Fort Worth Stockyards

On Saturday July 24th we took a trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards for the National Day of the American Cowboy. There was a crowd of about 8000 people who attended the festivities of the day that included a watermelon eating contest, a “Most worn out boots” contest, and a ribbon cutting for the new Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.

The atmosphere of the event was quite fun and took the opportunity to take the camera and play with getting some “different” kinds of photos. The long horned cattle are very impressive, local flair (costumed characters) along with all the overall setting of the Stockyards was too much for us to pass up.  If you schedule a visit to the Stockyards, you might also find “The Duke” riding around on a beautiful light bay horse, or you might find yourself in the middle of a gun fight.

We had a great time and will certainly be visiting the Stockyards again. Here is a sampling of photos that we took (click on the photo to see a larger view).

All of these photos were shot with a Canon 5D and a EF 24 – 105mm f4 IS lens (no flash). One of our favorite shots was taking the photos near the train from a very low angle (shoe top). While We didn’t get on the ground, it is fun to play with taking a photo from an unusual angle and seeing what you come up with (which is often quite stunning).

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

Taking photos around the barn

As we promised, here is a little more information on taking photos around the barn. In the example below, we wanted to balance the light that was being provided by the large open ended arena, which is coming in from camera left, with a bit of flash to proper illuminate Dusty (isn’t he a good looking boy). If we hadn’t given him a little flash, the right side of his face would have been completely lost in shadow. If you look at his right eye (on the left), you will notice the catchlight which is a reflection of the large open door at the end of the isle (about 30’ away). You might also notice that you don’t see a catchlight from the on camera flash because we balanced the available light with the flash. One other thing to note about this photo of Dusty is the beautiful rim light that shows up on the edges of his ears. The distance between Dusty and the camera is about 10’.

Here is the EXIF data for this photo:

When taking photos around your barn, take some time and look for places where you can get some nice natural light and if needed, don’t be afraid to pop that flash out and give your photos some extra pop. Before ending this blog entry, take a look below at the photos we posted on June 17th. The photo of the girl with the horse that has the bridle was shot with natural light (same light, same door that provided the light for Dusty) and NO flash. That photo was just taken from the opposite direction (looking into the barn).

We hope you find this info useful… and be sure to share your photos in the Photo Contest.

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

Horse Photo Lighting

We’ve been taking photos for a summer camp the past few weeks and thought we would share a little information on our lighting setup and show an example. Before camp started, we wanted to be sure that the school horses would be ok with having their photos taken and not spook at the flash when fired. We played with a few different lighting setups before deciding on what we share below. We really wanted to do some nice photos for the kids during summer camp and wanted to make sure we kept safety in mind (which we do at all times around horses – especially where there are kids around horses). We tried some outdoor scenarios as well as some indoor configurations. We ended up settling on keeping the horses indoor – in the arena. The summer horse campers would tack up, and then lead their horse into the arena. We can then line the horses up and have them step up to the front of the line to have their photos taken. They can then lead the horses away and over to the instructors where they have their final tack checks and can mount. It really helps get through all of the horses and campers in the quickest, safest fashion.

This is one of the example photos we shot while preparing for summer camp. Each horse was brought in and photographed to see if any of them would have an issue with the flash guns (no problems at all).

This is the lighting setup we use to shoot the photos:

We’re still tweaking the light configuration, but we’ve been pretty happy with the results. Anyways, we hope you find this information helpful. We will try to give you some other options to use when taking photos of horses in the coming days. We want to provide you with some alternatives to taking really nice photos without the need of professional lighting (natural light or on camera flash).

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff‘

A Good Time to Take Photos

Now that school is out pretty much everywhere, you might notice lots more youngsters running around barns. This is a perfect time to take some photos. We’ve been working with a Summer Camp and have really enjoyed spending time with everyone. While at the camp, we’ve taken the opportunity to get a little creative and gotten some really neat photos. We thought we’d share a few of the photos we’ve taken with you.

When you’ve taken some photos, be sure to share them and enter them into the Photo Contest. Have fun this summer and get out there and ride!

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

May Photo Contest Winners

NickerTown is proud to announce the winner for the May Photo Contest. The Grand Prize winner is Stephanie Smith for her photo titled “Grey Draft Horse”. Stephanie selected a $25 Gift Card from Amazon.com for her prize and says about her photo – “This photo is of my neighbors draft horse.  He is so friendly and loves to “pose” for the camera.”

There were many fantastic photos submitted in May and as usual, it was difficult to choose a winner. You can see Stephanie’s photo; as well as the other finalists; in the winners gallery.

We hope you will join in the fun and add your photos. The June photo contest is underway and photos are being accepted.

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff