Horsing Around

In spending a few days with these horses, I had the chance to observe these beautiful creatures in their more playful moments. I thought I would share these in honor of World Animal Day.

Your Wild Horses

So after having very pleasant spring weather in Paris and Provence, I headed to the Camargue for the last three days of my trip and it began to rain, rain, and rain some more. It rained pretty much the whole time. Not just little drops. It came pouring down. Three days straight. In the South of France. Some shoots were even cancelled. Especially painful was the sunrise shoot which was spent in a van waiting for a couple of hours for the rain to let up and then going back to the hotel when it didn't. Ah the glamorous life of a photographer. In the end, it turned out to be a blessing. For just enough time, at the right time, the rain would let up and this lovely soft light would surround us. It also meant I was able to achieve my "white on white" vision. This is how I pictured my photographs before I left for France. If we had had beautiful sunny days and intense blue skies, I wouldn't have been able to achieve it. Nature knows best after all.

These moments captured are among some of the most amazing moments of my life. The very first shoot required quite a bit of faith. My heart was racing from the moment it was explained that the 25 horses that would be running toward me would only swerve at the last second, but that rest assured, they would. I took some deep breaths and opened myself up to the experience. And what an experience it was.

The drunken foal

Camargue horses are born dark brown or black and lighten to white as they mature. There was one foal among the adult horses - this little guy. When he lay down in the grass, he looked like such a happy drunk.

I'm heading off tomorrow for a vacation in New England. I may not get the chance to blog, but I'll most likely be on Facebook and twitter with briefer posts. I'll see you in September!

A heart so white

One of the main reasons I went to the south of France earlier this year, was to photograph the white horses of The Camargue. They are an ancient breed of horse that has lived in this wild, harsh marsh region for centuries if not thousands of years. I had the chance to spend three days among these beautiful creatures. The first day, I had the chance to get close to them and get to know them. They quickly adapted, were quite curious, and when I wasn't looking, would come up to me and start nibbling my shoe or knee. As a result, I have quite a few wide-angle shots of horse noses. Despite the nibbling, I was taken with how gentle they were and I felt no fear being so near to them. I'm so happy to finally be sharing some of these photographs with you.