Ashley and Her Horse Stella – Golden Fields & Light

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Last summer, I noticed a higher number of golden fields popping up in early summer. I found out that more farmers had planted wheat, oats and barley due to increases in those crop prices. I started dreaming of photographing people in these fields, so I put a call out on Facebook. The trick was that I needed to find people with access to a golden field, and permission to have a horse in it!

Ashley is a past client of mine who has also become a friend. She already had a session booked with me for later in the summer, so when she said she was game, I was super excited! Her husband is a produce farmer and has access to fields like this, so we made our plans!

I started to research and conceptualize how I wanted these photos to look and feel. I had made an image like the one above during an engagement session a few years ago. The difference was they were laying in a field of flowers and I was able to get on a bridge above them to shoot it. I asked if Ashley’s husband Brad could bring a ladder. I knew that with the right lens, I could make it feel like they were lost in a sea of gold. So with golden fields, golden light, a beautiful girl and her best equine friend Stella, we set out to create some art!

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Ashley’s cousin Dani helped me out by taking some behind the scenes photos of the shoot.

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Our number one challenge was keeping Stella from eating the field. I really can’t blame her, it would be like standing in a field of chocolate that was a mouth height!

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I know few people more devoted to their animals than Ashley. She is a gem!

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Surprisingly, black and white images looked good too!

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My favorite part is when the sun got to the horizon and turned everything a deep golden color.

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A few months later, we met up again for Ashley’s regularly scheduled session. 🙂

When I asked her what she wanted her session to look and feel like, her response was “Dewey, soft lighting, romantic and a dream like feel! Silhouettes for sure!”

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I loved that she wore a flower crown. It really set the tone for the soft, romantic feel she was wanting.

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This is probably my favorite image from this session. I feel like it truly captures their individual beauty, as well as the beautiful trust and love between them.

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And we got a silhouette! Happy ending to a fun session!

1 Comment

  1. Noelle

    May 12, 2016

    JUST FABULOUS!!!

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