Discover the White Horses of the Camargue with Carol Walker and Judi Hagen

Have you dreamed of photographing horses running, horses in water, and horses at liberty?

Do you want to learn in a small group how to improve your photographs of horses with hands on instruction?

Then this workshop is for you. The focus of this trip is on horses.

Dates: May 5-10, 2014 in Camargue, France with five full days of shooting and in the field instruction by Judi Hagen and Carol Walker, author of Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers

Cost: $3300 for double occupancy, $200 single supplement

Maximum participants: 10

Workshop includes 10 photo shoots, morning and afternoon.

This workshop has the most shoots and lowest price for a trip to photograph the horses of the Camargue.

Schedule: Arrive Sunday May 4 in the afternoon. First shoot is May 5 in the afternoon. Depart May 10 after the morning shoot.

Here is a list of the shoots that we will be doing:

• Horses in the sea
• Horses running through the marsh
• Horses running on the beach
• Portraits of mares and foals at liberty
• Stallions playing in the marsh
• Horses and bulls on a traditional ranch

We will be photographing during the best times of the day for light, early morning and late afternoon, and taking advantage of sunrise and sunset.

During the workshop, Judi and Carol will provide time for image review and suggestions for participants to improve their images.

You do not need to be an expert or professional to participate in this workshop, simply someone who loves horses and photography. It is suitable for amateur photographers who want to learn while photographing spectacular subjects as well as for more experience photographers and artists who want to improve their reference photographs.

Details:

Double occupancy room at a small hotel in the lovely historic seaside town of Sainte Maries de la Mer with breakfast is included. Lunch and dinner are not included, international airfare is not included and transportation from Marseilles to Sainte Maries de la Mer is not included. We will be a short walking distance from the town which boasts dozens of excellent restaurants, and the hotel has a restaurant as well.

You can fly into Marseilles (or take a train from Paris) and rent a car. A list of participants signed up will be made available for those wishing to share cars. Transportation to and from the shoots is not included, but the shoots are near the hotel. A car is also recommended in case you wish to take day trips during, before or after the workshop to places such as a flamingo sanctuary, the medieval city of Aigues Mortes, and the Farmer’s Market in Arles.

Payment:

Deposit of $1500 to sign up and reserve your place in the workshop, non-refundable. Payment of the balance of $1800 is due February 30, 2014, non-refundable, unless we can fill your spot from the waiting list. Since workshop fees are non-refundable, travel insurance is recommended in case you need to cancel.

Pay deposit with PayPal: $1500
Pay balance due with PayPal: $1800
Pay full amount with PayPal: $3300
Pay full amount Single Supplement with PayPal: $3500
Pay balance due plus single supplement: $2000

You may also pay by check or credit card. Please mail checks to:

Carol Walker

16500 Dakota Ridge Rd.

Longmont, CO 80503

Questions? Contact Carol at cwlivingimages@gmail.com or 303-823-6642 or Judi at paawprints@hotmail.com, phone: 425.442.8408

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This is a two and a half day workshop for horse lovers in Vermont with Carol Walker, award-winning author of Horse Photography:The Dynamic Guide.

This workshop will be hosted and held at The Center For America’s First Horse, Inc., in Johnson, Vermont. Photograph the largest and most diverse group of Colonial Spanish Mustangs in the eastern United States on 70 acres, during one of the most beautiful times of the year.

The Center’s website is: www.centerforamericasfirsthorse.org

Dates: September 27-29, 2013

Cost: $1200

“Our mission is to enrich the lives of people through the spirit of the Colonial Spanish Horse. We are dedicated to being stewards of this rare breed, conserving them through education and public awareness.”
Proceeds from the workshop will go to benefit The Center for America’s First Horse, a federal 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The workshop will include 4 sessions of photography with hands on coaching by Carol Walker in the morning and late afternoon, when the light is best.

Who should participate?

This workshop is geared toward people who love horses, and want to learn more about them and about how to photograph them, and how to improve their photographs. It is suitable for photographers at all levels, and also for artists who want to improve their reference photographs.

Topics

Subjects covered during the shoots will be conformation, horse portraits, portraits of people with horses, action under saddle, details, horses moving at liberty alone and in groups in the pasture. We will take advantage of the beautiful fall scenery at The Center in our shoots. Carol will be providing coaching to all participants during the shoots.

We will have one session of Herd Dynamics led by The Center’s Founder & Educational Director, Stephanie Lockhart. Here we observe and learn about these rare, endangered Spanish Mustangs.

There will be three two hour classroom sessions led by Carol covering a variety of topics, including reviews of photos taken at the workshop, editing, use of Photoshop, workflow, selling and marketing images, portfolio review, printing and other topics that participants are interested in.

