All the King's Horsemen

I love unique photo and design projects that I can work on for a client. It lets me open up and truly portray my style and creativity, knowing that it will be shown to the public eye.

I am currently working on a project involving several characters with their horses, based in fairy tale times. We are compiling settings and models to assist with our vision of creating a fantasy world based on a fictional story. This will eventually become a wonderful exhibition, illustrated story and possibly a bigger production.

Most of the images will be composites since there are no castles, mountains or knights saving fair maidens in the midwest. Composites consist of 2 or more images blended together to create one complete image.... kind of like a collage, but you don't know where one image begins and the other one ends... actually it should look as if it was pohotographed that way without combining images.

Here are some of our first character:

IDCTA Mini Event - Lake Geneva

Wow!! We had a BLAST this weekend at the IDCTA mini event at Geneva Equestrian in Lake Geneva, WI. It was the first time Fire & Earth photographed any event at this beautiful facility and we were very impressed with the level of riders, horses and staff at the show. I don't think we could have taken a bad photo of anyone that day (it also helps when the skies are clear and the temperature is tolerable).

Here are some of my favorites...

Creepy Crawlies and Such

I hate bugs.

I hate when they crawl on my arm, buzz in my ear, crunch under my feet, attack me in swarms and, on that one rare moment, land in my ice tea!

However... they make the most interesting models in a photographer's studio... if you can keep them still. I decided to fight my fear of these little monsters by taking them out of their environment and putting them into mine, using them for their brilliant colors and attributes.

I never knew how beautiful they really were until I got them in front of the lens.

Thanks to the little creepy crawly, thousand-leggy little guys for your patience and help....

However..... I'm STILL not going to share my ice tea.

The Amazing Sully

I have always enjoyed photographing high action... capturing that split second in time that we never see with our own eyes in real time. I have photographed horse racing, pole bending, barrel racing, jumping, cross-country..... and have mastered them all. But to photograph something smaller and faster... like a dog running as fast as he can and jumping into a lake.... that can be tricky..... but OH SO MUCH FUN!!!

Thanks to Darcie and her amazing Border Collie "Sully" for a wonderful photo session at the lake. His amazing athleticism is seen in every photo here and I am surprised his feet ever touched the ground!

Blink and you'll miss it.... but if the camera gets a blink in.... I get GOLD!

A Different Kind of Business

I have been photographing horses and riders in the show ring for several years, and I never get tired of it..... but it's nice to be able to step back and be able to photograph the other side of show business. =)

KYB Dressage has been my client since I started photographing their champion horses and riders at several dressage venues, including exhibitions and clinics. I recently helped them launch their new website: www.kybdressage.com (entirely custom designed by Fire & Earth along with most of our photos). This website is being used to showcase their business and help promote their services and identity in the equestrian world. Their talent in the show ring is obvious through all of the photos and videos on their website and such, but they recently asked me to leave the show ring behind and catch them doing what they do best: enjoying the time they spend with their horses.

Both Kassie and Yvonne, along with Agata and a couple of the Young Riders in the KYB JRYR program put aside their top hats, tails and formal gear and opened themselves up to the camera showing the unique relationships they have with their horses. It is always a pleasure to be asked to photograph such a vulnerable and special moment between horse and rider.

Here are some of the photos from recent photos sessions with KYB Dressage and their horses...

Kylie and Sonrisa

It was still a little too early to start photo sessions in the year, but the owners of Kylie and Sonrisa couldn't wait!! The trees were still bare, the grass still dull and the recent rain made sure that there was a nice thick mud patch every foot or so in the pastures. It was a hard environment to work in, let alone something that would make a good backdrop in any direction.... but you have to work with what you have!


And so I did.