Love on the Short Side

I could not resist posting this photo of Jami and Drifter. Jami absolutely adores this little stallion and it shows.

Full Moon Photography

Fort Worth has the best full moon right now, and I was able to shoot fellow photographer friend at midnight out in my pasture for grins and giggles. Our moon is so BRIGHT it is like having a spotlight. I used only a tripod and a cable shutter release, f/22 with an ISO of 400, maybe a 30-45 second exposure for you camera junkies.


A fellow photographer friend was looking at the back of her camera when I caught this one.

Wedding Photography

Ryan and Mary my Engagement couple from earlier this year are now married! I had the most wonderful evening light today, and the setting was just gorgeous! Mary, Ryan and the Gypsy Horse Artero were simply jaw dropping perfect today. As anyone can tell you, my photography has movement to even a "formal" style commission session. I picked this as one of my favorite images. I had a visiting photographer from Oregon helping with the reflectors, and it really was a lot of fun. More to come over the next few days!

You Are The One

Finding your true love is one of the biggest blessings.
I had the recent privilege of photographing Dustan and Maria here in Weatherford. Thank you for allowing me into your world. We had fun! Dustan and Maria will be getting hitched in the spring, whoohooo!

No Guts No Glory

Meet Smart N Slick one tough, athletic stallion!

Emigh Family

Whooohooo! Nothing is better than a few bales of hay for a perfect setting. Kenny and Anna posed after their stallion session, and I am so happy with the results. When I find the perfect light, I have to create! More coming soon.

Fall in Texas

It has been a very busy, crazy few weeks here in Texas. While most photographers are gearing down for the winter, I am picking up full speed ahead!!! Fall in Texas is gorgeous, Christmas and Thanksgiving right around the corner, and Spring Weddings will be here before you know it. Engagement sessions are big right now, so book early!

Here is a look at Bre and her Gypsy Horse, Joker.

A Moms Hugs

I had the greatest time today photographing Lisa and her son Kyle! The weather was awesome, a bit windy though. Fall here in the Fort Worth area is simply beautiful this year. Kyle is a cool guy, and was really fun to photograph. We had a lot of fun walking around the beautiful pastures and the neighbors garden. We never need to go very far to find the perfect parklike setting.

Senior Portraits

Fall is the absolute best time for portraits! The light is awesome, the landscapes are blooming with fall colors. Book early to get in your session before the first cold snap!

Beautiful Bre

Wow, I could not wait until tomorrow to play with at least two photos from tonight's session with Bre. The love she has for her horse Sunny is amazing.


Sunset is the most beautiful time for portraits, no matter where you are. We found this little stream and had to take a moment for fun. Life just does not get any better, what a perfect afternoon!

Cousins

What I would give to be this age again, playing with my cousins! I had the wonderful pleasure to photograph for the Chrestman's yesterday and it was an absolute blast! More photos coming soon!

Extreme Mustang Makeover

It's been a while since I last posted, a lot has happened! I was able to attend the Extreme Mustang Makeover and came away with some really wonderful stories. These mustangs for the most part are from the Reno, NV area, and were completely wild 100 days before the event. One trainer RODE his mustang from Las Vegas to Fort Worth. In all the trainers were awesome. The remark I heard the most, many choked up with emotion, was the horses taught the trainer to listen and re learn how to read a horse. They said it was the most humbling experience in their lives. Here are a few images from that event.

Beep Beep Beep!

I love where we live. We may be a big/small town here in Weatherford, but at heart it's a small town. Where else but a small town do you see folks and wave as you drive by? Yesterday while shooting at Larry Hall Cutting Horses, I hear a Beep Beep Beep, and a WooooHOOOO out a car window as it speeds past, then my cell phone rings from Tom Holt. Just gotta love it! Good to have you at home Tom. For those of you who don't know Tom, he is the voice of the NCHA ( National Cutting Horse Association) and can be heard live at http://www.nchacutting.com/cuttingedgenews, and be sure to visit Tom's web site, www.ontheroadwithtom.com
Here's a photo of mine of Tom and Bob Kingsley at the NCHA Futurity

Royal Blue Boon Clones

Today was a great day! Here is the most recent image of the two cloned mares from Royal Blue Boon.
Royal BlueBoon Too and Royal BlueBoon Two!!!
It was hard to get them to both pose, they would rather play together.

