after the show

I went up to the Saanich Fair today hoping to practice taking pictures of farm animals and practice low light shots of the rides. It proved to be an interesting day as I ran into many people who I had not seen in a long time. The animal shows were much more crowded than I expected, so I wandered around the booths and corrals away from the crowds. I managed to get the usual animal pictures; one of the llamas stuck his face in my lens as I took his picture, and was able to get some impressive low light shots. All in all a very productive day.

My favorite shot from the fair was the unexpected one I got when I was walking by the horse stables. The showings were finished for the day and many of the riders were tending to their horses outside their stalls. As I was walking by this stall, my attention was captured by the image of this rider, in the stall with her horse, standing on a bucket while either braiding the horses hair or brushing it. I was not sure. I think it was the shadows that created the intimate scene between the horse and rider. I did not have much time to prepare; I had only a moment to raise my camera, focus and take the shot before other riders and horses entered the scene. I converted the picture to black and white with a gentle tint and darkened the wood outside the doorway to keep the attention on the horse and rider.