Tag Archives: wild horses

Capturing Sunset Moments with the North Herd

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After a few hours of shooting the North herd we headed South to photograph them.  Perfect timing, they were on their way to the watering hole.  After spending an hour or so with them we decided to head back to the North herd for a sunset shoot.

Unfortunately the horses were miles from the nearest road.  We were considering just going home. but decied to position ourselves with the herd between us and the sun as it was going down.  Even better, the herd headed our direction!  It was a wonderful evening and the herd decided to travel right to us on the road!  I haven’t even processed the “pre-sunset” images, but here are those I took during sunset and shortly after.

 

Wild Mustang taking a dirt bath

Capturing Wild Horses: A Photographer’s Adventure

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Early last week I had a last minute appointment cancel, so I decided to make a quick trip out to photograph the wild ones.  Boy I’m glad I did!  It took me several days to finally process all of the photographs I took.  I have more “keepers” in this photo shoot than ever before.  It was very difficult to narrow them down to the 64 images I have included!  Early in the afternoon there was a lot of fighting and chasing.  Then the afternoon clouds were fantastic.  Then toward evening the horses were headed to water.  I usually get there in advance and photograph them coming in to water.  There was already a large crowd of photographers (a large tour group) at the watering hole and there was no way I was going to add mores stress to the horses.  I found a nice hill that some of the bands were coming over.  The images with spectacular light on Davis Mountain were great!  Then, near sunset I drove to where the horses were returning to the range to feed and got some amazing photographs of the horses dustin off in the golden sun!  Best shoot in a very long time.  Thank you Onaqui!!!

Onaqui Wild Horse in Blizzard

Onaqui Wild Horses in SNOW

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For me, winter is the most difficult time to photograph the Onaqui.  They don’t usually need to use the watering holes, and they are frequently found miles away from the main roads and depending on conditions, sometimes impossible to get to.

The most difficult photographs in the winter are when you are lucky enough to locate the herd, and then photograph them in a snowstorm.  It is my personal “holy grail” to get photographs of the Onaqui Wild Horses in a raging blizzard. 

I headed out to the West Desert every opportunity I could when there was even a possibility of snow.  If you get there too late, it is too snowy to even locate the herd.  Even if you do locate them are the roads passable especially given the fact that it is snowing!  Well, I had several amazing trips with snowstorms, and luckily we were even able to get back home without getting stuck in the mud…  Here are some of the thousands of snow images from this winter.

Onaqui Wild Horse Photography – 6 Feb

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Although I have photographed the Onaqui wild horses several times this winter, I just don’t seem to find the time to post images. Last week I spent the afternoon photographing the herd. Never did find the majority of the North herd but did find a splintered group South of Davis Mountain. Then we set out to try and find the South herd. Finally found them very late, just as the sun was setting. We stayed late and photographed till well after dark. Thank you Lightroom for your amazing “Denoise” capability. Many are shot as ISO 16,000 and they really have a unique look about them because the contrast is so low. I really like that look!

By the way, the young horse with the AMAZING markings is a recent addition to the Onaqui. (I think she is a filly).  The mom and her showed up a few weeks ago.  The thought is that they came up from the Swasey herd West of Delta.  I hope that they stay with the Onaqui!!!

Photographs of Onaqui Wild Horses – Aug – Great Sunset

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Lately every visit to the Onaqui seems to be better than the last! This week we found the North herd at the North base of Davis Mountain. We spent a few hours with them and left to find the South herd. we found them near Simpson Springs and photographed them till late. Then we decided to go back to the North herd to see where they were watering. Wow! What a treat! They had moved to the main road and were headed to the trough watering hole just as the sun was setting! We were in Heaven! Another fantastic day with this magnificent herd.

Onaqui Wild Horses – Late July

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Another great visit to the Onaqui wild horses in Utah’s West Desert. Found both herds and despite the near 100 degrees temps we had a great shoot, especially when the North herd left the watering hole to graze. Can’t wait to get back out there soon.

two wild horse mustangs in a huge fight

HOT Trip To Onaqui In July

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It has been almost too hot to visit the Onaqui these past few weeks. We decided to forego the heat and headed out to visit the herd. Luckily we found the North herd watering at the Sheep Trough. We photographed them for a while and then headed to find the South herd and to cool off in the air-conditioned vehicle. We spotted them on their way to water at Simpson Springs. We got to Simpson Springs just ahead of them coming in. It was a great sight, but using a long lens really amplified the “heat waves” destroying any sharp images.

The herd soon left Simpson Springs and we then drove back to the North Herd. Unfortunately they were now grazing where not roads were close so we called it a day and headed back home. Overall a good but short trip. The Onaqui never disappoint.

Onaqui 18 June

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I have several trips to the Onaqui that I have not yet posted, but finally got these done of a trip we did last week to the Onaqui. We found both the North and the South herds. I hope to get the other trips done and posted soon.

Sorry for all of the photo’s. It was a very nice trip with a lot of “keepers”.

The Year For Sunflowers

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A friend just reminded me that I said in a prior post I had more images of the Onaqui in sunflowers. I must say that in the thirteen years I have been photographing the Onaqui horses I have never seen this many sunflowers. It must have been due to the winter and spring weather we had.

Hope you enjoy them….

North & South Onaqui At Watering Holes – Late September

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Another glorious trip to see the Onaqui. Luckily we were able to be there when each herd came to the watering holes.