Evolution Valley Image makes the Final 250 in Audubon’s Share the View International Photography Contest

Evolution Lake is located deep in the John Muir wilderness in Sequoia National Park and is considered one of the jewels of the Sierra. I made this image while on a 5 day backpacking trip covering about 44 miles. A rainstorm is not unusual weather for August, but the resulting clouds and fog coupled with smoke from distant forest fires created a spectacular sunset looking down into Evolution Valley valley. This image made it into the final 250 of Denver Audubon’s Share the View International Photography Contest. Audubon of Denver will be posting an image a day from the the finalists.  This image is also available as a  fine art print on my website at www.lisadearingphotography.com.

St. Elmo's Fire over Evolution Valley

You can see all Audubon finalist  the images at Audubon Society of greater Denver at www.denveraudubon.org.

The Great American Horse Drive and Sombrero Ranch

I just returned from photographing the Great American Horse Drive, a round up and drive of over 700 horses from their winter range near Browns Park, Colorado to the Sombrero Ranch for the summer where they will go to work as pack and trail horses.  The drive is quite impressive with lots of dust and pounding hooves as they start out on rural dirt roads and then  finally hitting the highway near the tiny town of Maybell, Colorado on their way to the Sombrero Ranch. You can see more of my new work at www.lisadearingphotography.com. Below are a few previews and I will be adding more later this week.

CorralSombrero Horses

WIld Horse Images Featured on Buckaroo Boots Website

Buckaroo Boots, a wonderful small company that makes awesome custom cowboy boots is featuring some of wild horse images on their newly redesigned website. their site is http://buckaroocustomboots.com/    You can also check out new images in my wild horse portfolio at http://www.lisadearingphotography.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=4

Virginia Herd Wild Horses

“Dusty Dance” places in International Equine Ideal Photo Contest

“Dusty Dance” was shot in Scottsdale, Arizona of a fine reining quarter horse working out in a local arena. It won honorable mention in the Artistic Category in the 2011

Quarter horses-cutting and reining

Equine Ideal Photography Contest, sponsored by the Equine Photographers Network.

Latest Published Work

Pasos

This is an Annual Report Cover for Frontier oil for 2011. These are some Peruvian Paso yearlings running at liberty  at a stable near Santa Fe, New Mexico known for breeding some of the finest  horses.

Winter Photo Shoot at Bar Horseshoe Ranch

 

Thunder in Snow

Nose to Nose

Here are few pics from my winter photo shoot at Bar Horseshoe ranch in Idaho. The temperatures were pretty cold in the mornings and evenings with some below zero digits. The horses had great winter coats and it was great to get shots some frosty muzzles in spite of freezing fingers clear off when I  was squeezing the shutter.

Sleeping on the Job

Wyoming Wild Horses

MC Peaks Bachelor

These are several wild horses from the McCullough Peaks herd in northwestern Wyoming near Cody.  The paints are two of my favorite horses and I have photographed them numerous times.  These  horses are bachelors with no mares of their own, at least when I was there last. The dynamics of wild horses are always fluctuating so maybe these boys have found a love interest by now. I will be heading out in February to photograph the McCullough herd again so I hope to see these guys then

Refuge

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“Gusty Day” wins 1st place in the Ex Arte Equinus 4 International Equine Art Competiton

I was pleased to get the news that my image called “Gusty Day” had won 1st place in the Ex Arte Equinus 4 International Art Competition and that another one of my images called “Wind Runners” had taken 2nd place, both in the photography division.  This is an International art contest with painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and digital art categories.

Wild Horses Running

There were over 1000 entries in the photography division. The contest is the 4th annual and is sponsored by Art Horse Magazine http://www.arthorsemagazine.com/art_competition.html     The images will published on the Art Horse Magazine website later this year and also in an upcoming book. Here are the results from all the winning entries http://www.arthorsemagazine.com/exarte4/gallery_photo4.html   My image “First Dance” also took 8th place and will be included the book.  You can preview more wild horse images at www.lisadearingphotography,com. Thanks to all who entered as there were some really fine photographs.

a wild horse from the McCullough Peaks herd in Wyoming

Wild Horses of Sandwash Basin

The Sandwash Basin herd lives on about 160,000 acres of BLM (public land) in Northwest, Colorado. The herd is not as well know as other herds like the McCullough Peaks or the Pryor Herds, but they are quite colorful with many paints, buckskins, and duns. The genetic similarity is to the Spanish Iberian breeds followed by the gaited and arabian breeds with quite a lot of diversity. There are quite a few stunning horses in both color and body type. As of today there are an estimated 400 or so wild horses occupying the range. These horses are fairly easy to photograph and view. Go to the tiny town of Maybell, Colorado off old hyw 40. At Maybell turn onto state hwy 318 and then take Moffat county road 67. A 1:100,000 scale topo map of the area is also recommended. The roads are dirt but in fairly good condition. A four wheel drive is also needed and be sure take plenty of water and a good spare tire. Below is a photo I took a few months ago of a striking paint horse near a waterhole

Sandwash Basin WIld Horse

To see more wild horse photos go to www.lisadearingphotography.com or my archive http://wildhorses.photoshelter.com/

Tips for Photographing the McCullough Peaks Wild Horses

The McCullough Peaks wild horses are a colorful and rowdy bunch that live on public blm land near Cody, Wyoming. Many of the horses are descended from the horses of William F. Cody, better know as “Buffalo Bill” who used to turn out his horses for winter pasture when he was not running his traveling Wild West Show. Every spring, Bill would go to round up his horses, and he would find a few and also loose a few. Bill was quite fond of colorful paint horses and many of the McCullough horses have beautiful markings that harken back to their ancestors during the days of Bill’s Wild West  Show.  This herd can frequently bunch together with several large family bands grazing together nearby along with young bachelor stallions with no family of their own. The horses frequently can be found near the creek off Hwy. 14  heading east from Cody towards Greybull. Just past hwy. marker 74 take the blm dirt road on left and head on the right fork towards the creek. You will want to have a 4 wheel drive for sure or you can also walk. Its about a mile. The horses can be dispersed out the mesas at various times during the day but always head to the creek for water at some point. Once you see the the creek, you can hike up to the highest mesa nearby and do a scout of the area. Usually you will see anywhere from several to 20-30 horses out in the distance. They can frequently be close by, but also can sometimes be grazing miles away. Its a large area so be prepared to hike if you want to get closer or just stay close to the creek and wait for the horses to come by. You will need a minimum of a 400 mm lens to photograph this herd and its best to stay about 500 feet back. The light is most beautiful during the evening and the horses frequently pool up together in many bands closer to each other than during the hot parts of the day. I spent 4 days observing and photographing many of the McCullough horses, getting to know them. You can see more photos on my website at www.lisadearingphotography.com or my archive at http://wildhorses.photoshelter.com/

The Second Round

The Challenger

Outa Here

McCullough Peaks Wild Horses