To create my vision, in this stage of my personal project, on the Horse Culture of Idaho, I wanted western style equestrians in a great location. We put the call out to our clients for models for this complimentary session and were rewarded by an enthusiastic response from Pam and Mary. A pair of genuine and authentic western style horse lovers.
In planning for their session I told them of my requirements for horse photography on location; first and foremost that the place I park my car can not be far from a stunning location for photography…for several reasons:
1) I don't have a horse to get into the back country
2) I may need to go back to my car for equipment at any given moment
3) I always bring, and usually use, my 6-foot ladder on horse sessions (see: Part 1 on camera elevation)
Their answer to my rather stringent requirements was Celebration Park, an hours drive south of Boise just beyond Melba. It sits along the Snake River and is Idaho's only archeological park with Native American petroglyphs at least 12,000 years old surrounded by huge basalt melon gravels. It was truly worth the drive! The image below is the big view I was looking for.
My inspiration for these images, of our cowgirls, were the marvelous cowboy vistas I remember from the old Marlboro print ads and commercials that I grew up with; the missing element being the cigarettes!
It turned out that I didn't need my ladder because the basalt boulders were perfect platforms for the high angle down set-ups I wanted! In the above images my high angle was used to eliminate the sky.
In addition, as seen in the image on the left, it was fun to set-up some action scenes as Pam and Mary picked their way through the boulder field.
Of course, while we were at it, I did some traditional portraits of the gals and their horses.
It's always nice to capture the special bond people have with their animals.
Should you have questions please don't hesitate to shout out…'Til next week.
Author: Jerry W Venz, Master Photographer CPP
Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com
