Winter is for Recharging

Best Wishes for a warm and enjoyable holiday season!  I am home for awhile, eager to settle in a bit for winter and catch up with some personal projects as well as home life, aka all that "I'll do it later" deep house cleaning and re-organizing, as 2010 was my busiest year yet in photography and travels.  I truly love my work, but it is great to have some time off and chillax as they say. It recharges the creative juices and affords the opportunity to do some study and experimentation to improve my photography and image post processing skills.  That said, I am already looking forward to what 2011 will bring.  A trip to Portugal is in the works for Spring, I have most of the usual competitive events that I  photograph and have some farm calls on the schedule for spring and summer. 

My Elder Horse Project had a terrific response and really kept me busy scheduling photo shoots on top of my usual work.   I will be continuing work on the project in 2011.  It will be a 2 year project as I continue to collect the images and stories on those wonderful elder horses. 

A little update on my latest published work.  On the cover of the January 2011 Practical Horseman is my image of Navigator, the German Riding Pony, imported by Marla Eden of Narnia Farms.  I photographed "Nick" with a bit of outside overcast light on the right, and some lighting I had brought set up and also hand held on the left.  It made for a nice warm glow, lighting up his handsome pony face on an otherwise gray day.  He looks just a bit concerned about the idea of being cloned don't you think.  The image is the lead in for a very interesting article on where we are with cloning and competition.  If you don't subscribe to PH, look for it at your local tack shop.  You can't miss it with Nick's cheery face on the cover.

Next is a sneak preview of the 2011 FITS Autumn Catalog....cover!   I can't show you what is inside until the Fall line is made public, but there is some really attractive and functional riding wear that I think will be a big hit.   Shown below, on the cover is my photograph of 2 FITS sponsored horses and riders taken during their honor round.  These aren't just any horses, they are Welsh Cobs, the well known stallion North Forks Brenin Cardi, ridden by Jessica Wisdom, and Toandos Mountain Man ridden by Bernadine Diers.  They beat out the big boys for the right to wear the championship sashes at the Dressage at Devonwood July show this past year.  Go Pony Power!