The Season's Over

We've come to the turn of a season again. The leaves, for the most part, are off the trees in New England and we're headed into the cold, "sticks as trees" period of the year. That means the "vista" shots are winding down as we await the snow to put a fresh face on the landscape. That doesn't mean we hang up the camera and wait. There's a height adjustable table and some props, along with enough flash units to light up a cave is around the room wanting to be useful. They'll get their chance in the days to come. Lately we've taken a run up to Maine and went to specific "events" to shoot anything from lighthouses to commissioned assignments. We'll be headed to the Caribbean in a few weeks, bringing along enough camera gear so people will think there's a third person along with us. We've gone to the islands every year for the past fifteen years and I can honestly say we have some tourist pictures to show for it. The intent of the trips is vacation, not getting the next calendar shot or six shot travel article with a double truck opener. Lately the trips have been by boat, sailing out of New York City. The nice thing about going that way is the two days plus of sailing before you get anywhere. It's a great time to unwind before getting into the hustle of being in the islands. It used to be that we'd leave NYC at 4:00 PM and be in St. Thomas or San Juan at 9:00 AM a couple days later. Then it got to getting in at 1:00 PM and now it's 3:00 PM. Sounds like the cruise line is trying to find the optimum "gas mileage" speed. Oh well, guess they do have to maximize the use of every dollar they take in. What's this rambling got to do with today's image? Not much, but if you want to find out about the shot, hit the "read more".

We were just plain driving on our way back from Tennessee a couple of years ago and saw this scene. The horses were out in the field having a grand old time. They'd gather and nudge each other and then take off in a sprint to another area of the meadow. They'd stop, form up a little and repeat the process, This went on for the entire time we stayed. It was like they knew the end of the season was coming and had to get in some "horsing around" before it started getting cold.

The shot is uncropped. That is the scene, as seen in the viewfinder with a 200 mm lens. The horses legs and lowered heads remind me of athletes walking toward the sidelines of a sport. Fatigue starting to set in after playing hard, either winning or losing, it doesn't really matter, fatigue is fatigue. The trees, with a little selective blur could be the people in the stands, decked out in the team colors. The "island" of trees the couches and various personnel standing along the sideline or on the bench. I think of this image as the athletes and their adoring fans. Guess you could think of it as a fantasy shot.