The Girls, as I like to call them are simply gorgeous. The one on the left was born on my birthday, so I have a special fondness for her. Elaine Hall Barclay has been a wonderful friend and client, allowing me to photograph them since the moment they arrived at her ranch as babies. For those of you who are not aware, they are the first commercially cloned horses in North America. www.larryhallcuttinghorses.com is where you can learn more about them, simply click on Royal Blue Boon. Here is the link directly to the clones CLICK HERE

The Girls spend every day in paradise, grazing out in the beautiful Texas sunshine.

Here in Elaine Halls words, her thoughts on the first clone when she was born.

"When commercial cloning was introduced to the horse industry, I cloned her because I felt "the top mare in the industry" deserves the honor of having her genes preserved. Participating in history-making technology is exciting, and because of who she is — a "one of a kind" mare with some mighty powerful genes — Royal Blue Boon is now also the first commercially cloned horse.

My plan is never to train Royal Blueboon Too — perhaps use her only for breeding. Meanwhile, with no regrets, I simply enjoy this new venture one day at a time; I cherish the fun of watching her grow and change daily, and I'm ever amazed at how truly identical she is to Royal Blue Boon."

Here is Billie Burke Boon, a 2007 colt

Senior Portraits - Get Out of the Box!

How many of you have seen decades of photos hanging in homes across America, and they all look the same! Photo after photo of people lined up with Cheese style smiles out of a can.... ACCCKKKK!

GET OUT OF THE BOX! This is the time when you are breaking out, graduating from High School and entering the world, and what better time to express who you really are.

Adam M. is on the football team, and a musician. While on our Senior Session Safari, together we found this 100 year old wood shop and pulled up and chair to create some magic.

Senior Sessions is the time I like to load up minimal equipment and hike out around town or the coutryside, finding those places that are unique and unusual. Who wants to me "normal", not me!

Gala's Gab

A huge thank you to Gala Nettles! She mentions my new web site in her colum, Gala's Gab - Sept 15, 2008, Quarter Horse News!!
For those of you who do not know Gala, she keeps us informed and up to date with the lives of our friends across the nation in the quarter horse industry. If you have news, email Gala at the QHN!

For those of you who have not heard, the Nettles have opened a new store, and a bed and breakfast! www.nettlesstirrups.com
http://bunkhouseandbiscuits.com/

**Update 092708**
I finished a photo shoot with Master Saddlemaker Joey Jemison of Weatheford, Texas.
He uses Nettles Stirrups on all his saddles, here is a photo from that shoot.

Stallion Promotions and Photography

With current media trends and advancements it is important to have images that speak volumes about your horses. Stallion and Ranch promotion is vital to your business future. Perfect imagery is just as important as your stallions statistics. First impressions are lasting ones, and with the best images you have a head start to great advertising that promotes your stud or sale horses.


Planning ahead is important! With our local drought over, we have green pastures perfect for those images you will need for the coming year. The NCHA Futurity and the Million Dollar Stallion Alley are right around the corner!

JUST SAY CHEESE!


Preparing your horse for a photo shoot is easy, with a little planning. Rick & Shelley Mowery are real pros, and had Smart Sugar Badger looking his best. Bathing is just one part, the attention to all the tiny details are just as vital, down to top of the line tack. The beauty supply store is a great place to find shine and control products that make a difference in how polished your horse can look.

*** TIP***
Plan ahead with ground work to have your horse ready and willing to stand for a half hour at a time. I desensitize my foals to having their hooves tapped with my toe, to move each foot to a better stance. Older horses can learn this too, and will make your photo day much more relaxed and enjoyable for everyone.

***Tip*** Getting the white whiter is sometimes a chore, add heavy feathers to your horse and its downright a nightmare. Dawn Dish Detergent with Bleach, followed with a good conditioner was suggested by Gypsy Horse Breeders as their favorite tip.

