Here is a typical day on the range- we do this for weeks several times during the year…
5am: Wake & Breakfast
Cream of Wheat and coffee (lots of coffee)
6am: Leave camp to find horses
7am-1pm: Shoot at locations all over the management areas
Sand Wash Basin, Colorado
1pm-2:30pm: Lunch, upload memory cards charge batteries, and clean gear. This is when the sun is at the zenith. It creates very harsh lighting and the horses are most quiescent during this time. We go into town during this time if we need gas or to restock supplies. We are always busy doing something when we are not out shooting- working with images, cleaning & dusting equipment, prepping for the next shoot, and talking about our goals for the Walkabout. Each year we try to have a goal or emphasis for our photography. Last year was Low Light and the year before was Perspective. This year our concentration is “Interactions” of wild horses with each other, other wildlife, and the environment.
We also perform more mundane task such as washing hair and showering during the warmest part of the day. We usually have little cellular phone service so we are on our own for days at a time.
2:30pm to dusk (8p): resume shooting until we run out of light
8pm-9pm: Dinner
Sometimes we eat reconstituted food like fettuccine Alfredo and beef stew, but when Ben is along, he likes to cook so we eat steak. Some management areas have fire restrictions so we’re very careful about any open fires. S’mores are always fun!
9pm-10pm: Astrophotography
I’ll upload some of our astrophotography photos later…
10pm: Bed
It’s a lot of work trying to make the most of our time on the range. It is worth every flat tire, every drop of sweat, every heartbeat to capture the essence of the mustangs. It is quite arduous with a lot hiking, especially when the horses are a distance away. Living on the range with the horses allows us to be there at first light and stay until past dusk. We share their environment and everything we see and feel is expressed in our photography and Karen’s paintings. She paints the mustangs live, ‘en plein air’, on the range effortlessly blending the entire sensory experience of being in the moment with each deft stroke of her brush.
Some photos…
THE LIST
All the Horse Management Areas (HMA) we have visited…
The McCullough Peaks HMA, Wyoming
The Seesdskadee Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming
The Rock Springs/Pilot Butte HMA Wyoming
The Salt Wells Creek HMA, Wyoming
The Adobe Town HMA, Wyoming
The Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Wyoming
The Pryor Mountain Range in Wyoming/Montana
The Great Desert Basin HMA in Utah
-The Onaqui Management Area, Utah
-The Cedar Mountain Management Area, Utah
The Sand Wash Basin HMA in Colorado
The Little Book Cliffs HMA, Colorado
The Spring Creek Basin HMA, Colorado
The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota
The Salt River/Tonto National Forest, Arizona
The Heber Wild Horse Territory/Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona
The Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland
The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia
