Jack McDonald Stables

I had the pleasure of spending last Sunday with Jackie and the boarders and staff of Jack McDonald Stables.  I was there for a shoot for Pittsburgh Professional Magazine.  We managed to turn the day into a lot of fun, even though the weather was less then ideal.  At Jack McDonald Stables they specialize in Arabians and Dressage horses.

Though a very serious and respected stables, you can see that they also are very serious about having fun.  Here we see Jackie with one of the horse at the stable.  
This horse and rider combo impressed me to no end.  This is a youngster with a rider and owner who was a grandmother.  If you watch these two together, you can tell how bonded they are.
Since Jackie also trains Dressage horses, she gets other breeds besides Arabians and Arab crosses.  Here we see one of her junior riders with a Friesian mare that is in training with her.


Here we see one of her boarders and her husband, along with their own personal horse.  You can just tell by looking that both her boarders and horses are quite happy there.

This gelding is amazing to watch move.  He's going to be a horse to watch when he hits the show rings in the next few years.
Although Christy can no longer rider her mare, due to health problems with the mare, you can tell how much they care for each other and how alike they are.

This set was another set that amazed me.  This mare was underweight when her owner bought her.  You can see what some love and TLC can do for a mare like her.

Pittsburgh Youth Ballet

I had the chance to do some shots for the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet this weekend.  They asked me to come do some shots of their girls to use them for up coming advertising campaigns.  They wanted shots that showed the girls in practice, having fun and doing what they do in practice.  I tried to offer not only shots of the girls, but more artistic shots that can be used again and again for them.  Hopefully you enjoy these samples and you can see more to come when they new ad campaigns come out.

Fiddler on the Roof

Well, once again this week I had the pleasure of photographing another performance with costumes provided by Spotlight Costumes.   As always, her costumes were wonderful.  

This show also had incredible voice talent in it.  All three daughters were wonderful, with great voices.  

Papa's voice was quite strong and was a great choice for the lead.

The dancers were also superb.  The traditional dance styles were pulled off with great flair!


 The ensemble cast also helped set the feel

If you get a chance to go see this show, I highly recommend it!

Check out the rest of the images at: http://www.sunflowerphoto.com/fotr/index.html

Pittsburgh Zoo

Well this past Saturday I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium in my continuing effort to try to shoot every week.  The day was cool but over all very nice.  Going to the zoo is always a great chance for me to play with my 200-400 lens.  I haven't been to the zoo in a few years so it was nice to see everything that has changed.  

Oh and by the way....It's the first Robin of the year!  Happy Almost Spring!

Erin and Gabe

Today I got to spend some time with Erin and her Appy Gabe.  The farm she has him at is beautiful, but unfortunately the day was not.

  So instead of the outdoor shoot she wanted to do, we made due with shooting inside the barn, in the indoor arena. 

 The light made for some fun shots, as did Gabe's interesting coat pattern.  I had a lot of fun shooting close ups of his pattern.

The barn has some wonderful cats, who were also willing to pose for the camera.

If you want to see the rest of the shots, they are at: http://www.sunflowerphoto.com/erinandgabe/index.html

Northern Lights Ranch

Well, I finally had a chance to go through my first equine shoot of 2008.  Tara of Northern Lights Ranch is a great person to work with and her new stallion, Armageddon's Lord Malachi, or Malachi, is an amazing animal.  She acquired him recently, but you can see the bond between them already.  He's an amazing addition to her herd and I can't wait to see the foals he produces for her.  We had less then ideal conditions for this shoot, I can't wait to try again this summer when it's more green!  You can view the rest of the photos from this shoot on my website at:

http://www.sunflowerphoto.com/nl21/index.html

Model Shoot - Darcy

Darcy and I did a gothic model shoot this past weekend.  She's awesome to work with, very natural in front of the camera.  This is one of my favorite images from the shoot.  I only did minor work to it, mainly adding Dark lines to it to get this great Gothic art look.

We did a set of images with a pin stripped fedora, corset, pants and a tombstone.  I love the look on this set.  We were just at sunset, so it gave some nice light.

Here are more images like the shot above.  It was almost a Little Red Riding Hood gone wrong shoot.  

One of my favorite shots we did with the great Gothic Arch in the cemetery we were at.  The skirt gave her a slightly whimsical look.

We found this great mausoleum when we were driving through the cemetery.  I think Darcy found some great poses for this location!

If you want to see the rest of the shoot, go to:

http://www.sunflowerphoto.com/darcy308/index.html