Schedule:

• Arrive Friday, September 27 by 3:00pm, first classroom session starts at 4:00 pm
• Saturday and Sunday two shoots per day plus classroom in the middle of the day
• Sunday evening farewell dinner after the last shoot.

Accomodations:

Sponsoring accommodations– offering 10% off to participants: *Note: reservations must be made well in advance to insure vacancy during Vermont’s busy fall season. You must mention Center for America’s First Horse to receive the discount.

Fitch Hill Inn
Hyde Park, VT
www.fitchhillinn.com

Nye’s Green Valley Farm
Jeffersonville, VT
www.nyesgreenvalleyfarm.com

Sunset Motor Inn *** DOES NOT offer 10% discount
116 VT Rt. 15 West, Morrisville, VT 05661
Phone: (802) 888-4956 or TOLL FREE (800) 544-2347
Email: info@sunsetmotorinn.com
www.sunsetmotorinn.com

Registration and payment:

In order to register for the workshop, a $500 deposit is required. The balance of $700 is due by July 15, 2013.
Refunds are available up until July 15, 2013 and after that only if there is a waiting list to fill your spot.
If you cannot attend you are welcome to donate the workshop fee to benefit The Center.

To register, go to The Center’s website: http://www.centerforamericasfirsthorse.org/upcoming-events.html

You may pay online or send a check to:

The Center for America’s First Horse, Inc., P.O. Box 31, Johnson, VT 05656

Questions?

Feel free to contact Carol Walker – cwlivingimages@gmail.com or 303-823-6642
Or Stephanie Lockhart – stephanie@centerforamericasfirsthorse.org or 802-730-5400

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Carol can come to your farm or ranch and work with you on your horse photography skills, using your horses as subjects.

Topics can include selection of equipment, how to set up the horses, conformation, action, under saddle, liberty and portraits – whatever you want to work on, at your own pace.

For out of the area prices, please contact Carol.

New for 2012: PRIVATE TOURS:

Carol will take private wild horse photo tours out to wild horse areas for 1 or two days, with 1 – 2 people during the summer and fall.
Contact Carol for more information and pricing (use the form below).



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Dates: Sunday, February 9th – Saturday, February 15th, 2014
The Hideout at Flitner Ranch, Shell, Wyoming

Join Judi Hagen and Carol Walker, author of Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers for an exceptional opportunity to photograph horses in the winter in the snow at the Hideout Ranch in Shell, Wyoming. The Hideout is an upscale 300,000 acre riding, horsemanship and working cattle guest ranch, east of Cody and Yellowstone National Park, at the base of the Bighorn Mountains. The main lodge is surrounded by guest cabins. The Hideout strives to offer guests high-end pampering and excellent food created by Le Gordon Bleu and Culinary schooled chefs. The staff is enthusiastic who reside at the ranch year-round. The wranglers and cowboys are highly skilled and have excellent insight about horses.

Learn more about the ranch: www.thehideout.com

Spend five days, with two shoots each day, in the best available light, with cowboys working the horses in groups and individually in the glistening snow. Photography near the Hideout has a unique diversity of topography and colors: deserts of red sandstone and painted hills; sharp rocky canyons; high altitude alpine forests which are breathtaking especially during the winter in the snow. There will be a variety of horses; paints, appaloosas, palominos, duns, sorrels, roans, grays and mustangs. There will be opportunities to photograph model released cowboys in a variety of conditions traditionally on a ranch. The shoots will include horses running, mustangs, cowboys, and the tack and saddle room will be available for a variety of detail work.

This is a unique opportunity to photograph horses in a wide range of situations with a very small group of photographers – a maximum of 10 participants will be allowed at this workshop. This workshop is suitable for amateur and more experienced photgraphers. Judi and Carol will provide coaching for participants in the field during the shoots.

Participants will have an opportunity during the day when they are not shooting to have Judi and Carol review their images and talk about photographing horses and how to improve their images.

Some of Carol’s images from the February 2013 Workshop: http://www.livingimagescjw.com/CLIENTS/2013HideoutCarol/

Some of Judi’s images from the February 2013 Workshop: http://www.livingimagescjw.com/CLIENTS/2013HideoutJudi/

Workshop Base Fee: $3,195.00 includes workshop/lodging/food/transport to and from Cody airport
Single Supplement: $135 (optional)
Deposit: $1,200 due at time of registration to hold a space
Balance: $1,995 due by December 1, 2013.

After December 1, 2013 no refunds are available unless the workshop is cancelled.
Class Size: Minimum 8/Maximum 10

Send payment by check, made out to Judi Hagen, to:
Carol Walker
16500 Dakota Ridge Rd.
Longmont, CO 80503
Questions? Email Judi at paawprints@hotmail.com or email Carol at cwlivingimages@gmail.com

Pay deposit with PayPal: $1200
Pay balance due with PayPal: $1995
Pay full amount with PayPal: $3195
Pay full amount Single Supplement with PayPal: $3330
Pay balance due plus single supplement: $2130

The post Winter 2014 Workshop appeared first on Horse Photography Workshops.

