I am back (albeit reluctantly) from SE Oregon and the wild horse herds. I absolutely love the Steens area and have made sure to revisit the area periodically ever since I "discovered" it when in my twenties.
The aromatic spring sagebrush this trip was intense. Especially when you drive over it. oops... okay, we did A LOT of that but how else are you to get to the wild herds I ask. High desert wild flowers of several varieties everywhere. Just beautiful
The skies were amazing as thunderheads and electrical storms were often all around us on the broad landscape. I took as much advantage of photographing the skies and the landscape as I did the horses. I learned that wild horses are .....where you find them. Sometimes right beside a BLM gravel road, other times way off in the distant horizon or just visible as tiny dots on a rim top. Learning to spot them in a landscape of sagebrush, boulders and juniper trees became a learned art. What doesn't look like it belongs? Was that something that just moved? A swishing tail under that tree? Was it a cow or a horse or an antelope... or a rock or a tree stump or some palomino or light dun colored patch of sand?
A high clearance 4 wheel drive and binocular vision serves us well. Having forgotten binoculars, my 300 mm lens with 1.4 extender helped greatly on questionable identification.
I leave having gained an addiction for the hunt and gathering of images of horses being able to live their true natures.
I will be putting up galleries as I get the time to process the images. Soon I must pack my cameras back up and head for Bend and the Central Oregon Dressage Classic at Brasada Ranch this weekend.
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