Horses & Other Interests
Awareness of the outside world. NASA: International Observe the Moon Night.
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Home On The Moon
Green plants. Bright machines.
Dim rooms carved from quiet rock.
Pods of air and water.
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Image. Moon at 9 pm CDT (2 UT) 2 Oct. Photo courtesy of Dial-A-Moon, NASA: Moon Phase and Libration 2022
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. “An honor to give the opening keynote at Italia Tech Week. As we face the fears of our present the past can remind us we really have made great progress with things like vaccines, refrigeration, affordable books & education, things our ancestors never dreamed we could achieve.” Ada Palmer, @Ada_Palmer, Twitter, Sep 29, 2022.
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“Middle Tennessee Carriage Club was having an in-club Driving Derby at Coach Kate’s house. We went up to help. Greg officiated. I took photos. More on being a show photographer tomorrow.” [Tennessee Travels, Driving]
Coach Kate asked me to wander around taking pictures. I reminded her that it has been a long time since I have done this. She reminded me that people like to see pictures of their horses, photo technique irrelevant.
Fair enough.
First time I’ve done this in years. All my recent work has be interviews by telephone. Photos were either supplied by the subject or a local photographer was dispatched. So, X since I’ve taken any professional shots. X times 2 since I’ve done straight up horse show photos. Turns out, it comes back.
Big camera but full auto. Still calling it a photo day because it was educational. Thoughts and photos follow in no particular order.
I found a place to stand. Until I remembered how much my back hates standing in one place. I sat. I knelt. I moved around. Things I should be doing for better photos anyway [Photo Theory, comments].
Had no luck getting light. Cranked the ISO. Score one for digital. It was overcast but not that overcast. Despite 6400 ISO, the photos were still dark. I decided it was my lens but not my lens’ fault. Zoom in on faces? Fine. Zoom in AND ask for speed? No. Would need another zero on the price tag. It’s a nice lens. It does what it is designed for. It was not designed for that. There is a reason horse show photographers have cameras with long snouts and big glass.
Because of the lack of light and the auto setting, the flash kept trying to turn on. I was deeply annoyed that I could not remember how to turn it off. I had done so just two days earlier. One of my problems with photography is that I can’t keep things like this in my head. The only class I ever truly struggled with was an engineering class. My brain doesn’t work that way. This feels similar.
Since it was a club function, I took people shots as well as competition. Faces. People sitting on the side lines. Not exciting unless you know the people involved. The sort of images that would play well in an annual dinner slide show.
Being able to zoom in for candids meant I could be far from subject but still get close. People were less self-conscious without me up in their faces.
I have good habits. As much as humanly possible, I will stand near an immovable object, such as a tree, or in the case of carts, the dressage railing which they would not vault. The idea is to be somewhere the horse will not go.
Looking for a new angle. I’ll stand here. Get a photo as they go thru that set of cones. Then they will pass in front of me over there. Unfortunately, my understanding of driving courses is not as good as my understanding of ridden courses. I completely misinterpreted the route they would take and was very surprised how close the next cart came. Fortunately, I was already smashed up against the fenceline. The line of cart tracks in the grass right in front of me should have been a tip off.
Speaking of good habits, only one horse spooked at me. I was standing sidled up next to a tree. I am very good about staying still as the horse goes by. The spook was a tiny eek and a sidestep. I decided this was part of the educational portion of the day. Judging by the photos, a few more horses had their ears on me as they zoomed past.
The photos turned out good! I’m not bragging. I’m surprised. They look way better than they did on the camera screen.
Often the subject was too small in relation to frame. This is a common newbie mistake that I learned to correct with horse with rider. Driving is hard to get right. It’s a long subject. I cut off a lot of rear wheels.
Learned to look for three sets of eyes: horse, driver, and navigator.
Never format a card in the field. Do all of them in the morning before a single shot is taken. Too much is at risk if you cross up your process. I started to format the second set of cards and stopped. Nothing was at risk of being lost. A) I had the correct card & B) I forgot to hit go on the format. It was the possibility for error that gave me the shudders.
Grand total of 413 photos turned over to Coach Kate. Some repeats trying different angles. Not too many flat out duds. I think I got multiple photos of each competitor, which was the whole point of my being there.
Facebook: Middle Tennessee Carriage Club, Derby and 30th Anniv lunch. Lunch pics not mine.
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. “Do you not see the things?” Your horse is the sophisticated city dweller. You are the country mouse oblivious to dangers. Video by Erin ZW @zimerin Instagram 26 Sept 2022.
