Buckskin Herd & Tornado Lesson

I finally got a chance to photograph a herd of 20 mares, their foals and their overseeing stallion. He wasn't too happy that I was around when I started photographing them. After I changed locations and moved downwind, he seemed to settle down and allow me to walk around a bit more without being so wary.

The one photo that I missed today was a picture of a small tornado that touched down just east of Peetz at about 2:45pm. It was one of those moments where I kicked myself for leaving my camera bag at home. It was a small twister that touched down in a tilled field and did not damage. This was the first tornado I had ever seen and I missed my photo op... So. The tip for the day.. Always, Always have your camera with you and ready, out of it's case and on a setting where you can take any picture. I will sure adhere to my own advice for a while.

Life Unplugged

I feel like I have been unplugged. Over June 1-3rd, I spent the weekend at Rollin H Arena between Brush and Akron shooting the Eastern Plains Barrel Bash and the Saturday Rodeos that are held there. Over the 3 days, I shot over 1,400 pictures and captured some fabulous moments. My mother (and slave for the weekend) caught me in a couple as well.





Each day of the Barrel Bash, I choose a photo that I liked the most for the Photo of the Day contest. The winner receives a free 8x10 print. This is Friday's winning photo at the open jackpot race. The sun was setting and the lighting was gorgeous.



Saturday's photo of the day was tough. This photo stood out when I was going through the images because of the perfect form they both had going into the second barrel. The horse is relaxed and the rider is soft in her hands and they are in perfect position. She is setting her horse well and has him well prepared. Good job Kathy!



Sunday's picture was harder to choose. I went through all the images and this one was the one that stood out in my mind. I remember taking it and thinking that it was such a sweet and gentle moment between horse and boy.

So, my story of being unplugged. Rarely do I ever spend DAYS away from the Internet. Over the few days at the Barrel Bash, I was without Internet. It was rather nice to just be focusing on photographing and not worrying about my email. I returned from the event at about 6:00pm on Sunday, plugged in for about 20 minutes and then fell into bed after a long weekend. At 3:30 am the next morning, I was up and headed to Cortez, Colorado with a group of FFA (Future Farmers of America) students for their state convention.


I was rather excited about the trip because I knew I would get some time to just wander the territory and take some photos. I was not disappointed. The image above is looking southwest from Mancos, Colorado toward the Sleeping Ute Mountain. I was blessed to have some horses at our lodge for models. Our lodge was the Sundance Bear Lodge and was tucked back in the mountains with great views, but NO Internet, NO cell phone service and NO phone! It was a rather strange feeling to be so isolated, but a good experience. I had a chance to just veg.

Sonja, an artist and friend from Cortez, toured me through the Aspen Guard Station and the National Forest in Mancos. There we came across the horses of the Aspen's she has been telling me about.

Sonja was patient as I stopped and took in the sights and clicked the shutter to my hearts content. The forest was amazing. These trees have been twisted by heavy snows. I am always intrigued by nature's unique forms.

And last, but not least, I have to include a photo from my file that I was looking through over the weekend. This is from my Lost and Found collection.

While I am plugged back in for the moment, I will again be unplugged as the summer moves along and I continue on my wanderings. I am heading to Copper Mountain next week where I will be teaching a workshop at the Technology in Education Conference about creating artwork using Photoshop. Should be loads of fun and well attended. This is my second year teaching this workshop and I look forward to hearing new and interesting ideas from the participants. Actually... I may be plugged in there since it is a technology conference. We will see.

Wanderings and Details

This last week I have done some wandering around the country. I first wandered close to home and at the neighbors I stopped and photo'd his hyper little pup. She was having fun chasing rabbits and trying to sneak up on me and catch my camera instead of me sneaking up on her and catching her. She paused long enough in her rompings to pose for a few photos.



Along the trail, I also caught up with a thristy and tired horse. This picture reminds me of a hippo yawning with those large teeth they have.





Closer to home, I paused to study my own horses and watch them groom each other. They spent a good 10 minutes attending to the details of itches and scratches before moving on and checking out the green grass.




Last Wednesday I accompanied the 2007 graduating class of Peetz on their trip to South Dakota. (I am sure my nephew was thrilled to have me along! ;-) They planned a trip to Palmer Gulch Campground hoping to be able to do a bunch of activities. We learned once we got there, everything was opening the day after we left! So, in good fashion, they still had fun. I was grateful for some wonderful photo opportunities.

This was the Needles highway drive outside of Mt. Rushmore. I highly recommend this trip for everyone in the area. Just don't go if you get car sick. The road is slightly less than straight. It was beautiful and I was glad to have a driver that would slam on the brakes when ever I yelled "Stop!" and saw a beautiful photo opportunity.

We were able to see a lot of wildlife each day we were there. Around Mt. Rushmore, we saw several mountain goats.



On the Needles drive, there were several stops to 'shoot' some deer - legally of course as shown below.

There were also buffalo in the Wind Caves National Park as well as turkeys. (Although those seniors made for good turkeys as well)

The campground had a wonderful string of trail horses that were getting in condition for the heavy trail riding season to begin. They were all lined up in their standing stalls and resting over the noon hour.

Seniors - be on the lookout for a Senior Class Trip photo book out soon. It will contain the best of the best photos from your trip. Congratulations on your graduation. Make us all proud of you.

Bucking String

Last weekend I was able to spend a few hours in the midst of a herd of 60 horses. What an amazing experience. These horses were bucking stock used in rodeos. They were curious, skittish, inquisitive and wild. Some would come up and sniff me and others were cautious and stayed at the back of the pack. I loved seeing all of their interactions and caught a few pecking order fights, positioning and just plain bullying. I hope to be able to go back and spend some time again soon. I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Stop and Smell the flowers

I decided to go to the park and try out my 70-200 lens on some flowers. I am now feeling the bug to play with a macro style lens that would allow me to get up close to these beautiful flowers.

Not all the flowers were out an in bloom, but the buds were interesting and beautiful to study. Make sure you take the time to stop and stare for a moment at something you see every day. This robin was gathering worms around the flowerbeds and taking them back to its nest to feed its young.