Colorado Cowboys & Horses Diaries
Submitted by Leah Earle . . .
The 2009 Colorado Cowboys and Horses Event was an incredible experience!
The workshop portion was educational and the photo opportunities were endless. Scott Trees had planned shoots for a lot of settings and we even came up with some last minute ideas. The cowboys and cowgirls were more than willing to set up anything we requested. They even did it again over and over to make sure we got the shots we wanted. The weather and lighting were absolutely fantastic. It only sprinkled lightly on one afternoon, but not enough to even pull out a rain sleeve.
The drive portion was in one word… awesome. I got goose bumps every day of the drive. The sound of the horse’s hooves and all of the whinnying was surreal. We had several opportunities to walk among the horses when they were resting and get any shot we could dream of. The horses came in all colors and sizes including Belgians, Appaloosas and Paints.
What a great group of people and to finally meet more EPNet members is always fun. I have never laughed so much in my life.
Submitted by Susan Sexton . . .
Photo opportunities and ideal weather conditions smiled on the EPNet photographers this year during the annual Great American Horse Drive. There's nothing else like it in the country, and it's called the Great American Horse Drive with reason. Wranglers on horseback--both men and women--herd hundreds of horses about sixty miles across the wild and hilly countryside of northwestern Colorado. The EPNet photographers were provided with bountiful opportunities to shoot the excitement and glamor of hundreds of horses galloping down the draw or grazing on the hilltop.
The warm, dry weather affected the shooting conditions. There were perfect clouds to add content and contrast to the sky, and the entire landscape made an ideal background for pictures a large herd of horses.
FYI: It is impossible to capture 600 horses in one picture. All the photographers will attest to that.
Plumes of dust from thousands of hooves rose hundreds of feet into the air, adding an element of interest to some of the pictures, while in others, it obscured everything.
Photographers rode in the backs of pick-up trucks following the herd, sometimes driving through it (very slowly), and other times driving in front of it. The vantage point was constantly changing, sometimes looking up, down and sideways at the horses, as they galloped past and around the cameras. The photographers could choose to be out of the truck, thrilling to the sensation of the horses either milling around them or galloping past, completely engulfing the photographer in thundering noise and billowing dust.
Sharing that long ride formed a bond between the guest wranglers and the Sombrero staff. It gave them purpose and direction. At first, the guest wranglers were a little clueless about what to do and how to do it, but by the second day guest wranglers and staff wranglers could be seen in conversation, laughing and working together. It added value to the long, hot, hard hours in the saddle and under the sun.
View some of the exciting images from
the Colorado Workshop and Drive
Our Sponsors helped make the event special . . .
Colorado Workshop participants were able to print photos during the workshop on a
Sony Snap Lab, courtesy of Imaging Spectrum. Check out the link to see how it makes prints without a computer. Imaging Spectrum has lent us one of these for the last few years and it is really handy to make quick prints up to 5x7.
Special thanks to our other participating sponsors who have sent great tools and toys for participants to use as well as lots of cool promotional materials and prizes for our drawings. This year's sponsors include Lensbaby, Frame Destination, Archival Methods, Lumiquest, Lightware, Pictobooks, Imaging Spectrum, and Fine Print Express.
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Shelley Paulson will help you learn how to photograph horses and people together in a way that is natural and meaningful. In this six week online course you will learn how to set up and prepare for a portrait session, finding the best light for portraits, appropriate camera settings, posing people and horses, working with locations, environmental portraits, and capturing the emotional connection between horses and people. 
Congratulations to Jill Fleming for her Category Winner/Photography: Cowboy Affection at the American Royal Western Art Show. This photo was also voted Peoples' Choice Award for the 2009 Equine Ideal Photo Contest.
Lensbaby is Craig Strong's baby. Craig invented the Lensbaby Flexible Lens Mounting System to bring a more organic look to his digital SLR camera. Lensbaby's mission is to help professional and amateur photographers see and document their worlds in unique and creative ways.