Life :: Risa's Farewell!

Well... After years of struggle... we have come a long way.
Risa informed us all at the beginning of the month that she's off and running to Duncan - I want to say leaving us high and dry, but we need to learn to do work without her... Her last day was July 28th, and as a going a way activity, we decided to go rock-climbing as team-building fun.

We had a good crowd come out and have fun. Most of the full time/normal staff came and climbed.

Some excelled where we may have figured so...

Some were climbing for their first t ime...

Some just did it for the fun...

And some did it for the comic values...

We did, however, have tons of fun. It was a good send off, and ended a good run. In the time we learned lots about each other, learned lots about work... and grew as individuals. I think we all helped each other become what we have... and really, I have to give credit where credit is due... Risa definately helped me grow as a person.

And for some reason... I don't think this is how it works...

Equine :: Alyssa and ImaFlyin / Mac's Little Gem

Mac's Little Gem

This past weekend, I was able to spend some much needed time out at the barn... and with one of my favorite people. Doing a 'photo-shoot' with Alyssa and her ponies has been something I have been looking forward to doing for a while, and something we have planned to do lots, but for one reason for another, just kept falling through the cracks. I have to say, the largest reason was probably single-handedly the weather. Let's think this through, Mother Nature has thrown us shit until the last two weeks..

Sunday just so happened to be a day I can spend all day out at the barn, a day Alyssa wasn't working, and a day Mother Nature decided to give us some sunshine and warmth... for the most part. We managed to luck out... Between the shoots, it spit and dribbled some rain, after the shoots... it poured.

Alyssa and ImaFlyin "Fayth"

Alyssa was game enough (or stupid enough?) to take out both her current ponies - starting with ImaFlyin (aka Fayth). Fayth her her off the track project horse she's training up, showing a little, and hoping to flip out the door in the next year for some quick cash, and time for her new 'Spruce Meadows' mount. For an otherwise 'meat horse', Fayth has come an exceptionally long way. Although I still don't trust her as far as I can throw her, she is quite smart, and learns quickly...

Fayth does have character...

Following Fayth was her tried and true show mount, Mac's Little Gem (aka Gem). Gem is a star... most of the time. Today was hard, and doing some gymnastic jumps, for whatever reason lost a lot of confidence... so Alyssa worked at building up the confidence, and worked on her own two point position at the same time.

Alyssa and Mac's Little Gem "Gem"

It was definately the day for stupid faces...

In addition to our lovely planning, Alyssa's mother decided to (not so) secretly hint that she had no good photos of her horse, Blue Moon (aka Lily)... So Alyssa and I managed to pull our butts out of the sand, and trudge back and forth throughout the field to get some of those anticipated, coveted shots of Lily...

Blue Moon "Lily"

Alyssa and Lily

Hopefully this one shoot with be the beginning of many...

The Low-Down

Well... here it is.
I've always dabbled in photography, and have enjoyed lugging around any camera I could get my hands on... more often than not, it involved virtually indestructable point and shoots (hey, I never said I was easy on them... Some of them didn't last...). From family vacations, to friends parties, day by day fun, physics labs, and everything in between... if I could get away photographing it... I would.
I mean, who are we kidding... 8 gb of photos in 7 days in Florida... I sure did.

In November 2010, I took the plunge and purchased my first DSLR camera (with the help of dads ever growing airmiles points). From playing with the point and shoots... the DSLR (Canon Rebel T1i) was a complete change, and an ever increasing learning curve. I'm still playing around, and each day brings a new challenge, and new excitements when I finally figure out what I've spent hours trying to figure out...

This blog is my attempt to join the blogging world, showcase some of my artwork (aka photographs), and learn some tips/trades/etc. Not to mention getting my name out there, getting some pointers, and seeing where I can go with all this...

Here goes nothing...