End of the Summer

Means a return to blogging and other techo-oriented type things. Yet another summer managed to get sucked into the stables, depsite me spending all spring going "NO, NO, I'm only going to ride on the weekends!" And then the weekends turned into, "Well, Thursdays are getting pretty busy, they need the help..." and it just went from there. Suddenly I found myself in the saddle for six days a week again. It's not all bad though, money is always nice, riding is awesome and I got to bring my camera and play around.

A little bit of artsy: "Tools of the Trade"

A little bit of people; these two girls were inseperable best friends, until August. Then the red head went to college here in Colorado and the blonde went to Kansas. So they had a "last hurrah" shoot before they parted ways. It was one of the most fun shoots I've done in a while--and they made it SO DAMN EASY.

 

I've actually gotten some good business from that shoot, just from how much people like the photos. Hooray!

Then there was the horses themselves. They're always a blast to photograph, especially when they feel like kicking up their heels.

Manitou, 22 years old and one of our best trail horses. He still knows how to get down and party.

I finally managed to snag that 50mm f/1.8 portrait lens I've been coveting for oh so long. I sold the 18-200 for enough to literally turn right around and buy the 50mm. This is a spiffy little lens!

Lazy Dog Days of Summer

I seem to have made one gross miscalculation though. Seized by a moment of panic back in August, I realized that my sort of steady stream of income was going to dry up and while photos and Scentsy are bringing in some nice pocket change right now, it's not guaranteed that everyday I'll be getting handed money. And camera equipment is expensive. So I asked the owner of the stables if he knew of anything, he pointed me in the direction of a carriage company downtown, who essentially hired me on the spot.

I don't know nuthin' 'bout drivin' no carriages, Miz Scawlette!

But I'm learning. There's more that goes into it than I thought there would be, mostly because PEOPLE ARE FUCKING STUPID. Seriously. I'm driving a big white Percheron, attached to a big white carriage.

Pretty much this exact setup, except that horse would blend in with my pants instead of making them look plaid.

One would think, "Hey, that should be easy enough to notice, right? Especially in an area where one has to constantly be on the look out for big giant buses that take great delight in trying to run over anything in their paths."

One would be sorely mistaken.

I cannot even begin to tell you how many people have walked straight into the horse or the carriage, or backed up into the horse that has been standing still for 15 mintues and then act super surprised that we were there, or they'll just traipse blindly out in front of us as we're moving. I very nearly ran over a group of three people that just walked in front of us, as we were trotting down the street to try and get out of the way of the bus coming up behind us and THEY DIDN'T NOTICE. I had to pull up so short my poor horse about sat on her haunches and THEY DIDN'T NOTICE. The people behind them noticed enough to yell at me though. It's like, seriously? Isn't one of the first rules any of us learned "Look both ways before crossing the street?"

Ted likes to go on long-winded philosophical rants about the obliviousness of people and how it's such a heavy contribution to what's currently wrong with the world. I like to hear him ramble, so I don't really stop him, but in this case, it's true. And what's even more screwed up, is that I would be the one held liable for someone else's rampant stupidity. I can't even slightly bruise them to try and make them pay just a little more attention to their surroundings.

This job is going to probably give me a few more grey hairs but at least there will be plenty of blog fodder.

Anyway, here's your Happy Ending Puppy.

Plz only squish me with luvs!