Wow!!
What a few days this has been!!
For those of you who know me, you know this has been a long time coming. I've taken a lot of flak as to why I'm so determined to shoot here, or why the battle project is so important to me, but hopefully I can answer that over the next few posts.
The short answer is- Handsome horses, Pretty Ladies and a world famous event.
OK, that requires a little elaboration, I know!
I've been really absent from this blog over the last month or so, mostly due to a commitment to the people over at Western Horse Review(they agreed to carry a blog that I was to put out that dealt with the battle project and I've had a few really good posts there. Actually, starting tomorrow, I'll be doing daily updates for that blog, so it seems only fitting that I take a few minutes tonight and update what's really happening with the project!)
My very good friend Lynn Johnson got this whole ball rolling a few years back, when I first shot her horse show in Rimbey. Since then we've been involved in many projects together and this battle idea has grown from our time together. "Get your credentials" she's been pestering me for some time now, and this year we finally got our poop in a pile and made it happen. And boy, what an eye-opener its been so far!

Being accredited at Spruce means you are afforded some pretty skookum privileges-in today's case, that means a course walk with Eric Lamaze. Of the Akita Cup...yup. And, to add a little cream to the day, I had a chance to meet and talk with Bob Langrish, probably the world's foremost Equestrian photographer. ( When I told him I was nervous about being here, he told me in his classic British Accent " dont worry-we're all just here to do our job") Easy for you to say, Bob, you've been at it for 40 years!

It was cool, though. To spend a few hours with a world-class athlete, and actually understand what he was saying. I think he lost a lot of the crowd after he stopped talking about the Olympics scandal, but for anyone who stuck with him, what an awesome insight into what goes through a champion rider's mind as he walks a Grand Prix course. Yes, I'm very lucky, and I know it!!

We saw Marge Southern as we came out of the media centre, chatting with the Rolex boys(Personally, I'm an Omega guy...)

 I am so fortunate to have met the competitors  for our battle project. Sure, we knew a bunch of the ladies prior to this (they're the reason its happening!!) but today was a day to finally put the last pieces of the puzzle together as I met the last of the "mystery" team members, Like Kathleen and Fabio (Best cooler ever!!)

 Adrian Neufeld-29 years of battle of the breeds. What do you you say to that??

Yes Laura-Gene, Tex is pretty (Appy people, whooftie.....)

 Team Canadian-only missing one bicycle...

 The Saddlebred people...such a serious lot...

 Maggie, the Spruce Meadows course designer...and a whole bunch of other stuff that I haven't figured out yet, but she's really important, so I'm trying to be nice to her. (OK, not really, but I do so at my own peril...)

 

So, during our media media luncheon we had a chance to hear
from Linda Southern, and she said lots of things that were all pretty cool, but to tell the truth, I was so emotionally wrapped-up in just being here that I missed most of what she said, but there was one thing that really stood out, and you can see evidence to that simple statement wherever you look around the grounds here. I think I'll make it my new motto..
"It's all about the horse..."

Apparently it's been a good month for Owl viewing around here! There's some low ground about 4 miles from where I'm working right now, and no matter which route I start with, the last 4miles is pretty much the same, and includes this swampy area. On many mornings, I'll see Great Grey Owls here, as well as a pair of Red-tailed fox kits(which have so far eluded my lens), a pair of twin moose calves with no Mom and some ever elusive Red-Tailed Hawks.
Last night on the way home, a Great Grey was hunting from a post, criss-crossing the road with absolutely no concern for me and my camera. I came away with some good shots and a lesson (re-learned, unfortunately) on not getting so close that the subject fills the frame. Seems I get so excited when these guys actually sit still that I get too close, and trying to get a flight shot with a 600 when the birds is that close will get you nothing more than out of focus tail feathers.
So, with said photos safely hidden in the recycle bin, I'll share a couple of the better perched shots and hope for another chance today.

If you haven't heard already, we are in the midst of a project following 3 teams of equestrians up to and through the 2012 Telus Battle of the Breeds at Spruce Meadows this september. Western Horse Review has picked up a separate blog we are doing for that project, and you can follow us here:

http://www.westernhorsereview.com/blogs/breed-sport-news/battle-of-the-breeds-2012/

And for anyone who saw the last post about the late-fledging Great Horned Owl, he unfortunately didn't make it. The ladies at the Wildlife center told us that the problem with wildlife injuries is that the animal doesn't usually display any indications its hurt or sick until its too late.

