Can you believe that it’s July? The calendar year is half over, but the business year is not. Next month will be one year since I decided to become a full-time photographer. Am I making lots of money? No, but I’m having a lot of fun and my knowledge of photography and photo editing is growing by leaps and bounds. You’ll see some of that growth in this post. For the business year – It’s time for me to report my business assets to the County Assessor for tax purposes. I think I can get everything together and look forward to the tax bill.
But first, an update on the wild horses. Until last week, I have been photographing four bands in the area. The studs are Blue, Blondie, Socks, and Shorty. Please also recall that we have a group of bachelor studs, the ‘Boys’ Club,’ waiting for their turns to establish a band – Sampson, Jack, Little Socks, and Skip. In a major power move, Shorty stole all of Socks’ mares so Socks is now a bachelor. When I see him, he appears very lonely and forlorn.
A very lonely Socks!
He won’t even look at the camera.
I have a theory that Socks cut a deal with Shorty to look after the family while he took a little break. I’m told that’s not a viable theory.
Here’s an image of Shorty’s band taken yesterday, with all of Socks’ mares and foals in the group. Please don’t ask me which mares formerly belonged to Socks.
They were enjoying a lazy day, just relaxing and not too concerned as I approached on foot.
And my buddy Blondie – remember the butt shot from my last post? Well – late last week I found his band, parked, and approached on foot. Blondie didn’t like that in the least! For the first time, he ‘challenged’ my approach, actually running towards me. He stopped when he could see me and I was never in any danger, but it made me a little more wary than usual of where he was while I made my images.
Blondie keeping a very watchful eye on me!
I only made a couple images due to Blondie’s obvious ‘discomfort’ with me being there. I like this one – I think it’s Little Scarlett and Mama.
Yesterday, Blondie’s band was across a small valley from Shorty’s band. As I approached in the PHOTORANGER, Blondie gathered everyone up and off they went. I’m not sure what I did to make him mad.
Blondie’s band moving off. Horse butt pictures aren’t really exciting, but I like the pattern created by the numerous rears as they walked away.
And Blondie, walking away – keeping himself between me and the band.
And what about the Boys’ Club? Some of my friends have pictures of Socks with the Boys, but I don’t have any as yet. I found the Boys close to some of the houses, just being boys.
Our temperatures have been high the last couple weeks, with intermittent rain and thunderstorms. We have a fire south of us that has burned 18 square miles. Thankfully, the wind has blown the smoke away (and my power bill likes that!). Since I melt at about 85 degrees (figuratively, not literally), my shooting time is short, leaving me lots of time to stay indoors and work on my editing skills. A really BIG SHOUT OUT to my Photoshop mentors (you know who you are!!), who helped me over a giant hump in learning a couple techniques. Here are a couple of images I edited this week – see if you can identify the changes I made! Hint – they’re very subtle.
This is Little Jo with Mom, Dad, and several other members of the band. The exposure is way off and there is the horse at the bottom of the shot who just doesn’t belong.
Through the magic of Photoshop, I removed the horse at the bottom of the picture and rescued my poor shooting. The result is very pleasing, I think. Oh yeah, Blue is facing the camera behind the black horse. That’s not him on the left.
During the winter months, the Raptors migrate through the Carson Valley. Photo opportunities are everywhere. I caught this juvenile Red Tailed Hawk last February at one of the local ranches. Exposure has been one of my greatest challenges, and lately I’m getting a better handle on it.
I think the image works better with him facing right instead of left, and I fixed my poor exposure and got a little closer.
The night skies have also called to me. The sunsets have been gorgeous and I’ve worked on my ‘low light’ shooting while I’m out there. Temperatures are much better when the sun goes down, so why not?
I made this image from my backyard while we still had a hint of smoke from the wildfire.
Another from my backyard, through the trees. The smoke is gone, but the storm clouds made gorgeous light!
Same evening – different vantage point.
…and a little to the right…
A look at the Pergola in our backyard. This is looking northeast, so the evening light is much different.
One final night shot. This is looking southeast from my front yard. My neighbors very thoughtfully built this beautiful scene in the front corner of their yard. I photograph it often.
And I’ll close this post with a couple images of the PHOTORANGER in action. This little truck has been a great addition to the stable, and I continue to be impressed with its performance in the field. I took my father-in-law out to look for the wild horses yesterday. He was impressed with the truck, but said he preferred the ‘softer’ ride of the other cars. I understand completely.
Enjoy – and have a wonderful 4th of July! God Bless America! PHOTOROGR
The PHOTOROGR Project 