Elder Horse Ideal

Experimental studio lit photo session was in progress at the Ultimate Piaffe the evening of July 20th.  I am a natural light photographer, prefering my subjects bathed in sunlight, but the long rainy gray seasons in the Willamette Valley have convinced me to be a bit more versatile and less dependent upon the right weather conditions to photograph in.
  So with the generous loan of some studio lights from photographer Barbara Parker, and with Sharon Fibelkorn up from California  to help me set the lights, we commenced with the experiment of studio lighting for our latest elder horse subject, the Oldenburg stallion Ideal.  (who also happens to be a Breyer horse)  My thanks to the Ives/Purdy family for allowing us to experiment on Ideal.  He took it all in stride.  At first a bit surprised by the umbrella on a stand in his arena as he arrived on the scene, he settled down and ignored the flashes of the lights and I had a blast playing with him and the lighting.   I learned a lot and have ideas for refinements and adjustments in equipment and positioning for "next time".

   

Ideal was born in 1985 making him 25 years old on the day these photographs were taken.
It is hard to believe that Ideal is now an elder horse both in the fact that so much time has taken place since I first photographed him and that he is still spry and energetic and up for entertaining us. 




Wishing I had that third light....

Wishing I had that third light....