Happy long weekend everyone!
It's been a hot few weeks here in central Alberta lately. I'm reluctantly back to work, albeit much closer to home than I've ever been.( It remains to be seen if that is actually a good thing or not!).
The new location affords me a 15 minute drive in the morning through the hills west of our place.
lots of chances for local wildlife shots, and some pretty nice landscape views as well. Coming home at night, the sun is behind me and the trip is repeated, although I do seem to be having a lot more luck in the mornings. Lots of fog and mist. One spot on the road is home to at least 6 Kestrels, who may be more wary than Red-Tailed Hawks(if thats possible) when it comes to getting their picture taken.
This morning, near where I commonly see great Horned Owls, I thought I saw a porcupine in the ditch.
Closer inspection revealed it to be a young-very young and late!- Great Horned Owl fledgling. He was in some distress, and wasnt able to fly. He didnt look hurt, so I went on my way, planning to come back and check on him later. At 9:30 he was still in the same spot, and moving much less, so I scooped him up and my wife and girls came and delivered him to the great folks at the Medicine River Wildlife Center. They'll do their best to nurse him back, but Carol said he was in bad shape and had about a 10% chance of making it.
Here he was when I first saw him early this morning:

I've also seen some good looking deer in the area

The view from the high ground on Baldy can be very impressive in the morning

I managed to get a Kestrel to sit still for a shot the other morning

And even a dirty old compressor facility can look not too shabby in the wee hours of first light

Have a great week everyone!

Good morning all! It's been a while since my last post, and try as I might, I've not been able to convince Kenz that she should take up blog writing full-time. As a result, I guess I'm back to writing my own material.
We've been madly trying to sort and post photos from 3 consecutive weekends of horseshows, with the end finally in sight. Once the Didsbury pictures are up, we can concentrate on our really big project that has been brewing for some time. I'll discuss it in the next post, which, unlike today's, will actually pertain to something equine.
So, what am I on about today then? Birds. Pelicans in particular and my first attempts at shooting a super-tele from a boat. Should be easy, right? Big glass, close pelicans, great morning light,what can go wrong? Movement!! Good grief, I had no idea how much a boat moved until I was looking through 600mm of glass trying to shoot a bird flying a foot off the water.( Now, I'm not totally new to boats, but I'm by no means boat savvy, so those of you who are can begin mocking me now...)
I don't have a lot of advise on the subject-technically it's not really different than any other picture, although the water tends to throw around a lot of stray light that I wasn't used to shooting from shore, so I found spot metering gave me my best results with surprisingly few blown-out sky shots.
No, it was the movement of the boat that killed me! My brother-in-law was great, creeping up slowly with the trolling motor then shutting it down early and drifting in, but it was still like bad 60's Hollywood acid trip looking through that lens. And holding your breath, no, that just makes everyone in the boat wonder what the heck your doing to be out of breath! I had brought a monopod, thinking that with the little room I had up in the bow seat, that would be a good tool for stability. Most definitely not the answer-it seemed to amplify the movement 10-fold. I also tried stabilizing it on my knee with similar results. The best results came when I just hand held the unit , (breathed!!!) and let the IS do it's job.
When I was buying this lens a while back, I read a lot of reviews that it's too heavy-can't be hand held, etc. I even discussed it with the salesman, who told me he often hand-held his Nikon 600 with stellar results, you just have to put a little effort into it.
I'd have to say I agree. While you won't be doing it all day, it's more than possible to get the shots you need. here's the proof.

For those of you keeping track, I'll now get back to sorting and posting show pictures.

Bluffton Classic 2012

Hey everyone! Mackenzie here. Dad's out shooting some jumpers so I'm your interim blogger for this post. :) This past weekend has been a flurry of activity at the WW Ranch in Bluffton. The days have been filled with rider after rider competing for that lovely red ribbon. Mind you, getting up in the early hours of morning was not very appealing, we made it through the past three days without falling over entirely. (Hey. It's summer. Gimme a break.) Whether it be standing inside the arena or standing in the scorching heat outside, we managed to get some pretty good shots. Dad tells me, "Pick out your favourites." Me, ".... OKAY!" *goes and tags over 70, and then, with great difficulty, goes and whittles down the selected to about 6.* (Yeah, harder than first thought.) Howbeit, all of the pictures were good, and I've managed to pick a few of the stunners. I think most of these were taken by yours truly, however, there's wayyy too many to try and keep track of who took this and that.
This is simply a preview of what's yet to come. We hope to post the rest of them in the coming week.
Talk later soon,
Mackenzie :)

