Monthly Archives: February 2015

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reward

February 27, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

This week’s Photography Challenge featured the word “Reward,” and I instantly knew where to look for a photo depicting this definition. One of my favorite places to stand and photograph during a horse show is at the out-gate after the riders have received their ribbons. There’s often a moment after the awards ceremony when the rider revels in the moment and rewards the horse with a kiss or a pat on the neck as they leave the ring. Some riders […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: blue ribbon, horse, horse show, Nikon D3s, photography, reward, show hunter, WCHR, Weekly Photo Challenge, WEF

Wordless Wednesday

February 25, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Categories: Black and White, Photography • Tags: artistic, forgotten, Macphun Tonality Pro, Nelson, Nevada, Nikon D800E, photography, wagon, wordless Wednesday

Chasing Time

February 24, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Now that I’m in the Level 20 Lounge in The Arcanum, I’m among those photographers waiting for Sphere 2 to open and to be selected by a new master. In the meantime, the members of the Lounge have participated in challenges, photography-related discussions and attending the Creation Wars events each Monday night. While enjoying this relative quiet time, I’ve had the opportunity to go back into my photo files from 2014 to explore. Today’s challenge was the word “time,” […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: gallop, horse, horse show, jump-off, Nikon D3s, photography, The Arcanum, time, turn

Cold Bird II

February 23, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Today I revisited some of my bird photos from last winter to check the lenses and settings I’d used, and I came upon this Dark Eyed Junco that I hadn’t edited. I spent some time playing with it, taking out some background clutter with Macphun Snapheal Pro and using Intensify Pro to produce a bit more contrast in the shadowed face. The lighting wasn’t ideal for this shot, but since birds are generally hard to pose, sometimes you have to […]

Categories: Birds, Nature, Photography • Tags: bird, cold, Dark-Eyed Junco, Macphun Snapheal Pro, Nikon D800E, photography, Virginia, winter

Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

February 20, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

I’ve always enjoyed playing with negative or empty space in my photography, so the Rule of Thirds is one of my favorite compositional tools. I actually set up my cameras to have the Rule of Thirds grid on the screen just because I do find myself frequently thinking that way. While I was in Florida last week I spent a day out playing and photographing the competitors for fun and not shooting strictly for editorial. Here, I stood on […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge • Tags: gratitude, horse, horse show, Nikon D3s, photography, Rule of Thirds, Weekly Photo Challenge

WCHR Spectacular

February 18, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

The $100,000 WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular is held annually in Wellington, Florida, each February. I’ve photographed this event since its inaugural year way back in 1997! So much has changed since then, with the sport and the photography. But even after 19 years, I still enjoy observing some of the country’s best show hunters compete under the lights with appreciative spectators filling the stands. The challenge is to deal with the shifting lights while stopping the action […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Florida, horse, horse show, Hunter Spectacular, Nikon D3s, photography, WCHR, WEF, Winter Equestrian Festival, World Championship Hunter Rider

WCHR Out and About

February 13, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Today, one of my assignments was to take some “fun” shots for future ads and programs, which was so liberating since I usually take images for editorial use, which is more regulated. I went out and about with the Nikon D3s and Sony A7 with a wide-angle lens and a telephoto, simply enjoying the beautiful horses in the morning light. I spent time hanging out with friend and fellow photographer Vicci Valenti from The Book LLC, who was on a […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Florida, horse, horse show, Nikon D3s, photography, show hunter, Sony A7, Vicci Valenti, WCHR, World Championship Hunter Rider

WCHR Show Hunters

February 12, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Today I spent the day photographing some of the most beautiful show hunters in the country that are competing on the Winter Equestrian Festival circuit in Florida. Each year I travel here for World Championship Hunter Rider week, where the hunters are featured. Unlike show jumpers that compete against the clock, these show horses are judged subjectively on their jumping style and movement. They’re like eye candy for horse lovers! Here are a few of my favorites.

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Florida, horse, horse show, Nikon D3s, Nikon D800E, photography, show hunters, WCHR, WEF, Winter Equestrian Festival, World Championship Hunter Rider

Solo Traveler

February 10, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

I traveled to Florida today for an assignment, and when I arrived at the airport at 10 a.m., I was struck by how few people were disembarking at the departure level. I walked inside, and there was no one in line at the check-in counter, no one in line at security and just one person with me on the train to my gate. I was so amazed that I pulled out my iPhone on the escalator to photograph the one person I […]

Categories: Photography, Travel • Tags: airport, artistic, escalator, iPhone, iPhoneography, photography, Travel, traveler

Brave Chickadee

February 9, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

The little Chickadee sometimes escapes my attention when the flamboyant Cardinals and adorable Carolina Wrens are dominating the bird feeders. But then I’ll go out into the yard to refill the bird feeders, and the Chickadees will be the only birds hovering nearby, just waiting for me to take a step away so they can fly over and enjoy the fresh seed. They may be diminutive and not all that flashy, but in my yard they’re the bravest of […]

Categories: Birds, Nature, Photography • Tags: bird, bird feeder, brave, Chickadee, nature, Nikon D800E, photography, suet

Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale

February 8, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

The monuments in Washington, D.C. are among the most recognized buildings in the city, and I’ve enjoyed visiting them often. Photographing the monuments and memorials is sometimes a bit overwhelming, though, because of their grand scale and the many different viewpoints you can take. I could spend an entire day shooting some of them and still find myself with more to capture. Last month, when I went to D.C. on a photo walk with Arcanum Master Angela B. Pan, we […]

Categories: Photography, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge • Tags: Arcanum Master Angela B. Pan, D.C., flags, Lincoln Memorial, National World War II Memorial, Nikon D800E, photography, scale, Washington, Washington Monument, Weekly Photo Challenge, winter

Throwback Thursday

February 5, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

I was going through some of my old files, looking for an image for a project last week, when I stumbled upon a folder titled “Favorites.” It turned out to be a treasure trove of photographs that’s I’d taken and saved from my early years shooting digitally. This photo was always one of my favorites, shot in 2003 with a Nikon D1, at the Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, Alberta. The horse is Marius Claudius, ridden by Robert Smith […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Alberta, British, Calgary, horse, horse show, Marius Claudius, Nikon D1, photography, Robert Smith, show jumper, show jumping, Spruce Meadows, Throwback Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

February 4, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Edited in Macphun Intensity Pro and Lightroom.

Categories: Birds, Photography • Tags: artistic, bird seed, birds, cardinal, Dark-Eyed Junco, Nikon D3s, photography, snow, winter, wordless Wednesday

Equine Tuesday

February 3, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

It’s Equine Tuesday, which is a fitting day to apologize for missing yesterday’s blog post. I’d planned to post every day this year–as I’ve done in past years–but now that I’ve taken on a few new equine-related projects I’m going to have to admit that posting daily just might not happen. I’ve enjoyed spending more time here, visiting new blogs and catching up with old ones, so I intend to continue posting as often as time allows. I met […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Equine Tuesday, horse, horse show, Horse Shows by the Bay, Michigan, Nikon D3s, photography, show jumping, Traverse City

Tools of the Trade

February 1, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

The Black And White Project on Google+ featured a challenge this week titled “Tools of the Trade.” While I was working on the next issue of USHJA In Stride magazine on Friday, editing and writing articles, managing freelancers and attending conference calls, I took a short break to set up this shot. As an equestrian journalist, I could have included so many more tools: my computer, iPhone, copies of the magazines, programs, prize lists and other materials my work […]

Categories: Black and White, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge • Tags: Camera+, equestrian, journalist, Nikon D800E, photography, Sony A7, spurs, Tools of the Trade, USHJA, vocation