horseback riding • golden bc photography

Dawn is decidedly squeamish in front of the camera. She's also a good enough friend that she lets me practice new shooting techniques on her. Generally the conversation goes something like this:

me: Hey, what do you think of me taking some shots of you on Tuesday?

her: No.

me: I promise I'll delete them. No one will ever even see them. 

her: As long as I don't have to look at the camera.

me: Deal. 

There are a few great elements to this recurring agreement of ours. First, I fully enjoy teasing her about where I'll ultimately publish the photos. With no intentions of actually publishing the photos. Second, as enjoyable as it is to photograph someone entirely comfortable in front of the camera, it is so much more challenging and therefore fulfilling to get good shots of someone who is hating every minute of it. And the reality is, most of us tend more toward that end of the spectrum. Myself included. 

This shoot happened ages ago, back in early August, right before I got too busy to really give them proper attention. I joined Dawn for her weekly horseback riding lessons out in the Blaeberry with Melanie Grafton. It was a hot and glorious evening, and it makes me feel warm just to look through these on a cold November day. Dawn was able to forget I was there for the most part, up until I insisted on a couple of portraits (which I had promised not to do . . . I swear I'm not usually deceptive with my models, but this one is an exception). 

Lucky for Dawn, there were plenty of other interesting subjects to keep me entertained. Like Cody the horse and Shelby the dog. The portrait session only lasted a couple of minutes. It took a while for her to agree to have these photos floating around in the world wide web. But she's on board now. Mostly. 

her: Are we done yet? Pretty sure you said I wouldn't have to look at the lens.

me: Yeah, yeah. Just look right at the camera, k?

Pretty sure she was telling me how much she hated me through her teeth in this one. Pretty sure she doesn't actually hate me.

Thank you Dawn. 

Comments

[Liss]

These are gorgeous shots Love! And Dawn is so photogenic. Pass that along to her.