Liz Stabbert Photography- Equine Portrait, Sales and Stallion Images, Equine Event- Monroe WA

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Sneak Peek: Cody & Harley

I've wanted to do a shoot at the river meadow at Lords Hill Park ever since I saw it from 522. I even went there to do a little location scouting this summer and brought Sammy dog along to see if it earned her paw stamp of approval (which it did ;-) ). So when I got a call asking to do a session with two adorable mutts, I jumped at the chance to go to the river meadow! Something I hadn't considered, however, was that it's winter. In Washington. And the creek that was barely a tiny trickle in summer was now a full on roaring creek that had turned the dips in the meadow into moats. Needless to say it was a little wet.

This, however, wasn't an issue for Cody....

happy Cody

And his partner in crime, Harley.

Harley closeup

They went crazy exploring the tall grass and creeks! It turned it into a wild game of chase, into the grasses, into the creek, back into the grasses, around and around with Harley leading the way and Cody close on his tail. It was a hoot! I'm so glad they had fun, I know I sure did!

Speaking of their game of chase, if you ever want a challenge, try photographing two dogs running full speed through 4ft tall grass. I got a lot of pictures of grass and a black or tan tail! But every now and then they would hold still and the grass made for some really cool backgrounds!

Harley in the grass

For no other reason than he's adorable, Cody's dog lips:

Cody nose

I think this is Cody "talking" to me because I won't throw the tennis ball lol!

Cody & Harley's gallery will be up soon. I want to thank their mom Connie for giving me the opportunity to meet these two sweet boys!

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Monday, January 18, 2010

Mustangs, part 3

hangtag close

pair

dream

"For they[the mustangs] really belong, not to man, but to that country of junipers and sage, of deep arroyos, mesas – and freedom."- Will James


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Monday, January 11, 2010

Mustangs, part 2

ropes

crowd

grazing2


"The most beautiful, the most spirited and the most inspiring creature ever to print foot on the grasses of America." J. Frank Dobie, Texan on Mustangs

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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Mustangs, part 1

filly

grazing3

hangtag

"Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene."- Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, 1971

I took these photographs, and others from the set that will be shared in the following weeks, of mustangs at a BLM adoption event back in 2005. With my old manual Pentax camera around my neck and pockets full of film, I trekked down to Shelton, excited to see first hand theses symbols of the west, and of course, dreaming of taking one (or two, or four) home. The prints were shuffled away not long after I developed them, but a few days ago I remembered the photos and dug them out of my archives. I was surprized at how much they spoke to me! They're imperfect and rather outside of my usual equine photography box, which I think is why I like them. ;-) I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed rediscovering them!

On a personal note, it's been a dream of mine to photograph the mustangs of the American West in the wild. Right now these horses are at risk of being "managed" into extinction in the wild by the very organization assigned to keep them safe - the BLM. There are many reasons the BLMs treatment of the mustangs raises my hackles, but instead of getting on my soapbox I'll direct you to The Cloud Foundation's Website to learn more about whats going on and what you can do to help.

I'll be sharing more mustang photos next Monday so stay tuned!


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Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy 2010! - "The Path Ahead"


Happy 2010 everyone! I don't know about you, but I'm ready to shake off 2009 and am looking forward to seeing where the path ahead leads!


This photo is from way back in my archives, back when I was shooting with a 30+ year old Pentax K-1000, my first SLR. Taken somewhere in the vicinity of Waitsburg WA.


*NOTE* Apparently my blog is having some formatting issues. I'm working on figuring out whats going on. Sorry!


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