Holiday Cards

I spent so much time this last 2 weeks making everyone else's holiday desires come to fruition that I never did get around to those snailmail holiday cards. So, Heres to you and yours, best holiday wishes to you all!

So, you want to be a pet photographer!

I borrowed a friend's studio light set (thanks Marie, You're the best!) to take for a test drive. I wanted to see if I understood lighting even a little and I thought I might like to take a few images of my pets and my brothers family. I've taken plenty of very nice available light images of them so I thought it couldn't be too hard.

So, first, I set up the lights and the back drop and got the cat's favorite chair and covered it with a fancy piece of velvet. I took a test shot or two, looks all right so I guess I need a cat! It shouldn't be that hard to get a cat on it's favorite piece of furniture, but for some reason they were ignoring it. I know, how about a favorite toy! So I got one of Cecil's all time favorite toys and put it on the chair. Nope, not good enough. I resorted to tossing it on the chair. That got his attention, kinda. He only plopped his front end up there and fetched the toy and brought it back for another throw. In the meantime, Squeak had stealthily moved in under the chair. To Cecil, that was far more fascinating than fetching.

Cecil spent a great deal of time circling the chair with Squeak under it. Every so often she would launch herself at him and take the fabric with her. I kept putting it back up in the hopes that some cat would get ON the chair. Soon Cecil settled down in a "safe" place and just stared at her through the fabric, taunting, daring her to launch again. Squeak got bored with that game and decided to go exploring..... she got on the chair! Under the fabric. Quite amusing, but not very photogenic. Eventually she wiggled up all the way to the top and morphed into Queen Squeak.

After she jumped away, consequently chased by Cecil, I decided to try a different tactic. What cat can resist catnip? Cecil can, but it sure got the attention of my little kitty-druggie, Squeak. She hopped right up on the chair and proceeded to roll around and around in it. Again, not very photogenic of her not, that she cared about my goal. It didn't take long for Cecil to decide she was having way more fun than he so he joined in. It wasn't pretty, but it's good for cat action shots.

Time to give up on the chair. It just wasn't working out with Squeak continually under it launching herself at Cecil so I decided to try a box. Great idea, she can't get under a box! It turned out to be way too small for big Cecil to be interested in the top side. I tried a bigger box. Cecil circled and inspected it from all sides but the top, again. Soon, he disappeared behind it. I found him mesmerized by a thumb tack in the wall. Placed there to discourage cats getting behind and under the backdrop where they were sure to have more fun than necessary.

OK, I give up. Lets see what the dog can give me. He will do anything I ask and sit anywhere I want and he will stay put. Outside. It turns out all my teaching him to stay off the furniture backfired with a completely non-photogenic guiltily crouching dog when asked to get on a piece of furniture. In this case, the coffee table.

During the attempts to photograph Cody, Cecil decides to goof off on the couch. The couch isn't bad looking so I turned around hoping to catch him striking a pose. I was not so lucky, he was in total fruit loop mode lying on his back and digging between the cushions after another toy. Back to the dog. Once Cecil got sufficiently ignored, he jumped up to take a break, guess where..... the now, undecorated and not in the the ideal circle of light, favorite chair! Uncooperative Toad! Meanwhile, the kitty-druggie, Squeak, is nearby desperately trying to break into the catnip vault. What a zoo!

In the end I did get a few decent shots of the sort I was imagining as well as a whole memory card full of them being totally themselves. I really enjoyed playing with the lights and seem to have a grasp on how to work and position them to get what I envisioned. However, I'll admit that formal pet portraiture is definitely not for the feint of heart or patience-challenged. Stalking them with a camera in ambient light is one thing. Getting them to be somewhere specific AND posed is a whole 'nother ball of wax (maybe I shoulda tried that). And to think, these are my OWN pets! I know them and they aren't scared of me either. After the cat fiasco, I briefly thought maybe I could venture into photographing kids..... on second thought, they can be pouty and they have parents! I think I'll be far more successful, not to mention somewhat sane, if I just stick to the equines!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Twice this year I have had the opportunity to mix horses and studio lighting. This first was in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts where we met Jorge Gabriel at his Casa Lusitana. Jorge is one of the kindest people I have met in my travels and he was gracious enough to host Lynne Glazer, Amy E. Riley, April Visel and I for a day. He let us hang around and photograph his regular work day and later in the afternoon he dressed up a few horses to the hilt for us. However the photographic pinnacle of the day was later that evening when we completely took over his indoor riding arena and turned it into a studio. He dressed up one of his Lusitano stallions, Solar, in authentic 18th century dress and performed for us.

