Roadside Sighting

I just wanted to share a photo of this adorable little donkey foal we spotted along the side of the road today. We did some final scouting for locations today and will spend the next two days shooting. The weather is quite warm here, I am surely not used to these temps and will need to remember to drink plenty of water!

Shackleford Banks and Carrot Island Pony Sightings

This morning I found someone to ferry me out to the Shackleford Banks from Harker's Island. The sky was a little foreboding and the water choppy but we did see a few ponies on the banks. How these horses survive on what are literally shifting sand banks is a mystery to me. But there are about 125 ponies that inhabit Shackleford Banks, having been there since the 1600's. We sighted one lone pony on a small sand bar contentedly grazing. My guide informed me that the ponies swim out to the different sand bars to graze, and many of the crossings are shallow enough to walk. Even more amazing to me was that one of these islands was inhabited for many years until a series of hurricanes and subsequent flooding forced people to move off. Many of the dwellings were moved to neighboring islands where they can be seen today.

From Harker's Island I walked on the waterfront of Beaufort where you can see Carrot Island across the inlet. I could see a group of 8 ponies from this vantage point.

Spring has definitely sprung in this part of the world with temperatures reaching 90!

Virginia to Ocrakoke and Beaufort

I was up early this morning and was treated to a beautiful sunrise in Chincoteague. No ponies to see but lots of geese, ducks and other waterfowl.

In cape Hatteras I caught the ferry to Ocracoke Island. I was disappointed to find the only ponies on Ocracoke fenced in a bare lot. The village of Ocracoke is lovely and I would think a great getaway during the winter months. I will attach a photo of the lighthouse there. I caught the last ferry of the day to Cedar Island. As I drove onto the main land I was treated to a full moon rising over the ocean and a sun set over the marshes. This is a beautiful part of the world and I highly recommend visiting this time of year to avoid the crowds.

The start of my road trip!

Today I started a road trip I have been planning all winter. I will be gone for about three weeks and will cover many miles. The plan is to travel down the easternmost route of the outerbanks of the east coast in the hopes of seeing some wild ponies, then on to Ocala to run two workshops featuring my friend and photographer extroardinaire Gabriele Boiselle, then on to New Orleans to visit my daughter Shelby.

I left home about 10 am in rain and temps of about 35 degrees. I travelled down along the Delaware Water Gap and saw some spectacular scenery, as well as bald eagles and hawks. Somewhere in Pennsylvania the rain gave way to sun and blue sky and the temperature steadily climbed into the 60's. Traffic was light and I made good time.

I stopped on the northern Maryland end of Assategue Island and saw some ponies. As you can see these ponies are tame and spend a lot of time grazing in the camp sites. One pony stuck its head in the car looking for handouts! One young pony is still quite furry in his winter coat!

I arrived in Chincoteague at sunset and was disappointed that the gate into the refuge was down, so no tour around the wild life loop for me. I will be up early so I can spend some time in the refuge before I head further south.

I have a room at the Assateague Inn for the night and have my window open to enjoy the island breezes and listen to the geese.

I will try to update the blog every day but I'm not making any promises!

More Bella Pix

Here are a few more winter pix of the lovely Bella.

Hopefully soon I will be photographing her in her summer coat in the daisies and buttercups, I am sure spring will be here sometime soon!

Colorado Cowboy Calendar now BOGO!!

This photo was taken at the Sombrero Ranch photo workshop in Northwest, Colorado in 2008 and is featured in the 2009 Colorado Cowboys and Horses Calendar.

There is still time to order your 2009 Colorado Cowboys and Horses Calendar featuring 62 photos from the 2008 Workshop and Horse Drive.

Go here to see some preview pages and order your copy! These beautiful calendars are now half price, buy one get one free!

See a short video of the 2008 Horse Drive here.

Join us for the 2009 photo workshop and horse drive!

Winter Weekend Fun

I spent a lovely winter weekend with some photographer friends recently for some informal shooting but mostly for visiting and fun. We picked the perfect weather and had some good light and warm temperatures, and it was nice to be out and around horses and enjoying the company of fellow photographers and horse lovers.
Kathy Mathew and her barn friends at Mistover showed off some of their horses and a couple of Warmblood buddies romped in the snow for us.


Kathy showed off her boy Jack, what a cute pair!






Carole Paterno and her lovely new warmblood Loretto. What a beautiful head and eye this horse has! All the photos from this shoot may be seen here.

The following day we visited the Kriz farm in Connecticut. What a privelege it was to spend time with this well known family. I spent quite a bit of time enjoying the photos and articles on the huge wall of the shop and the company of 91 year old Uncle Joe Kriz who seemed to enjoy the attention from the girls with cameras! In between visiting we admired the biggest pile of horseshoes in the world and photographed a draft horse or two! Here are more photos.

Montanvale Sleigh Rally

I spent a lovely winter day recenlty photographing at Wayne and Ruthann Gavitt's Montanvale Farm in Forksville, Pennsylvania. This farm was the host for the Montanvale sleigh rally. It was a perfect day to get outside and enjoy the horses in the snow. The sound of the sleigh bells is a music like no other!

This photo is of Julie Gavitt's Arabian gelding Frosty being driven by Dr Larry Bason of Mill Hall, Pa.

More photos from the rally may be seen here.

Bella

This photo is of my new Lipizzan mare, Bella and my dog Ollie.
I took this photo with a lensbaby to give it a soft effect and I also applied some filters in photoshop.
Bella is a real sweetie and very photogenic, I am looking forward to photographing her this summer!
Here is a photo I took of her for the EPNet winter solstice shoot. She seems to like to strike that pose!

Happy New Year!

My daughter Trina and I took a short trip to Florida to visit family recently and it was nice to enjoy some sun and warm weather and walk on the beach. We also spent some time at the American Orchid Society.
Back home we are in winter survival mode and the usual battle against the elements of snow, wind, ice and cold that we get every January. The days are getting longer and and this is the time of year to catch up on the thousands of photos taken over the year before.
I recently joined facebook and am enjoying connecting with friends, family and clients there.