New Addition to the Herd

I’d like to introduce you to Harry, he is the newest addition to my small herd of horses. Harry arrived on November 26th and he is settling right in. I wasn’t sure how my other two girls who were born here on the farm were going to react to him as they never leave the farm and have only grown up with their siblings, they are now 15 and 17 years old. No one new has been introduced here for a long time. Without knowing how they would react I started out with Harry in a smaller paddock next to the girls’ field so they could get to know each other over the fence. He was being kept company by “Cricket” my pet cow. Cricket took good care of Harry and even taught him a few table manners, like, stay on your own side of the hay pile, lol.

After a little time went by, I introduced Kelly in with Harry and then let Rachel in. Things seemed to be going just fine so I let them all out into the field where the horses live. Kelly and Rachel have taken Harry under their wing and have shown him where the water bowl is, where their barn is and where the best spot is to stand when there is a west wind blowing. It is so nice to see how they have adopted him. Harry has a sweet, gentle and kind disposition, he loves being brushed and scratched and I’m getting him used to treats.

My horses have always been a big part of my photography. Taking their photos has brought me much joy and many wonderful memories over the years. Having Harry thrown into the mix has given me new inspiration to go out and take even more photos of them. I can tell he is going to be a camera ham just like the others. He takes direction well, he puts his ears up when asked and strikes a pose.

Here are some photos of the gang taken yesterday. We have been in the grips of a winter storm for the past couple days so you will have to look at snow photos.

I love shooting with a wide aperture to give my photos a shallow depth of field, this helps blur your backgrounds and make your subject pop out of the frame. This isn’t always possible or desired but I use this technique as much possible. All photos were shot with my Nikon D3 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.

Here is Harry bellied up to the round bale of hay. Look at how small and adorable he is, he can barely look over top. ISO 400 1/640 second f/4

Here is a “Harry sandwich”. That is Kelly on the left and Rachel on the right. I wanted the background trees to be a bit more distinct and in focus so I shot this with a smaller aperture. ISO 200 1/640 second f/8

And lastly, another shot with the three of them. I’m sure I’ll be taking lots and lots of this scene in the years to come. I think that Kelly has taken a shine to him. ISO 200 1/1250 second f/4

Cheers, Christina
www.LearnToTakePhotos.com

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