Adrian
May 20, 2010 | Filed Under Photoshoots, people | 1 Comment
I went to Lesley’s to get pictures of her horses. But Adrian was my favorite part. Not many words needed for this post.
con- GRAD -ulations…ha….hahaha..
May 20, 2010 | Filed Under Photoshoots, people, personal | 1 Comment
Just a little play on an extremely annoying typo that people make ALL THE TIME. I cringe when I see “Congrads!” or “Congradulations!” especially on peoples’ facebook profiles or other very public places. I wonder if I should email them and make them aware of this huge faux pas. Or, if I should quietly rejoice in the fact that my English teacher took the ruler to my fingers (not really!), docked me 3% and wrote “Don’t you have a dictionary?” in the margins of my paper when I wrote that horrible word in an essay, way back in tenth grade. I can’t imagine how people who write for a living must feel about little things like that. Maybe I’m just neurotic and slightly OCD about that sort of thing.
Er, back to the point of this post! Congratulations on graduating, Miss Christina Slaunwhite! Christina graduated from Acadia University (almost as good as St. FX University, just a little plug here) in the beautiful Annapolis Valley (at least it has that going for it) with a degree in Psychology. Fantastic. So much work, so much time, so much growing up. I first photographed Christina 5 years ago: my very first year doing photography, one of my very first shoots, actually. Christina and her horse, Kaliki (who is awesome, trust me) smiled pretty for me and I got some fantastic shots- I still love those pictures today. We became friends and being a part of her graduation was actually a little sentimental. It’s neat to see what a person becomes. Again, saying this stuff makes me feel OLD, but it’s the truth.
We got some great family shots (including Hibiki, a beautiful exchange student from…Japan? I think? Lovely Larry, the ever fantastic mama Julie, Jonathan- the boyfriend of forever, and Tyson and Camen- best dogs ever!) as well as some great individual pictures. The lighting was incredible, and everything worked out just swell. Here are few of my favorite captures:
wide open spaces
May 18, 2010 | Filed Under Photoshoots, horses, personal, random | Leave a Comment
Today I played pictures for me. Yep, just for moi. I almost never do that: just grab my camera and take shots for myself, for fun, to play around and tinker with settings and toy with lighting. Today I did. I took pictures at Meadow Brook Stables, run by Kaila Watters and Anna Briand. Kaila and Anna started out as clients a long time ago. They’re the best kind of clients- they love and respect my work and my craft. They always insist on paying me, even when I tell them it’s not necessary. They tell everyone about how wonderful I am. They take the time to make their horses look and act great. They are much, much more than clients now.
Taking pictures at Meadow Brook is never working. The horses have wide open spaces (just like the Dixie Chicks song, yes…catch the tune…) to make big mistakes, to be horses. They crowd the gate because they want to work (read: play). They are healthy, pudgy, respectful, enthusiastic, yet very calm and very polite members of society. It’s hard to get their ears up because they never look at me, they only pay attention to Anna and Kaila- The Top Ponies at this farm.
I shot wide open today- 2.8, at 11am on a super sunny day. I KNEW that the shots would be blown out like this, but I kinda like it. Something about these guys makes me say that about every shot I’ve ever taken of them.
Spencer and Harley
May 13, 2010 | Filed Under Photoshoots, horses | 1 Comment
I saw Spencer walk around the corner and immediately thought, “What a gorgeous girl, she is!” I had no idea I’d be taking her picture two hours later. Her little paint horse, Harley, was sparkling clean. You’ll notice that Harley’s eyes are closed in some of the pictures- that’s his life story. The things we had to do to get his ears up were INSANE! And even then, he’d just tip them towards us, humouring us, really. I loved this pair. And I absolutely love how their shots turned out.
the golden boy
May 13, 2010 | Filed Under Photoshoots, horses | 2 Comments
I think I’m getting old. Well, old-ER at the very least. But I’m saying things like “Oh wow, I remember when he was just a yearling!” And I’m doing that with regularity. Which means that I’m getting old. Because if the horses are getting old, time’s not stopping for me, that’s for sure.
When I walked into Sweet’s Horse Center and saw this huge, lanky, stunning palomino gelding standing in the cross-ties, let me tell you about feeling old. I remember when he was barely a yearling. And he was bad. And his tail was barely past his hocks. And his snip seemed to take up half of his nose. And his owner, Bev, and I talked about what she dreamed he’d become. He’s all that and more now. Rebel is huge now. He looks fantastic. He’s so well behaved. Beautifully put together and a pleasure to work with. I almost teared up a bit when Bev hopped on his back- we’d talked about this exact moment three years ago when I did pictures for her the first time: a time when she’d be able to hop up and hug him around the neck for a bareback picture like she’d seen in my portfolio years ago. It was a strange feeling of deja vu. And a really awesome feeling of satisfaction. I feel like I had a small part in raising the little fella. I felt like a really proud aunt, of sorts. I am so lucky :)
