Another week and a few more photo shoots for me. The alarmingly nice (hot, even--we had to have the air conditioning on much of last week, pretty well unheard of in October in Saskatchewan, where we're much more likely to have snow than untoward heat) weather continued right up to this past weekend, so my outdoors shooting has carried on apace, marred somewhat by a head cold that made me a tad miserable for a few days.The only good thing I can say about the cold is that it left in record time, and less than a week later I'm pretty well good to go and planning to ride again tomorrow. Saturday I was so feeble that I couldn't even drive myself to the barn to see Alpac--Jim had to drive me out to see him.
That's pretty bad. I'm of the persuasion that if you're so sick that riding doesn't make you feel better, you're in very poor shape, but I was shaky and unstable enough that I didn't put it to the test this time round, just accepted that riding wasn't going to be a good idea for a few days.
Another side effect of the cold was general brain slowness and poor function. I was with it enough to know that I wasn't with it much at all, if that makes any sense.
On Thursday I had a couple of photo sessions booked at the barn, and while riding didn't seem like a good plan, I thought I could at least get the shots that were needed while the weather was so nice. First shoot was of a jumper in training in the outdoor ring. It was really hot (of course I was over-dressed since it is October and not supposed to be that warm) and quite windy, with a brilliant sun and hard shadows in mid-day when the shoot was scheduled. I got all the settings in place (I'm shooting manual these days for the first time ever, since I finally figured out what to do when, at least most of the time) and other than me feeling over-heated (possibly partly due to fever) and a bit shaky, that shoot went well.
The second shoot that day was of some very tender little Jack Russell puppies that belong to one of the riders at Ebon. I wanted to do this one in the shade of the north side of the barn, where we wouldn't have the harsh sun on the mostly white coats of the puppies, also where we were sheltered from the wind which had by then become quite wild. I do vaguely remember thinking that I needed to change settings on the camera, but apparently that's as far as I got on that front, since when I got home and downloaded the photos, they were all rather badly exposed and with a lot of digital noise. I'm still not quite sure how that happened, but the bottom line was that they weren't acceptable so I was going to need another go-round.
Friday the gracious puppy owner brought them out again for a second shoot, which went much better from a technical point of view. I think it was actually better in general, as the puppies were a little more adventurous and outgoing on their second outing.
It's a good thing we got these shoots in as the weather has finally broken, with pouring rain yesterday (actually much needed since we've had very little moisture since July) and colder, windy, and still drizzly today (which caused the cancellation of the foal shoot planned for this afternoon). I like weather that other people tend to complain about, so I was quite happy with the wind and cold today. Makes a refreshing change from being too hot, which I don't handle well. I may not feel so cheery about cold after we've logged the first four or so months of the coming winter, but at the moment I'm all for it.
Today's photos are vaguely connected, since the owner of the terminally cute puppies is also the person that gave me the heads up about the beautiful place on the river featured in the first two shots. I took these about ten days ago at this picturesque horse farm on the North Saskatchewan river, about a forty minute drive north and west of the city. This is an absolutely stunning property with quite a variety of terrain (including a stream that goes down through the trees into the river, although I didn't get that far on this visit) that has been left in its natural state. Just my kind of visuals.
The only problem was that because of all the trees and bush, plus the ups and downs of the terrain, it can be really hard to locate the horses that I was assured were there. I spent the first hour and a half of a two hour visit looking for the horses, having unerringly headed off in exactly the wrong direction when I started out. Eventually I did locate them, though, and had a very happy time gathering photos of several small herds in this wonderful environment. Luckily I was blissfully oblivious of a potential danger there until after I had finished wandering through the brush beside the river, and tramping up and down the hills, when I finally ran into the owner of the land (who had approved my visit but wasn't around when I got there) and he told me he had spotted what he was quite sure was a European wild boar emerging from the riverside bush a few days previous. These wild boars are becoming a danger in some parts of the province, where they have escaped from breeding facilities and reverted to the wild, causing considerable havoc in the process. They don't hesitate to attack people or other animals, and besides being imposingly large (up to 204 kg/450 lbs) they are ill-tempered and armed with large tusks and sharp hooves. All in all, a good creature not to run into in the bush or anywhere else.
Shot number one is the view from the yard site looking downriver, to the east. The second shot, taken after I spent a lot of time wandering the landscape featured in shot one, was upriver to the west where I found several bunches of horses. Logically I should have gone that way first as it is a bit more open, but really these horses seem to cover every inch of the property so it is anyone's guess where they will be when.
The other shots, of course, are of the very cute puppies. These are Jack Russell terriers. I asked for details as there are now (confusingly to me) two subsets--the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Jack Russell. Here is what the breeder said about them... "These are JRTCA (Jack Russell Terrier Club of America) and JRTCC (Canadian version) who are show *and* working terriers. We are the oldest Jack Russell registry and we and our affiliates (JRTCGB-Great Britain) are the copyright owners of the name Jack Russell Terrier. Our club motto is to 'preserve, protect, and work the Jack Russell Terrier'. We are pretty proud of our little white dogs. The puppies were only four weeks old when you shot them and are fearless, typical terriers". So I am of the impression that the Parson Jack Russell is the show and/or pet version, while the JRT is the working version, but of course can also be show and pet dogs as well. Hope I've got that right!!
I did meet Mother as well on this shoot, and as a working hunting dog, she was pretty keen to find something with her scenting nose and skills. We were at a barn, after all, and she knew there had to be rodents of various sorts and sizes if we would only let her set to work. On the other hand, she also had to keep the kids sorted out and vaguely contained, so it was a bit of a conflict of interest for her. Mostly she got to stay in the car while we did the photos, a less than satisfactory situation from her point of view.
First puppy shot shows one heading north with great determination. This was pretty much their first experience of the big world of the outdoors, and while initially a bit backed off, they soon set their little legs in motion and motored along. I love the way the legs get lifted up so high with these little ones. They have the right idea about how to use their limbs overall, just need to fine-tune the process a bit. Reminds me of how horses are when you put unaccustomed leg wraps on them. The first few steps have a very exaggerated lift to them quite similar to this. Shots two and three are pretty self-explanatory. Checking out the leaves, sniffing the wind, being way too cute!
I don't get a lot of chances to do puppy shoots, especially of ones so young, so this was a great treat for me. I'm hoping I'll be able to have another go-round when they are a few weeks older and are interacting and playing with each other. Guess that will for sure be dependent on what the weather is doing by then!!
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