Moment of Inspiration: A rainy day at the beach

Moments of inspiration can come from anywhere. Since I've been particularly terrible about updating my blog lately I thought I'd share one of those moments I had recently while looking out the ferry window at a rainy, stormy day. You all might think I'm a tad crazy, but bare with me, I think this is a cool idea:



Imagine a day like the one in the photo and a gray/white horse coming up over a sand dune, the wind toys with his mane and it seems to mingle with the clouds. We lead the horse into the water a few steps and let him splash in the waves, just far enough that the beach disappears out of the photo and it's just the bright whiteness of the horse against the dark blue-gray canvas of sea and sky. Maybe we'll catch that bit of time that always seems to come on days like that, where the setting sun peeks below the clouds and covers everything in a divine golden light. The kind of light that catches the sand and glints off his mane and tail and he just GLOWS.

Any takers? ;-)

Snohomish equine photographer | Seattle equine photography

Moment of Inspiration: A rainy day at the beach

Pheonix (again)

I put the finishing touches on this image after I posted the sneak peek and immediately fell in love with it! So heres one more of Nicole's handsome boy Phoenix.

Pheonix (again)

Sneak Peek: Nicole & Phoenix

Winter tends to be my slow season for horse portraits, what with Washington weather being what it is and horse's tendency to turn into hairy yaks. That doesn't mean it can't be done, no m'am! Of course creative scheduling may be necessary to avoid getting wet and it helps if your horse has a short winter coat or is kept clipped. Adorable hunt clips are required preferred adorable.



This Sunday, after having to reschedule due to rain last Sunday (which of course was followed by an AMAZINGLY beautiful Monday :-P), I went down to Olympia to photograph the lovely Phoenix.



Phoenix was a bit of a ham! I totally expect a horse that's been stalled prior to the session to do a couple "hooray! I'm free!" laps around the pasture, but Phoenix had been hanging out in this pasture all day. He flew around the pasture at top speed, tossing his head and kicking up his heels. He was absolutely showing off.





Phoenix and his mom Nicole



Phoenix has a buddy named Eddie who is not quite as old as dirt, but definitely older than mud. Eddie's job is to be Phoenix's best bud, get loved on, and eat carrots. Eddie is very good at his job. At the end of the session we brought Eddie out to get a few shots of the boys together.



Phoenix was actually only part of the session, we also spent some time with Nicole's (human) boys and their three pugs. There was no way I was going to be able to pick only a couple favorites to keep this post from being impossibly long, so you're just going to have to wait until next time to see them!

Thank you Nicole for having me out! More sneak peek photos (and the full gallery) coming soon!

Sneak Peek: Nicole & Phoenix

NWSBA Mother's Day Celebration

I have been trying to find words for the awesome time I had at the North West Snaffle Bit Association's Mother's Day Celebration show earlier this month since I got home. Honestly, I'm failing. Fun? Of course it was fun! Gorgeous horses, riders dressed to the nines, the beautiful backdrop of Donida Farms...fun just doesn't seem to do it. I've decided to let the photos do the talking (jumpers and reiners and pleasure oh my!):

For more of the fun check out the full galleries of NWSBA's Mother's Day Celebration at Donida Farms

NWSBA Mother's Day Celebration

AFA Farashah

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of going out to the amazing R.O. Lervick Arabians farm to photograph the beautiful Arabian filly AFA Farashah owned by Vanessa Smith before she made the trip down to Scottsdale. This was my first trip to R.O. Lervick Arabians so I couldn't resist stopping to drool over their gorgeous stallion Cytosk+++ (ok so I was actually lost in the barn, its a big place! but its still fun to drool) Arabian photographer Scott Trees has described Arabians as "the high fashion models of the horse world" and this filly didn't disappoint! I could have stayed all day shooting, but Fara, being a yearling and donning a fresh full body clip on a chilly February morning had different ideas. *sigh* maybe next time ;)

Now thats not to say I didn't get plenty of pics of this gorgeous girl! Here are a few faves:

Vanessa and Fara should be back from Scottsdale by now and I hope they had a great time!

AFA Farashah

Snow Bound

There was very little enjoyable about the weather we've had out here over the last couple of weeks. Everyone I've talked to says they've never seen so much snow here and over such a long period of time. Luckily I had the horses and Sammy to remind me that snow is FUN! At least for a little while. Heres a couple of my favorite shots I took before running back in the house to keep warm:

The boys (Khaiber and Rusty) enjoying a romp in the snow.

Wut?

Sammy had a blast in the snow! Unfortunately I think her favorite thing about the weather was the frozen horse poop *sigh*

On a blog related note, expect to see more here in the future! I have neglected this blog in the past but am planning a lot more photo sharing, sneak peeks, and more, so check back!

Snow Bound