel and new places and experiences. We need to go to our subjects, they will rarely come to us. While I have some great subjects right here in my own back yard (literally!) I usually travel by plane every few months. There are certain hot spots in the world that every horse lover and photographer dreams of and I have been lucky enough to have been to a number of them, and still have quite a few left on my list that I know I will be seeing some day.
Flying is about the least favorite part of this job, but a necessary evil. The world and the USA are just too big to drive to certain destinations so for me I don't have any other option. Flying can be frustrating and tiring and to me I always feel like I have lost a day of my life spent in airports and flying. Traveling with gear is also a challenge. The gear needs to stay with me so I need to pack light enough so that I don't exhaust myself lugging heavy gear around. Shipping gear ahead is an option. I have come to a compromise in my packing. Think Tank makes some four wheel rollers that are super easy to pull and will hold all the gear I need for a trip. It holds two bodies and two big lenses (80-400 and 70-200), one wide angle and one small prime lens as well as my 1.4 extender, batteries and cards. I pack through my chargers and monopod. Don't forget the monopod!

Kate the Ze-Donk at El Campeon Farm

Anyway! Last fall I organized a workshop for my friend Scott Trees in Thousand Oaks, California. Thousand Oaks is definitely a hot bed of horse farms and horse activity and we were not disappointed. The beautiful Oak Trees, lovely barns and horses and of course the famous California light were all a treat for our group. We even were treated to Valentine a Poitou donkey and Kate a great stripey ze-donk along with a beautiful group of horses, riders and farms for us to explore and photograph. You can see more of my images here. This week I will be traveling west for our Hideout Winter Workshop and in March I will be heading south to Florida for a photographers meet up. And once again at the end of April I will head out to Colorado for the Sombrero Ranch Workshop and Great American Horse Drive, after ten years still a highlight of the year for me. Along the way I am looking forward to discovering some new favorite places!