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