EQUINE PORTRAITURE: CORINNE MCAFEE

Here is my surprise that I announced this past Friday, it's early!

This past week at the Mane Event in Red Deer, AB I sat in on a demo hosted by 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗰𝗔𝗳𝗲𝗲 with her paint mare "Flicka". Here is Corinne's bio.
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"𝘏𝘪, 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘔𝘤𝘈𝘧𝘦𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 35 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘙𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘢. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴 4 𝘵𝘰 6 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 (𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘦) 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺’𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴. 𝘔𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 “𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭”, 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧. 𝘔𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘈 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺."
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Corinne received a well deserved standing ovation for her demo. I was very inspired by not just Corinne's speech and her demo but who she is as a person and her passion in helping others with disabilities pursue their love and dreams for horses. I wanted to reach out to Corinne, I tried after her demo was finished but it was just too busy so I decided to contact her after the weekend.

For those of you who know me on a personal level, you know that I have a soft spot for people with disabilities - whether it's physical or mental. I always do what I can to assist them, the littlest things and kind gestures goes a long ways.

It's special people in this world like Corinne who encourages others that no matter what struggles that you face everyday, you are able to overcome anything in life. The key to life is accepting challenges. Challenges help you discover who you are.

As soon as I reached out to Corinne, I offered her some portrait photos of her and Flicka. It was my thank you to her for doing what she does and being the amazing inspirational person that she is to others around her.

Business is not all about making money, it's also about helping others and volunteering your time when you see fit.

Thank you Corinne McAfee for following up with me. I hope these images give you forever memories of the wonderful job that you have done with Flicka and with the community. The very last photo in this bunch, of the John Deere, is for your mother and father.

Click HERE to view all the photos.

GRANT MACKINNON (MACKINNON EQUINE SERVICES)

I would like to thank Grant MacKinnon for demonstrating your wonderful craft and talent in Equine dentistry. It was my pleasure working with you and seeing first hand how you take care of horses teeth.

You definitely provided me with a good challenge! When I arrived, I had to change things up a bit because I was not expecting a head Iamp to be used and it definitely made the photo shoot that much more challenging (but of course incredibly rewarding when it's all said and done). I shot this with a mix of off-camera flash to start then as more natural light came in I was able to put it away.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get any environmental portraiture shots because the barn was just too busy and there was just too much going on in the back. So instead I solely focused on just capturing what this man does best. Grant, keep up the great work that you do and are known for! You put a lot of pride into your work and it shows!

CLICK HERE to view all the photos. 

MY EQUINE PORTRAITURE SERVICE HAS EXPANDED!

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Due to many requests, I am proud to announce that I now offer two types of Equine Portraiture:

Equine Portraiture: With People
& 
Equine Portraiture: Just Horses

Not everyone wants to be in the photos, some people are wanting photos of just their horse(s), whether it's portrait, them running, playing, in the herd, or just being a horse. Photos for them to either share with friends and family or print and frame them to be hung in their homes, barns, etc.

Prices for the two remain the exact same. Please visit www.stevenquon.com for a full breakdown including pricing.

As the weather becomes warmer and Spring comes closer, expect to see me a lot more out in the fields just shooting horses.

EQUINE PORTRAITURE PHOTO SHOOT: DAVE RED DZIEDZIC

Yesterday wasn't a pure CANDID theme Portraiture shoot as I felt it wasn't the right scenario so I had to change things up a bit - so we blended in having the two horses running as well. I was crossing my fingers hoping that they wanted to dance so I could finally get some photos of horses bucking and kicking but they just wanted to run in a straight line haha.

Thank you Dave Red Dziedzic and your two lovely Clydesdale mares Queen and Penny for an amazing experience under that incredible sunrise. The #1 barrier when shooting during sunrises and sunsets is timing because it's amazing just how fast that sun moves, 20-30 seconds later and your ambient lighting completely changes. As you already know Dave, I fully support Equine Rescue's and I truly admire what you do. WOW what a stunner that sunrise was.

I have shot landscapes before (though I don't have near as much interest in it as Equine photography) and this is where perhaps some of my skills in shooting landscapes carried over to my Environmental portraiture shots in this session.

Click HERE to view all the photos.

EQUINE PORTRAITURE PHOTO SHOOT: KIRSTY BRACKEN

Thank you to Kirsty Bracken and her Thoroughbred Clydesdale gelding Sirus for being such great sports on a chilli -15C winter day, even though we shot indoor.

I wanted to take this shoot indoors, not just because it was cold but because I will eventually have to tackle equine portraiture indoors in extremely tough environments. It was definitely a great start! There are many more types of indoor shots that I have planned and will be getting down the road.

I wanted this shoot to be primarily off-camera flash photography, but because the sun kept coming into the building quite early, I was able to shoot with natural light for a good portion of my shots. Photographing an 18hh horse in a stall was a good challenge for me especially when he is taller than the top bars of the stall. Factor in that he's a grey and the upper portion of the barn walls is the same colour as he is and it adds another challenge on top of that.

As suggested by a good friend to use cellophane wrap in getting a horse's attention, I've found that it works really well. But like we all already know, no two horse's are the same, what may work on one horse, won't necessarily work on the next one you work with. Every horse is different and every horse teaches me something extremely valuable at each shoot that I do.

Thank you to Kirsty's mother Kim for being such a helpful assistant, you were awesome! Like already mentioned, until I find an assistant, I will find ways to fill the void.

Click HERE to view all the photos.

EQUINE PORTRAITURE PHOTO SHOOT: RACHAEL SIDNEY

Thank you to Rachael Sidney and her boy Logan for some fun out in the snow during the latter parts of a beautiful sunrise this past weekend. Like I mentioned, we unfortunately had to cut the session short but it was still a wonderful time and a very beneficial experience for the both of us.

In this shoot, because the property was so nice and I specifically wanted to have this session at a specific time of the day, I wanted to use the environment to my advantage so believe it or not, I actually shot all of this with a 35mm lens, which is not your ideal portrait lens but if you use the environment than it shines. You most definitely cannot shoot horses close up with a 35mm.

It was Christmas themed and I wanted to tell a story between these two so I just let them do their thing. My main workhorse lens was never used in this shoot. A dark horse during the morning sun with soft white snow everywhere was a perfect combination. Snow works as a great tool for reflecting light but the light has to be soft. I tried some ultra wide but it just wasn't working for this setting.

Now just imagine this exact same setting in the summer for a seasonal comparison.

Click HERE to view all the photos.

EQUINE PORTRAITURE PHOTO SHOOT: SANDY GERENCER

Thank you to Sandy Gerencer and her very cute Palomino mare for letting me capture the special bond between the two of you. You were both full of energy and excitement, it was great seeing the both of you having such a great time in each other's company.

Because of some limitations in the setting, I felt it was a great opportunity to work on a lot of close up work, as I truly believe that it is essential in every Equestrian Photographer's portfolio.

Click HERE to view all the photos.