Just a week ago, I was blessed with a second chance to play with horses and lights at Fox Hill Farms near San Marcos, CA. Donna Richardson and her husband and a student each took turns modeling for us with various horses. Exuprey, recently returned from the National Horse Show with the title of Working Hunter Champion. Donna later dressed up and brought out her Lusitano Stallion, Postulano for some quality posing. He also took a time out to give fellow photographer and studio lights owner, Marie Cobb some horsey smooches.

Cecil: A Helpful Cat!

Recently I have been taking a lot of images for DPChallenge.com. In fact, I'm on a forced march of twelve weeks in a row due to playing on a team with a select group of people for a select amount of time - 12 weeks! I've got a great team and we seem to be holding on to an overall average score that is keeping us in third place.

A few weeks ago, the two topics we had to choose from were Red and Blue. I spent a good deal of time trying to get a nice image that conveyed the topic and my extremely curious and helpful cat, Cecil, was there to help and cheer me on for both my shoots.

For Blue, I tried to incorporate both his blue eyes and my blue door. It was tricky and eventually I got him to come around the door after I had placed a black matte board against the wall. Cecil had to go through the act several times before I finally got it right on my end.

For Red, he wasn't a planned part of the shot, but he just had to check in and make sure the Gerbera Daisy was the correct hue for the paper backdrop behind. Oh, and he decided he might as well stop and smell the thing while he was there!

All in all, I ended up using a flower shot that didn't have his nose peeking in and helped clinch another decent average score for my team.

There are more kitty photos here. Of Cecil, Squeak, my dearly departed Ollie and various other furry felines.

Band of Wild Horse Photographers Sighted

Last week I travelled to California to meet up with other members of the Vision 18 Collective, a band of fellow horse photographers. We were hosted by the ever gracious Terri Miller, Axel Steiner and Tinto. The gathering included several shoots, one at Fox Hill Farm, a dressage barn near San Marcos, CA. The following day we took a drive out to the Imperial Sand Dunes near Glamis, CA to photograph a pair of arabians in the sand dunes. The last day we ended up at the San Diego Zoo where much cuteness of Meercats and the like was observed and documented. We took a wild group shot before heading to some fine wine and dining on Coronado Island in the San Diego Harbor.

In attendance: Terri Miller, Lynne Glazer, Mary Cornelius, Amy Riley (Cody), Darlene Wohlart, Kim Vickrey, Marie Cobb, Karin Naimark and myself Cristy Cumberworth. Sharon Fibelkorn also made an appearance for a short while. Sorely missed were Susan Sexton, April Visel, Melanie Snowhite and Candace Craw-Goldman.

Veteran's Day

Whether you agree we (the U.S.) should currently be at war or not is irrelevant on this day of remembrance. Thank a veteran for their service today if you find one. They aren't always super apparent in public but they are there and maybe just under your nose.... or maybe under your horse! In my horse world, I have at least two that I communicate with on almost a weekly basis.

Over the years I have known my horse's veterinarian, Dr. Joe Quintana, I've put together pieces from various conversations that made me aware that he a veteran from the Vietnam war era. My horse's farrier, Cody Mathews is also a veteran from the Iraq war. I depend on these two men for a significant part of the care of my horse. They are both incredibly dedicated to and passionate for their chosen professions and my horse and I thank them for that often. Today I want to thank them additionally for their service to our nation, the United States of America, as well.

Thank you Cody, Thank You Joe, for your dedication to both my horse and my country.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

The last gasp of event shooting before the winter downtime is almost over. Fortunately, it's been a strong fall show season for me and I'm ready to stop driving so much for a while but you can bet I'll be ready to resume in a few months! Unfortunately, for blog entries, there hasn't been much spare time. I decided to at least sneak in a teaser before I dive back into preparing the next batch of images from the NMHJA Fall Harvest show.

A fun motion blur image of a jumper making a tight turn for the next jump.