***Tip*** Athletic socks are great to control heavy feathers during shoeing, hoof cleaning, etc. Just cut off the toe and slip them on, use a little vet wrap to secure them if needed.

Flying Feathers

There is nothing more beautiful and graceful than a horse under the guidance of an accomplished horsewoman. Trumpet, a Gypsy Horse mare, was ridden by Carrie Ferrer for the first time yesterday. While Trumpet is originally from England, and is thought to have been trained up to level one dressage possibly higher. She has not been put through the movements for a number of years. She has a lot of heart, sweet natured and really wanted to give everything she had. She whinnied with excitement when she approached the schooling area, which was amazing! Trumpet has been a broodmare for the last couple of years, but soon will be nice and fit soon. I cannot wait until my own filly is old enough to ride!


A quick kiss before Bre rides!


Here is "Molly" our new Gypsy foal! She is 3 1/2 months old here, and probably the most loving horse I have ever known. She is so smart, lifts her hooves to the shoeing stand for a trim on her own. I have had friends who raise QH comment on how stable and calm she is compared to our performance horses. The Gypsy Travelers bred these horses to have extremely sound minds, as they were pulling their owners entire home/wagons. The Gypsies could not have an easily startled horse pulling their belongings and families. Only recently imported to the US, there are under 4,000 here to date. My favorite time is evening and morning with her, when she is laying in the pasture or stall. She has learned to lay back down on her side to get her tummy scratched like a puppy.

Still Life

I love still life photography. Even though it is a very controlled situation, I like to use this kind of work to tell a story. It can be a metaphor too. Still Life's are the basis for a lot of editorial photography. I see it as a challenge to use my imagination. For those of you who are wanting to try this, keep in mind the laws of thirds to keep your self balanced in the image. I even sometimes consider a pool of light one of my elements. The following photos I used are objects I have owned and used for a minimum of 25 years. I love to cook, especially with antique tools. The butcher block table is over 100 years old from a butcher shop in Pueblo Co.


My boots, note the holes from walking on photoshoots!

HOWDIDYOUDODAT

Loving photography as I do, and my western lifestyle here in the Fort Worth area is a match made in heaven. My favorite place is Will Rogers Coliseum, year 'round. It has so many different opportunities to chronicle life. I am often asked about the yellow appearance of my images. This is from the lighting there, not photoshop! I strongly advise using a mono pod to get a slow action image such as this one, and take a deep breath when firing the shutter.

I get quite a few emails as to how I created the night shots for Jerry Durant Toyota.
One hot shoe mounted flash (Nikon Sb800) a tripod and a flash light. I recommend playing around with very long exposures, and in the end, I have picked up the camera itself and walked around with it too.



This is a metaphor of my life.

Old vs New, Unexpected Places, Directions.

The old town in the background, I am from Hollywood, not Texas. The background represents my past and my future. The speeding lights/neon are my past city life. The old town is my new life, more solid real and wonderful. But I am going from the new to the old town life. Backwards or forwards?

Night, my time, time of quiet, alone, expressions, gathering energy, no sleeping, only cool time right now, my best creative time.

Color - Golden - Golden moment in my life.

Me, moving about, experimenting, never staying still, satisfied, happy, creative. A culmination of decades of what seemed aimless direction solidified with this car,this moment, this time. my future, modern, bright and going places, fast. Open road, the world is what I can make it. No limits No restrictions No Rules.

Cover Girl

Branded Flair!!!

Friday night was simply awesome, the donations were beyond expectations! Branded Flair is becoming THE charity event of the season!



The Careity Foundation was formed in 2003 by Beverly Branch and Lyn Walsh, after many years of personal philanthropy to organizations throughout North Texas. Beverly and Lyn's dedication to philanthropy began as a personal mission when both of their mothers were diagnosed with cancer. It was at that time that they decided to make the very personal issue of cancer their corporate mission.



Pediatric Palliative Care is primarily directed at providing relief to children with life-threatening illnesses through symptom management and pain management.The goal is not to cure, but to provide comfort and maintain the highest possible quality of life for as long as life remains. Well-rounded palliative care programs also address mental health and spiritual needs. The focus is not on end of life, but on compassionate specialized care for the living. Palliative care provides support for the whole person and those who are sharing the person's journey in love.

