In college I learned the technical side of photography. Light, exposure, and aperture were explained in great detail, and those are all wonderful tools to know how to use on my quest to get Beautiful Photographs.
My mum used to come to the barn with me and the photos she took of me and my pony, Dreamer, are some of my most treasured images. The adoration and love I felt for this pony is almost as tactile as the photograph itself. I started this little business venture because I want to provide the same priceless memories for others. People are looking for emotion in their photos, not just evidence of the right settings being used.
I have a cushy, albeit boring government desk job. It's not exactly what I envisioned myself doing but in this economy it is truly a blessing and I am so thankful for it. Still, I want to plan for my future as an artist and photographer, so the other day I sat down one day and figured out what I needed to get going. I already had the equipment, including cameras, lenses, flashes, and filters. I've invested a small fortune into my equipment. While my friends are buying flashy cars, plane tickets to exotic locations, and gaming consoles, I'm saving up for my next lens. Equipment is not cheap!
I already have the education and the background in horses. I know how a horse moves, how to get a horse's attention, and exactly when to click the shutter as the horse is jumping to get the perfect freeze frame of the bascule.
I decided that what I needed was basic PR stuff, so I decided what I was going to call my company and I made myself a business card and ordered 1,500 of them online. Thank goodness for all of those digital graphic design classes I took in school. The web design classes came in handy during my next project: a
website. It's still a work in progress but it's there.
Rhode Island is a small state, and the horsey scene here is even smaller. I grew up in MA and knew a lot of people through going to all the shows and participating in 4H, but here I am like a lost fish. I don't show my horse a lot because I think both of us would rather be in the cornfields than a ring, but I still love going to shows and watching people beat their goals and accomplish great feats of defying gravity over alarmingly large fences.
To help myself out a bit, I offered ten people free images in exchange for signing a release and letting me add their lovely horses and faces to my portfolio. This accomplished several things for me:
-I handed out a ton of business cards
-I got almost 1,000 images that I can use anywhere of varying disciplines and horses
-I met a lot of nice horsey people from Rhode Island
-I had a great time
I hope that this business will take off but if not, I still have my desk job and some snazzy photography equipment ;)
Today I had a blast photographing a gymkhana, which means "games on horseback". These people really knew how to have a good time! It made me want to switch to western and ditch the hunters!
On the way to Cornerstone Farm, we stopped in Charlestown and picked up Maki and Candace, who were also showing that day.
Great job Candace and thanks!
Today I followed two people and their horses around at a show in Foster, RI at Cornerstone Farm. Nicole and RiRa were great models. The idea behind today's session was to get a beginning-to-end stock of images. Nicole trucked her friend Candace's horse also, and so I met Nicole at her house early in the morning, hopped on the truck, and we headed over to get Maki in a nearby town. Maki and Candace will get their own post, so for now we'll focus on Nicole and her QH/Belgian cross gelding, RiRa.
That last shot is Nicole's husband, Matt, leading RiRa back to the trailer. I love that shot!
Today I had the pleasure of photographing Ashley and Profeta. Ashley is a 15 y.o. from Northern RI and her horse, Profeta, is a 4 y.0. Paso Fino stallion whom she has owned for just a few months.
