Monday, September 13
Today is our second day to rise early and meet the horses as they are wrangled in from their night on Chocolate Drop.
This day I photographed from a higher advantage so I could see the gate opened when all the horses had been driven back to the ranch.
Once the horses are corralled, there is time before breakfast to get close ups in the corral.
Some photographers like to think in terms of portfolios or sets. For me, for some reason, when I get around horses, it is their eyes.
After breakfast we are back in class. This morning we have more information about what to look for in a photograph for the purposes of the encaustic creation we are here to make.
We are offered an opportunity to have an up and close encounter with a horse as a model--who can pass up on that?
After lunch today we have our first opportunity to ride. My saddle is put on Carlton and he is brought to me. I am told to mount so my left foot goes in the stirrup. My right lifts to swing over Carlton and...I kick him in the ass. And then I do it again. The third time I finally find the strength to get my let up and over his rump and into the saddle.
The photo above (taken by Kelley) is a photo from the second ride but it is me on Carlton. On this first ride, I left the camera in Dailey cabin, not trusting my abilities to sit on a horse and take photographs. So--no pictures of our first ride which was up into the pasture called Chocolate Drop.
The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about isolating an image and working on the photographs that we took.
After dinner today, time in the studio was spent getting a lecture on materials, tools, paper and substrates for our encaustic creations.
Then it was back to Dailey cabin for some more collaging and music well into the night.
