October 2011 Archives
If you only go to the track in the afternoon on race day....there is something important that you miss. It is something that every true horse person will tell you, stirs the blood like nothing else. It is something that as an image maker is nearly impossible to convey. But I have decided to try.
Picture yourself, standing at the track rail in the very early morning light. You are distracted by the cold, by your breath showing in the air, by the colors of the sights around you. And then, you hear it.....da-da-dah.....da-da-dah.....thundering towards you. It is the sound of a lone horse, coming from your left, running in a full out gallop to come past you on the track. As the horse passes you, you hear the rhythmic sound of their breathing to accompany those hoof beats. NOTHING I have ever known makes me as excited as that sound.
Perfection....Can you hear it?.........
Juliet
A bee on a flower.
One day a flock of turkeys came to visit.
One of the fences. There were a lot of them!
While we lived there, we had chickens. It was nice to have fresh eggs every day. This is one of the roosters. (No, they don't lay eggs. They just make noise!)
Dandelion. There were lots of them!!
Here are a couple of the hens with the rooster.
A run in shed for the horses.
This is the cemetery near the house. Known as the Wood Cemetery, and named for some of the inhabitants. The earliest graves date from the late 1700s. I think some of these folks built the house we lived in.
One of the inhabitants of the cemetery.
One of the horses grazing.
There were lots of butterflies.
One of the pastures and the rock wall.So it was a very cool place to live. A little far out for me though and it was up on the Palmertown Mountain, which was a little dicey in the winter. A lot of history in the area, and a lot of wildlife. Deer, turkeys, coyotes. It was cool to lay in bed at night and hear the coyotes howl. I heard there were bears in the woods behind the farm, but I never saw one. I kind of miss the place.
a sure sign of fall
broadalbin, new york
lake luzerene, new york
johnstown, new york
lake vanare, new york (thank you swans!)
ft. ann, new york
hudson river, new york
I enjoy the wispy greens and bright pink and white colors of spring, and it's the season of hope and renewal.But to me Fall is almost like the last hurrah before we go into the deep freeze of winter. Kind of like Nature's Mardi Gras. So here are some shots of the party:
For years I have heard people wax poetic about the morning light at the Oklahoma training track. I guess I was kind of jaded as I did not quite believe them. But yesterday...this cynic became a believer. Although I had to leave home at 5:30 to get there at 7:30am - I have to tell everyone who will listen - the light in the early morning at Oklahoma - is AMAZING.
And the ponies keep watch over it all
There is less of an age gap in the mornings.....
And those who love their jobs, freely show it....
They were right, you know, there is nothing so beautiful as Oklahoma in the early mornings.
Juliet
As a new contributor to the Saratoga Snapshots Blog I thought I should introduce myself.
I've been an architectural photographer for 25 or so years, making a living photographing houses all over the county. If you'd like to see some of that work it's at www.samustudios.com. I've also had much of my work featured in national magazines, books, and in local galleries.
our renovated farmhouse
I live on a small farm, in a 220 year old Farmhouse on the Hudson River (we just finished the renovation), just outside Saratoga Springs, with my lovely wife Lu, and our 2 horses, Mr. Peabody & Leroy, and Jerry the Goat.
Here are the official portraits of all of us. Yup, OFFICIAL! More about "official portraits" somewhere down the road.
me and lu (this our official wedding portrait-25 yrs ago)
mr. peabody
"where's mr. peabody?"
I'll be sharing with you, on a regular basis, some of my photographs, and thoughts, and might even throw in a photo lesson every now and then.
Mr. P and I will be scouring the land, making some interesting photos to share with you.
my little slice of the hudson river
Let me know if you have anything specific you'd like to see, and feel free to comment (good or bad!).
See you next week!
Mark
Main Menu
Leave a Comment
Saratoga Snapshots Bloggers
Mark Bernard photographs Saratoga scenes and events and will be adding compelling photos from the area. To see more of Mark's work visit his Website.
JT Gilbert loves to photograph the world around him. From long exposures to HDR, color burns to black and whites, you never know what you are going to get. Website.
Recent Comments