Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cowboys & Indians Finalists




Thank you to Fay Ellen Whitehead for letting me photograph her horse, "Poco" in Iron River, Michigan. This image and the Arches National Park image shown here have been selected as Finalists in the annual Cowboys & Indians magazine photography contest.


Arches National Park in Utah is not just about delicate arches. The red rock formations are unreal. To me, it looks like the Flintstones live in this picture! I softened the sky to give it more of a watercolor look as a contrast to all of the texture in the landscape. It was taken at sunset last fall.


"Poco" the horse photo came about with me just following horses around a field with my camera and having one of the owners interact with all of them. It was a harshly lit summer day, but some work in Photoshop helped me create a dramatic portrait.


Wish me luck, although it really is just an honor to be nominated. :)




Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Fast and Furious



























What does shooting a 2 year old have to do with shooting rodeos?
It's fast and it furious! I found out that rodeo shooting has been good training
for photographing toddlers. They don't sit still, they move fast and have
minds of their own!

I learned to how to anticipate action and be quick on the shutter, but I found it to
be more of a physical challenge with the kids. This lovely family requested a shoot at the Denver Botanic Gardens. 2 hours later I was exhausted from moving quickly, looking for fleeting movements and doing about a billion power squats. I was actually a little sore the next day! Sometimes I forget how much energy they have!

Little Kaitlynn was especially uncooperative always running the other way, etc, etc. and we ended the session not quite knowing if we got anything, but I think we did, because it wasn't my first rodeo. :) These are just a few shots, let's talk more about this next time.





Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thank You Veterans

To all veterans, past, present and future...we salute you and we salute your sacrifices. We thank you.