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Lots of driving. No driving by us.
Middle Tennessee Carriage Club was having an in-club Driving Derby at Coach Kate’s house. We went up to help. Greg officiated. I took photos. More on being a show photographer tomorrow.
So much gear. I forget how much gear is involved with driving. When we pulled in, I was surprised to see so many big trailers at a small competition. Oh, that’s right, everyone has to bring a cart. Even competitors with only one horse need a big trailer.
Good weather. Fun was had by all. Experienced horses ran around; new horses walked and learned. Coach Kate always does a good job of putting up a fun course and beautifully decorated obstacles.
We should be doing this. Greg should to be doing this. I have no idea how to find & buy a driving horse, any more than I know how to find & buy a riding horse.
Well, that took more of a glum turn than I intended.
Short-term the day was great. Driving is alive and well in Middle Tennessee. It was good to get off the farm and have a day with friends. Long-term, I would rather be doing than watching.
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Bible Gateway: Palm 23:1, King James Version.
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Coach Courtney’s mother passed away recently. The Celebration of Life was held at Stepping Stone Farm.
It’s funny what gets to you.
The Set-Up
The barn dressed up with potted mums, rows of white chairs, and lacy tablecloths on the picnic tables. Pretty.
Family photos through the years. Sweet.
Miriam liked driving, so they staged an empty cart, complete with gloves and hat. DOD: The Riderless Horse. Sniffle.
The Service
Reading of the 23rd Psalm. Nice.
Testimony from family and friends. Touching.
The kids got on their horses for a celebration ride. Reagan, Miriam’s granddaughter, drove the cart. I’m done. Pull out the tissue.
Onwards.
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. Planning on getting my second booster this week. Was waiting until autumn, then waiting on bivalent. Doc at physical felt this was a reasonable strategy.
Update. For the record. Done. Wednesday 28 October September. CVS.
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Between lesson horses and Milton’s driving, I haven’t posted much about Rodney. Last mention was the sprung shoe two weeks ago. [My ASB Week In Photos, Sept 14]
What has our hero been up to?
He’s fine. Living the life. Packing in the calories to get ready for winter.
I’ll ride for a few days. Then take a few days off. Standard reasons: weather, logistics, shoeing, Rodney being a complete and utter drama llama.
Currently he has reinjured the heel from last month. Nothing obviously wrong. Things take longer to heal that one wants and are prone reinjury during that time. [Final Foot Follow-up, We Can Only Hope, At Least This Time Around, by the way, HA!]
I use the term reinjured loosely. As per usual, he is juuust unsound enough at the trot to be on the bench. No visible distress at the walk or stand.
It’s a gift.
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. Lately the news seems both boring and dreadful. Boring, because it is the same stories over and over. Dreadful, for the same reason.
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[Lady] 2013
When have been dogless since the middle of last month. [Celebrate Dogs]
It’s been weird.
For the first few days, I would do a quick pass through house looking to count noses. I don’t do that anymore, but other things keep tripping me up.
I can feed the cats on the floor.
I don’t have to leap out of the truck as soon as I get home in order to let the dog(s) out.
Standing in pet store. Think to self, ‘I need to text husband to see if we need dog food.’ No, I don’t.
On the weekends, getting ready to run errands, wondering if this is a good trip for the dog(s) to come along.
It’s not that I’m sad, so much as I keep acting as if we have a dog.
I’m not even the dog person in the household.
Dog Posts
[Barn Dogs]
[Surprise Attack]
Update. Title change. Old title, Signs That It Is Time To Get A Dog. My friend and dog advisor, Amy V., pointed out that having the habits doesn’t equal being ready for a new dog. She was right. That is a different discussion. Since the title was not a good match for the content, I changed it. [Amy’s post archive]
Onwards!
Katherine
Art of the outside world. World Bollard Association™ (@WorldBollard). Twitter only. If we must have a thing, why not make it pretty &/or interesting thing? Atlas Obscura: Meet the Boosters Celebrating the World’s Best Bollards, Laskow, 2018. eci-i: Is The Rumored World Bollard Association Fact or Fiction, Karson, 2018.
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Process Notes. Memory says I’ve done this before, in pink & purple. Can’t find the post. So, here’s another. The Rs are different. Couldn’t decide which one I like/which one worked better.
Optical illusion. The crossbar of the X is a straight line.
Update. [Art Deco Logo Redo]
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 