This year we are excited to be able to offer a horse photography workshop at a working cattle ranch in Montana, in one of the most beautiful areas of the country. There are seven mountain ranges visible from the ranch, and over 25,000 beautiful acres. Bonanza Creek Ranch was voted one of Montana’s Magnificent 7 Guest Ranches in Montana by Travel and Leisure. Lodging, meals and travel from Bozeman Airport and back again are included in the price.

Click here to learn about the ranch

Price: $2500

September 23 – 28, 2012: Four days and five nights at Bonanza Creek Ranch

The Workshop:

This workshop will be limited to 12 participants, allowing each person to get plenty of personal attention and time to ask questions. We will be the only guests at the ranch, allowing for a quiet, cozy atmosphere. Instead of having to travel long distances to our shoots, we will be right there on the ranch, ready to go.

In order to take advantage of the best light, we will have two photo shoots each day, one in the early morning, and one in the late afternoon. We will have opportunities to photograph single horses, horses together in twos and threes, groups of horses running, portraits of horses and people, details of horses and tack, horses being ridden, and horses working cattle. We will take advantage of the beautiful backdrops and scenery in our images, and also be using some old ranch buildings. You will learn the optimum times of the day to shoot, how to utilize your backgrounds, the best moments at different gaits for photographing horses, the best camera equipment to use, how to position yourself, and how to interact with and position horses to get the best results.

The theme of this workshop will be learning how to improve your photographs of horses, and participants need only bring a camera and a willingness to learn. Suggested equipment to bring is a 35 mm SLR camera with at least one lens of 100 mm or longer. Please rent equipment if you don’t have it; it is also a good idea to try something out before you buy it – Carol will be happy to give recommendations regarding what to bring and where to rent. Carol will give hands on instruction before and during the shoots, so you can learn as you are photographing in the field.

In the middle of the day, we will have a two hour classroom session, and will cover portfolio review, editing, use of Photoshop, digital workflow, selling your work and any other topics that participants want to cover. We will also review images that were taken in earlier sessions.

Carol Walker, author of the award winning book Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers enjoys working with students to help them improve their images of horses. She is known for her patience and ability to break down concepts about photography into easily understood basics.

In order to hold a space in the workshop, a deposit of $1000 is due. Limit of 12 participants.

Cabins are double occupancy, no single supplement. Adults only.

Final payment of the balance of $1500 is due by August 10, 2012. Cancellations will be reimbursed in full if they are before July 31. After July 31, cancellations will only be refunded if the space is filled by someone on the wait list.

For more information, contact Carol by email: cwlivingimages@gmail.com or phone: 303-823-6642.

Pay deposit with PayPal
Pay balance due with PayPal
Pay full amount with PayPal

If paying with PayPal please also email Carol at cwlivingimages@gmail.com with your name, address, phone, cell phone and email address.

Click here to pay by mail- print and fill out this form and mail with your deposit

The post 2012 Horse Photography Workshop appeared first on Horse Photography Workshops.

The buckskin bachelor looks like he is running right toward me, but I am above him

I was in the Sand Wash Basin Herd Area in Colorado last week.  Sometimes just finding wild horses can be a challenge, and it does help to know where waterholes are, where the horses like to be at certain times of the year, and other details about their behavior and their lives.  The best way to find this out is by going and spending time with them.

A beautiful gray stallion following his band

One morning I was lucky enough to be in an area where many bands of horses were watering, at a waterhole with a well.

I wanted to be in a position where I could photograph the horses coming in to the waterhole with the sun behind my back, but I also did not want to be so close to the waterhole that I frightened them and scared them away.  Horses are vulnerable when they are drinking, and alert for predators.

The stallions are always fun to watch

I ended up sitting on a hill overlooking the waterhole, but quite a distance from it.  The horses could see me from very far away but I stayed still, and finally I was rewarded by many bands and bachelors coming to drink.

A long lens works best for photographing wild horses because it allows you to get good shots but be far enough away that you are not disturbing the horses’ behavior.

Two bachelors would love to take the red roan's new family

I had a feeling that there might be some action because it is spring and bachelor stallions are on the lookout for any opportunity to steal a mare, so I set my iso on 250 and my shutter speed on 1/1000, which works well for capturing action.  In a situation where things might happen quickly and I may not have much time to change settings, I try to anticipate the settings I will need, so I don’t have to be scrambling and fumbling later.

A family band moves away from the waterhole after they have a drink

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Sleeping in the Flowers in the Pryor Mountains

Spring is finally here, and it is time to go visit the wild herds.  In my opinion, the best time of year to photograph wild horses is in spring and early summer, since the foals and being born, the stallions are vying for mares, and the horses are very active.

