Chasing Down a Dream

A year ago, we moved out of a state we loved (Idaho) back to my home state of Iowa. It was hard to leave everything we loved, but it was a necessary change. I sold a business that I had built when we left, so once we arrived back, I was technically unemployed and needed to choose a new path.

Photography and design has been a part of my life since I was a child, my parents owned a sign shop out of our home when I was in elementary, so I was around creative design and computers from an early age, and took art and film in high school. For years, I have carried a camera around with me wherever we ended up, and have mostly captured landscapes, still life, and objects.

Once we relocated and I needed to find a new path in life, I decided to pursue photography and design as a job. As it is a pretty well saturated market, I quickly realized that I would need to find a niche and also my own style.

Growing up, we always had horses. My friends and I would ride back in the woods all the time, usually bareback and without a care in the world. I also was involved in 4H, and frequented many local horse shows.

I’ve always been naturally in awe of the beauty and grace and power of horses, so it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the idea of equine photography. This sparked the idea to support local ranches, horse boarding and training facilities, breeders, and other businesses with my services of photography and web design.

My first job was with a friend from high school, her and her husband breed and sell horses, so I came along side them to help photograph their horses and eventually build out a website for them to showcase their horses and their business in general.

All of this sounds fun and glamorous, until the second day we went out on location to capture some of their foals. The horses are just free ranging in a pasture, and I got out of the truck to start getting some pictures. As a visual, we are in waist high grass and weeds, with manure all around! The horses almost immediately ran from me, so I took off on foot after them, my camera bouncing along on it’s shoulder strap.

Once they got to far to keep running, the husband came around with his truck to pick me up. I asked how big the pasture was to see how far they would be running, and he informed that it went back 20 acres!

We caught up to them in the truck, I jumped out again, tried to sneak up, and then ran when they ran. Not for long. Jump back in the truck and repeat the process over again.

Did I get all of the images that we needed? Not necessarily, but enough. What I did get was a sense of how the day turned into a fun adventure, out in the wild, fresh air, in their world. I got some good shots, but it also showed me that it won’t always be sunshine and easy days, but it’s worth it.

I plan to reach out to more small businesses in the equestrian world here in Iowa and beyond to help them capture the beauty and awesomeness of the horses that they represent.