Here is the Fine Art Print I donated to the silent auction, I am proud to say it brought it quite a bit!



Lynn Anderson was presented with the 2008 Careity Legend Award Click here to read more about this wonderful woman


Pictured here in duet with Sonny Burgess and his band

Out for a Drive

While driving a back road I saw a man out in his garden and had to stop!

I love to drive around Parker County and find people to meet and photograph. As you all know, No one is a stranger to me. I found this wonderful man last weekend tending his garden. He bought the 3 acres in 1948, raised 3 boys and grew most of his own food. Mr.N is 89 years young with an easy, friendly personality I fell in love with. He was very surprised a stranger would find him interesting. I learned many things in our hour together about how hard life was way back when. He bought the entire property for $250 an acre, and was just told last week it is worth $30,000 an acre. No, he is not selling.

She's baaacccckkk.

Wow, has it been that long!

I put to paper goals I had to attain this summer, and have met every one of them so far. This blog was last on the to do list. I plan on posting if not daily, weekly with snippets from sessions, photography tips, antidotes from farm life and other fun stuff.

I was rudely reminded of rule Number One on a ranch. Wear shoes stupid!! About half an hour ago I came with in centimeters of stepping on a venomous viper with my bare feet. I know better! I will look up what kind, but it was not a copper head or rattle snake. We have had this kind of critter before. Needless to say it is now in Snake Heaven.





Here's my latest big tip, wonder tool. www.garyfong.com Whale Tail Diffuser. Wow, it is great. I took it outside and shot a praying mantis at s/1000 f/5.6 ISO 200. Those settings at 8pm made it like we were in studio. How cool is that.



Branded Flair.org / Cariety.com

I have been donating my time for many years now. 100% of the proceeds go to Cooks Children's Hospital Palliative Care. Last year $200k was donated, this year we are already at $190k and yet to have one benefit event yet. Wow!
I began this as a way to commemorate my father, Wayne Artman. (Google Wayne Artman and be amazed at his body of work)
He lost his battle with cancer two years ago. If you can get a colon screening, do so. Last year I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and through the help of Cariety.com which is the main non profit entity for Branded Flair, I was able to get into a specialist in three days, my MRI was within a week. For anyone who has dealt with long waits for appointments or evaluations you know how heart wrenching the not knowing can be.

Thank you Lyn Walsh and Beverly Branch for being there for all of us. And a huge thank you to Lynn Anderson ( I Never Promised You A Rose Garden) to her unwavering support of her heart and talent to help raise money.

Up and Running

This has been a very busy summer. I have completely changed my web site with a new URL www.meganparksphotography.com

I have not posted since May, but plan on doing so at least weekly. I set some goals for myself this year, and so far have reached and in some cases surpassed my plans. That is a good thing!!! Bad part, the blog came last until now.

I will be posting information and tips for any level photographer. My latest biggie is the www.garyfong.com Whale Tail light diffuser. Wow!!! The first thing I shot was a praying mantis my husband found out in the pasture. This was shot at 8p, low light at s/1000 f/5.6 ISO 200 using the WhaleTai.l It allowed the background to go to full dark which made it look like I had shot it in a studio. My husband is holding the branch, and it was very light outside. The possibilities are endless!

Tomorrow night I will be shooting at Will Rogers Coliseum for www.BrandedFlair.org. I have been their official photographer for a number of years. It all started when I lost my Dad to cancer, and felt somehow I needed to give back to others fighting this terrible disease. 100% of the proceeds go to Cooks Children's Hospital Palliative Care. Last year they were able to donate over $200k, this year we are already at $195k, and have not had a single fundraising event yet!! Wow.

I would encourage everyone out there to get your check ups, Yes men too need mammograms!!!

More to come soon!

for another fun photographer look at
www.cyndieplanck.com if you are in the Oregon area she's Da Bomb!

Meg

This was from the wooded area we were at, only using a reflector and Nikon D3 85mm 1.8 f/2.8