When visiting wild horse areas, it is important to be respectful of the horses.  In some areas where wild horses are accustomed to the presence of people, it may be easy to get close to them, but be careful to stay at least 50 feet away at all times, for your sake and for theirs.  These are wild animals, and they do not act like domestic horses.  If you get between a mare and foal or between a stallion and his mare, you can cause stress for the horses as well as putting yourself in a dangerous situation.  Remember, this is their home, and we are visitors.

My favorite way to observe wild horses is to pick a good vantage point, with the sun behind me, falling on my subjects, far enough away so that the horses are not alarmed by my presence. I sit down and watch quietly, and wait for a good moment to take some photographs.  I sometimes spend hours waiting for a band to wait up from a mid-morning nap, or waiting for horses to come to water.  One of the best ways to get good photographs is to learn the behavior of the horses, and then anticipate what they might do next, and put yourself in a good position to capture the photos.

Bolder runs to his family band

For example, Bolder, Cloud’s son in the Pryor Mountains was visiting with a group of bachelors at the waterhole.  I knew that at some point he would run back to his family, so I put myself in a good position to capture that, and waited until he ran by.  I had my camera set at a shutter speed of 1/1000 so I could freeze the action.

This filly stretches after a mid-morning nap

Being at a good angle is also important. If you want foal photographs, you need to get low.  Here I waited for the filly to wake up, sitting on the ground, and when she stretched, I pushed the shutter.

I recommend getting out to see wild horses in the wild, while they are still there.  It is the best way to appreciate them, and see why we must fight for their right to stay free.

For more information on wild horses, go to www.WildHoofbeats.com

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The extravagant mane of this Andalusian falls over his face

One of the most interesting aspects of photographing horses is that no two horses are exactly alike,  in personality, conformation and appearance. This makes things interesting and challenging when working to take a good image of a horse. If you are photographing a horse without a human, you want to capture the expression and beauty of the horse. When you are shooting a particular breed of horse, learning about what the breed standards  will help you.

The mane of this Andalusian stallion flies up as he runs

Some breeds of horses have features that are easy to emphasize, and capture a good image – for example, Andalusians, especially stallions, will usually have a long flowing mane.  One of the best ways to highlight the mane is either to get a photo of the horse as he is running, and the mane is flying up.

You can see the long neck of this Arabian as he turns his head

Arabians are prized for their long, elegant necks and dished faces, so emphasize those features.

In the side shot of this Friesian, his head looks proportional

Freisians have very large heads, and photographing them head on is not flattering, so when taking a portrait of a Friesian, I make sure that I use different angles so that his head looks noble, not huge.

From behind, the power of this Fresian is emphasized

Use your imagination when trying different angles.

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Mica bites at Cremosso's legs as all three mustangs run in the snow

This year in Colorado has been an unpredictable one in regards to the weather.  We have had cold and snow, and now warm sunny days, but the threat of snow is still real, with March and April sometimes our snowiest months, and although plants and trees  are budding, it is too early to be taking beautiful green spring shots.  So I prepare for the bad weather, and when it comes, I get out with my camera.

There are many expensive camera and lens covers that you can buy, but you can also use a plastic bag with a rubber band.  When it is snowing, if I am out a short amount of time, I will usually not even cover my camera, but will dry it off thoroughly once I get back inside. The lens hood provides shelter for the lens so that the snow does not get in unless the wind is blowing at you. Rain is tougher on a camera and lens than snow, so make sure you cover your camera and lens carefully in the rain.

Mica, Cremosso and Claro

This winter I had many days of snow, and the easiest subjects for me to shoot were my adopted mustangs, Mica and the Cremello Colts.

A high shutter speed is necessary to capture the flying snow

If it is overcast and snowing, you will need to increase your ISO in order to have enough light, and if you are shooting action, this is even more important. In this image of Cremosso and Mica running toward me, I have my shutter speed set at 1/640 in order to freeze the snow as it flies up under their feet.

When horses are running toward you, you can get away with a lower shutter speed than 1/1000 to freeze the action, but if they are running by you, make sure you have  a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 in order to freeze the action.

Horses running by you need a higher shutter speed

Spring will be here to stay soon, but in the meantime, you can still get out and shoot!

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Ginger in front of the Adobe wall

I was invited by the Taos Art School in Taos, New Mexico to teach a 4 day workshop on Horse Photography this fall of 2011.
The idea was to provide the students with experience shooting a variety of breeds of horses in a variety of settings, and to provide instruction and hands on coaching while shooting.

Ginger looks

On our first day, after a lecture and slideshow, Ginger, a Missouri Fox Trotter, came to our hotel, and the students photographed her in a a variety of settings.

Ginger with her owner Karen

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