With the first real snow hitting Lexington this week, it is only fitting that this month’s Beyond The Lens is of a foal in snow.
Born on Valentine’s Day in 2016, Total War ’16 – now known as Yes Perfect – was still a little shy when I went into his paddock to photograph him a few weeks after he was born. When I am photographing horses outside I usually have a longer lens on (my go-to lens at that time was a 55 to 300 and it is still my back up lens today) for this very reason.
I love photographing horses when they’re turned out, as I find they act much differently and usually show their personality more than when they’re being handled, but this comes with the added challenge of the horse not restrained to an area ideal for a shorter lens. My goal was to capture both Yes Perfect and his pasturemate playing around a bit in the snow but with a new human in the paddock and a few hours of play under their belts, they stuck close to their dams.
I was in their paddock for about half an hour until Total War felt confident enough to explore.
He still wasn’t ready to play but ventured close to me and quickly became my friend. The colt was planning on following me to the gate but much like any child, he quickly got distracted. This set up for the perfect photo when he decided that a small mud puddle in a hoof print was an extremely interesting thing to look at.
With the snow that week refusing to melt, this was his first day of really getting a chance to explore ground that wasn’t white and it proved to be quite the adventure. It is still one of my favorite photos even nearly four years later and is one of the first people see when they walk into my house as I have a large canvas of it on my living room wall.
Sold to South Korea as a 2-year-old, Yes Perfect has gone to a successful career in the country. He’s won three of his 11 starts with two other thirds, including a string of three wins in four starts during his two and three-year-old seasons.
Beyond The Lens is a monthly blog looking at some of Melissa’s favorite photos and what motivated her to take them. Interested in scheduling a photoshoot with Pyrois Media or just want some photography advice? Email Melissa@PyroisMedia.com for more information.