(Never mind, this one above is Dad's) :)

Well, we have day 2 of the Rimbey Horse show under our belts, and so far no one is in danger of getting muddy, wet or drowned! A brief thundershower this afternoon shut us down for 5 minutes or so, but in reality I think it was more a case of the judges needing a coffee refill than weather-related!
A really good turn-out today, with the day's performances split between English and Western, with most of the girls riding both.
As luck would have it, the afternoon brought showers followed by sunshine, which I am starting to believe makes for absolutely the best light there is. It's almost like the rain knocks most of the "dirty" out of the existing light, and when it shines again, it's clearer, warmer and "Oh-so-much-better" for pictures!
Here's a small glimpse of what I'm talking about...

And, just in case it comes up in conversation, the above picture in high-key(second from top) is supposed to look like that! I'm not in the habit of accidentally over-exposing, let alone posting said accident. It's an experiment, and I'd appreciate any and all feedback.
Thanks!

Day 1 of the Rimbey Horse Show went today, and we didn't have more than 10 drops of rain, Thankfully! A nice, overcast day, not too hot for the horses and no harsh shadows for the photographers, either! At the risk of being chastised for using slave labor, I want to thank both my niece Stephanie, and daughter Mackenzie for their help today. With my knee acting up like it is, it's hard enough getting from one side of the arena to the other, let alone clear down to the other end each 10 minutes for ribbon pictures. Awesome work girls, can't wait for tomorrow!
the turnout was fairly small today, but those that did attend did not disappoint. Today's previews are on the website, but here is a few to get you going...

Today finds me back home-for a week already, actually-and for us the show season starts tomorrow.
Rimbey has its annual open horse show this weekend and we'll be on the grounds shooting, printing and if tradition stands, setting up jumps and running general errands(the show organizer is a real slave-driver!!) Actually, she's a good friend of ours, a dedicated horsewoman and an organizing Tyrannosaurus. Among other things, she's responsible for this and several other horse shows, and has recently been getting quite involved with hot air ballooning, with the highly successful Rimbey Hot Air Affair 2012 under her belt this year already. hats-off to Lynn Johnson for all her hard work organizing(and also competing in!!) these events.
So, since Lynn has had my nose to the grindstone(that, and a bad knee that has depleted both the local doctors patience and the clinics supply of cortisone and freezing) I've had little chance to post much of any interest lately.
I suspect by tomorrow night we'll have some great new material, but today I'm going to fall back on two of my favourite subjects-my girls and birds in general.
The first picture is a rare shot of a Red-Tailed Hawk, actually co-operating with me and holding still while I got a few shots. (For the spoilers among you who will call me on it, yes, he's a juvie, so that is probably why he stayed for pictures!!!)

The second picture is from The Blindman Valley Pony Club practise last night at the always- accommodating WW ranches in Bluffton, Ab. The subject is my daughter Sydney and her pony, "Rocky". Rocky is a recovering laminitic horse whom my wife has spent the last 3 years diligently trimming and coaxing back from near-total founder. Syd is determined to ride her, so last year we got her some dandy boots and she's been the talk of pony club since.
She is the absolute postcard example of a "pony clubber" in my eyes. A girl who loves her horse for no reasons of breeding, skill or experience. She want to ride her because she's HER horse, and they're on a journey together. Good luck tomorrow, Kiddo!

A boring saturday night in the Peace country. I was thrilled when Matt came to my shack last night to tell me a cow moose was on the lease.
 OK, that may need a little explaining. I've been on the hands recently about not calling me when something photo-worthy happens. There has been way too many incidents of "hey did you see  " X"   last night"..
So, true to his mission, Matt comes knocking last night to say that there's a moose about to come on the lease. That's all he says, then gone!!!
Okay, It's a moose, so granted she wasn't too hard to find. And, she wasn't the most handsome girl in the moose stable. But the coolest thing was that she wasn't afraid of me!!
I set up initially about 100yds away from her, thinking that she would traverse , but as luck would have it, she kept moving towards me. I whistled to her every time she seemed apprehensive, and go figure, she kept coming closer!
She's a scraggly, emaciated tic-infested girl, but she has a moose "smile" as big as a house, and I think she's beautiful! love the eyelashes!!

Happy saturday everyone!!

