Could I live on a farm? Absolutely.
There is no better feeling than waking up to horse’s and hearing them whinny and call out to each other in the middle of the night. It’s quite the experience at Fleetwood Farms with complete isolation from any kind of traffic or in-city population. It was tough coming back in to the city last Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Smith gave me quite the tour of the place, in which we showed many parts of his property last Sunday on Facebook Live. Thank you again Ryan Smith and Brandy Lyn for the generous hospitality and I even got to meet Ryan’s mother, Judy Fleetwood.
I have built a comprehensive portfolio when it comes to my Equine Shows & Events and I have a solid foundation for my Equine Portraiture. However, prior to visiting Ryan’s place, I did not have a lot when it came to (and what I call on my website’s sub-section), “Horses Being Horses”. Just general photos of horses in nature, whether they are running, playing, sleeping, eating, whatever - just horse’s living in their natural environment.
The most essential element when photographing horses is that you have to watch them and you have to do this... A LOT. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time and the more time you spend watching and being near them, the greater chance you have in capturing the shots that you are looking for.
Even though I was at Fleetwood Farms for a couple days, there were very specific hours of the day in which I was taking pictures. Hey if mother nature gave us overcast skies for the two days, like I told Ryan… “You wouldn’t even see me because I would be out in the pastures all day and all night” haha. It’s just the matter of time before I get pictures of bucking, rearing and full herds galloping.
The pastures were so breathtaking during sunrise and sunset that I wanted to not just photograph the horse’s themselves but I wanted to sell the environment to not only give you all a clear idea of the wonderful home’s that these horse’s are living in but to make you feel as if you were right there with me taking it all in.
Admittedly, waking up for those sunrises were tough and this is coming from a morning person, but all in all I would do it any day of the year just to see these horse’s in this kind of magical light.
While out in the pasture, I ended up connecting with one of the fillies who just loved having her butt scratched. Each time I would stop scratching or look away, she would turn and re-position herself so that she could tell me to keep going haha. I am sure going to miss those foals, they truly are special
Click HERE to view all the photos.