Onaqui Herd – Small Family Band in Light Snow

Posted on by

Wow, it seems like I haven’t had time to photograph the Onaqui herd of wild horses for months!  Finally had a chance to get out and hopefully photograph them in a snowstorm.  This trip was by far the most difficult trip I have ever had finding the herd.  I traveled further than I have ever traveled only to find this small family band.  I love this group of wild horses.  The white colt is absolutely SPECTACULAR.  He is destined to be a herd stallion in the coming years.  Unfortunately the BLM is scheduling a roundup of this herd this summer and the band and this colt (with one blue eye and one brown eye) will likely be rounded up and sent to a holding pen with over 50,000 other wild horses to live out its life in holding pens…

This beautiful colts father is the palamino stallion shown in these photographs.  He has two blue eyes.  The mother is still with this small band as you can see from the photographs.  I was hoping to have a stronger snowstorm.  I had pre-visualized these photographs with more snow obscuring the horses and allowing longer shutter speeds to blur the snow.  Grateful for what I did get, I hope to get out again soon to see if I can find the rest of the herd before the BLM rounds them up.

Wild Horse Photographs – For Metal Prints

Posted on by

I had a few customers contact me asking what photographs I would recommend to them to have printed on metal.  In my opinion most of my wild horse photographs print best on either lustre paper, or even better, on canvas.  The photographs printed on metal that I have had printed were ones that had a lot of saturation and had a lot of dark colors with a lot of contrast in the image.  So, I created five (thus far) photographs that I think will look really good printed on metal.  I have one ordered for a close friend, but it has not arrived yet.  These are the five photographs that I have completed, specifically with the thought of being printed on metal.

 

 

I do not print on metal myself, I have them printed and sent directly to your address.

If you would like to order a metal print, delivered to you ready to hang on your wall, please email me. I have several sizes available. These prices include shipping directly to you:

11×14 $70.00
16×20 $110.00
16×24 $130.00
20×30 $175.00
24×36 $210.00

Onaqui Herd at Sunset – 24 Nov – Second Batch of Photographs

Posted on by

I have finished processing all of the images I shot on the 24th of November.  Every trip is different.  The theme of this trip seemed to be photographing the herd at sunset.  Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, one is amazed at the warm colors and beauty of the horses.  Here is the final batch of images from that day.

Onaqui Herd 24 November

Posted on by

Finally found the time to return and photograph this wonderful herd of Wild Horses in Utah’s West Desert.  It has been over a month since I have had a chance to photograph them.  What a treat seeing them again.  The herd was quite far south, and must have used the watering hole earlier in the day.  They seemed very calm and content, and they seemed to be lazily enjoying the spectacular November evening.  Not a whole lot to photograph till sunset, but it was sure worth waiting for!!!  What a special evening.  The lighting was absolutely out-of-this-world!  A rare treat to be right within the herd at just the right sunset.  Another memory that will never be forgotten.  I hope you enjoy this wonderful herd as much as I do..

 

Onaqui Wild Horses – Sept 14

Posted on by

Finally getting around to processing photographs taken on Sept 14 of the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert.  Hard finding horses, poor setting etc.  I found myself “seeing” in black and white most of the afternoon.

 

Photographs of Various Storms in Utah’s West Desert

Posted on by

This post is a collection of the various thunderstorms I have photographed in Utah’s West Desert.  I make it a point to get out and photograph the Onaqui Herd of wild horses whenever I can, especially if there is a chance of thunderstorms.  It has been rare to get great lightning, but the sunsets are absolutely spectacular even if the lightning is a rarity.  The photographs that are long (panoramic) were taken by stitching between 10 and 15 separate, overlapped images into one image.  The file sizes are enormous, as I stitch RAW files from my Nikon D810.  For example, the panoramic of the double rainbow is 21,700 X 7200 pixels!  All files are significantly downsized (1800 X 1800 pixels, at 72 dpi) for posting.  I have printed these panoramas 24″ X 72″ and you can’s spot any pixels at all.

 

Wild Horse Photography – Wild Horses Running

Posted on by

On this trip to Utah’s West Desert I was specifically hoping to photograph this herd of wild horses while they were on the run with a long exposure time.  The idea was to blur the background, lets etc., but having some part of the horse(s) sharp and in focus.  It takes a lot of luck and timing to get an acceptable shot.  I have not had a chance to process any of the “normal” photographs from this trip, only those that I liked with the “motion” effect.  We had several other photographers on this shoot, and met a very nice gentleman from Midvale if I remember right.  He knew each and every horse in the herd, knew when they were born, knew who was related to who.  Very impressive!  Another great evening that I will remember for a long time…

Photography of Wild Horses – Onaqui Herd Aug 8

Posted on by

We had another great trip photographing wild horses in Utah’s West Desert.  The Onaqui herd is unique in that if you are mindful of their demeanor, you can walk right through the herd and get very close-up, intimate photographs of these magnificent creatures.

I haven’t had much time to process the approximately 2,000 photographs I shot, but here are a few of those that I have processed thus far.  The photograph of the two red stallions on the run is a combination of the photograph I shot and a process that makes the photograph look like an oil painting.  It has a more “contemporary” look but still has details that would appear in a photograph.

 

Wild Horse Photography – July 27 Onaqui Herd

Posted on by

Another trip to the West Desert to photograph this magnificent herd of wild horses.  The herd was hard to find, and it was much smaller than usual.  I desperately hope the BLM hasn’t rounded up this herd.

Those horses that did come to the watering hole were few in number.  Not a lot of fighting, but enough to keep you on your toes.  The sunset was spectacular (as they always are in the West Desert).  The small family band that is running to the watering hole is new to me.  I don’t think I have photographed them before.  I will have to go back and see if I have.

 

Photography of Onaqui Wild Horses and Lightning – July 20

Posted on by

Wow!  What a trip we had in late July to the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert.  The herd was using the Simpson Springs watering hold on the Pony Express route.  They had already left the water when we found them.  After spending a couple of hours photographing them we left to find another herd to photograph at sunset.  We did find the other herd, but they were nearly a mile form the road and we were quickly running out of light.  There was a storm brewing, so we decided to “focus” (pun intended) on photographing the storm and hopefully some lightning.  We were not disappointed!  The lighting was once again remarkable.  The panoramic photograph of the sunset was made by stitching 14 photographs into one.  The panoramic photograph spanned over 180 degrees.  The lightning was another rare opportunity.  No rain and lots of lightning.  What a fantastic trip…