A day off in the Peace Country pretty much means a trip to the Bennett Dam for me when I'm up here.
I had the good fortune to link up with a biologist from BC hydro last year, and she's been a real champ about taking me out on the tailraces whenever I call and beg!
Well, today was a total wash-out, to stay the least. There must have been 30+ eagles around, but much to my dismay, they didn't stay in place, afraid to fly due to the wet weather as I had hoped. Rebecca(said biologist) has come to the conclusion that they are just scared of black ford trucks, so next time we will take her white company truck and see if that makes any difference! (I'm not holding my breath)
Determined to get something on the card today, we headed east following the sunshine-pretty easy in the Peace. It was looking good back towards the Halfway River, and we've seen a pair of balds in a nest there most times that we come through the area. Today was no exception. The only difference was that the babies-if you can call them that at this stage!-were very restless and the parents were initially nowhere to be found.
I've come to a few conclusions recently about super-tele lenses, the most important being that tele-converters(unless you are on a tripod) are more of a detriment than an aid. The combination of losing 1.5-2 stops of light, along with the dis-advantage of added camera shake multiplied by the converter length just doesn't make the whole operation worthwhile. I shot a friend in a riverboat the other day. He was doing 25-30kn, + current, in low light, and the 600 on my ancient 1DS threw out some truly stellar shots.
Putting the 1.4x on the 600 and slapping the whole affair on the 1DIII should have produced some spectacular results, but this was not the case. We started flirting with too slow of a shutter speed, the ISO came up, and it just wasn't what I was looking for. It would probably be a good topic for discussion here on the blog, but unfortunately I deleted all the garbage and now have nothing for said discussion.
So, on to the eagles. Us flatlanders find them so fascinating, I always laugh when someone who has grown up with them chastises us about our affinity for such a regal bird. The answer is simple-we're tired of looking at Ravens!!
Todays lesson-manual exposure!! around 200 clicks to produce the 3 or 4 decent shots you see here.
Ive alway been an advocate of spot metering, but against a bright sky, even that may not be enough to keep the shadows in these dark bird exposed. 1-1.5 stops overexposed was putting some pretty good shots on the card-too bad it took me most of the day to figure it out!

Enjoy the eagles, everyone!!

I've spent the last few days lamenting about how far behind I've gotten with all things computer related.
Probably not an uncommon complaint, especially among people such as us. We have Facebook, Twitter, +google, websites blogs and who knows what else. I don't know about you, but if I manage to get something posted on at least one of those services I feel like I'm miles ahead!
Today's post is not so much of a post as a test. I've actually buckled down and tried to get some of these services linked, associated and whatever other services there are to allow all these social media choices to play nice together. While I'm not holding my breath, I think its a step in the right direction. For those of you who may be associated with me on more than one of the above-mentioned sites, please disregard the redundancy that will probably follow!
For anyone who cares, Ive tried the following approach. This blog has now been linked to my +google account, which in turn is set up(hopefully!) to post automatically to my Facebook page. It will also automatically update my twitter account. So, providing I haven't accidentally set up some crazy circular link whereby it ends up chasing its own tail, I should be away to the races.
I invite anyone who has some experience in this area to step in and comment. Good, bad or otherwise, I'd love to hear your take on this. We all know the growing importance of social media in our photographic success, but getting it set up correctly seems to be a modern mystery to anyone over the age of 18!!
As I mentioned last post, the show season is getting into full swing. So far, i'm certain to be shooting at Rimbey, Didsbury, Blufton, SpruceView. My "assistant" has promised that we'll need to put on our seat belts for the plans she has in store, but so far she is playing her cards pretty close to her chest.
Time will tell. For today, here's a working copy of the ad for the Rimbey Horse Show 2012

I see Facebook and twitter is buzzing with the impending summer show season, and to make a long story short, I'm stuck in northern BC with no chance of parole until the 20th of June! While I have had opportunities to chase a bird or two, I'm really looking forward to getting some horses in front of the lens.

I'm very blessed to have acquired an assistant, and even though she considered herself "self-appointed"and working for free, she's done some pretty amazing coordinating in a short amount of time.  I won't spill the beans on any projects we haven't buttoned-up, but when they are official, this will be the place to hear about them first.

So, until that time, I'll have to leave you with a few shots of what summer in the Peace is starting to look like.
There has been some discussion here at the rig as to whether the fellow in picture 2 is a Marmot or a Woodchuck. Any and all comments would be most welcome.