Behind The Image | The Austrian Goat
Close to Ossiach, Austria
The Austrian goat, is a cute story that took place while on an equine photography tour through Germany, Austria and Italy. It was an early wake up call for our group to be ready to go before sunrise. We had a half hour drive up into the mountains before arriving at our destination. I have to say that the drive up was beautiful on small mountain roads with dense forests on either side. It was truly something else.
The Story
We started this morning session super early. After a super late night of traveling to get to the hotel we stayed in, I think we all dropped dead in our beds in preparation for the stupid early alarms we all had set. Me being me, I was up early and ready to go before most. It was a very quiet, calm morning as we loaded up into the van with all our luggage and headed to the session.
We headed up the winding, twisting mountain road. Most of us excitedly anticipating what this next session would bring. While still super dark you could see the dense forest on either side of the road, giving us zero clues of what the landscape was going to look like when we got to our location. All we knew is that we were heading to a massive stud for Noriker horses. Once we arrived I doubt any of use knew it would be such a picture perfect landscape.
We arrived to magical golden morning light and very dense fog. It was an extremely mystical vibe that was being created between the mountain peaks, the light and the fog. As a photographer this is honestly what you dream of and to have experienced it first hand, it was jaw dropping.
We were photographing one of my favourite draught horse breeds, the Noriker. We started in a massive field with a herd of young stallions. As they began trotting up the hill to give us a show, we were throughly surprised to find them escorted by a billy goat. We were told after seeing him that he lives with the stallions and you could truly see he was part of their herd dynamic.
For the next hour we got to watch him interact with all the horses. We watched him run up in front of the herd to lead the stallions and enjoyed as he playfully interacted with them. He was extremely affectionate, nuzzling up with a few when he could and enjoying their company while he did goat things. I’ve never seen such an adorable dynamic and I felt so lucky to capture these once in a lifetime images.
Equipment & Settings
Nikon D810
Nikkor 70-200 2.8 lens
ISO 400
F/3.2
1/4000
200mm
Images were taken during equine photography tour with Katarzyna OM
Behind The Image | A Dawn Of Feathers
Dosquet, Quebec
A Dawn of Feathers. That name took me two days to create and settle on. I spent both those days bouncing ideas back and forth with my amazing friend Tilda from Sweden. She thankfully was far more helpful than I was for creating a name and between the two of use we came up with A Dawn of Feathers. Dawn referring to the beautiful sunrise when it was taken and the feathers bringing light to the ducks flying away in the image. I honestly couldn’t be happier with the name and all thanks to Tilda for her fabulous help!
The Story
This image was taken back in the Fall of 2017. It was a few months after I had gotten back from an equine photography tour in Poland and I was rearing to take some more fun and creative shots. I partnered up with fellow equine photographer Sabrina Cousineau hailing from Quebec and fellow Polish/Canadian equine photographer Katarzyna OM. We created a fun 5 day photo trip around Quebec photographing a variety of horses.
Our second day of the tour started here at Centre D'attelage Équin-Star owned by Sébastien Boutin and Sophie Moore. They were nice enough to let us stay the night so we could be there right in the morning to capture the sunrise. The weather the night we had arrived had been a massive thunderstorm, so we had doubts if we would even have a beautiful sunrise. That evening however while we slept there was a massive plummet in temperature. That made the clouds clear and for fog to gather around the varies ponds on property creating a picture perfect backdrop.
We woke up early, had the quickest breakfast we could and headed out to start shooting! We walked with our model Justin Time, a KWPN stallion who was full of personality as you are about to see. As we headed to the paddock we could all see just how gorgeous this morning was going to be. The sun was going to rise behind a beautiful tree line dotted with red, orange and yellow trees. The fog had really gathered in the paddock due to the two surrounding ponds and finally we noticed the ducks that had all piled into the paddock we were using. I want to say we were all probably thinking the exact same thing in that moment; Will Justin Time run perfectly towards the ducks, giving us a beautiful once in a lifetime moment? It was truly all up to fate and a little bit of luck on our side for it to happen.
Looking back on the images it almost looks like Justin Time knew what we wanted and methodically moved the ducks into place. He ran past them a few times while getting familiar to the field. Each time he passed he bunched them closer and closer and a few began to leave. Some ducks did stay however, as if they knew something special was about to happen! Our window of opportunity was closing and none of us truly knew if the moment we were all hoping for would happen. Then finally, out of no where, he began trotting to the far end of the field lining himself up to head directly to the ducks. Then he finally picked up a gallop, showing off his power and strength while going through the flock of ducks. Never in my life had I been so focused nor so scared to miss a shot. It was pure magic watching it happen through my viewfinder. I’m sure it was a lot more impressive for Sophie and Sebastian watching from behind us, no camera in their way to enjoy the moment.
It was truly such an amazing moment that I will never forget and I am forever grateful to Sébastien Boutin and Sophie Moore for allowing us to come out and photograph their beautiful horses! Who knew luck would be on our side giving such a beautiful opportunity to capture a once and a lifetime moment
Equipment & Settings
Nikon D810
Nikkor 70-200 2.8 lens
ISO 250
F/3.2
1/2500
200mm