by Susan Lobb Porter | Cool Apps, Photography, Ponies in the Morning |
A lazy afternoon. Da Boy was hangin’ out in the barn-which-is-a-shed, hiding from the bugs and the sun. He was dozing but I woke him up. Said, hey, let’s take some pictures.
He was all droopy eyed and sleepy. Between that and the lighting (dim interior contrasted with bright outdoors) I figured we were in for an arty good time. Arty meaning out of focus, blurry, light leaking PERFECT for day dreamy shots.
Sigh…these all make me very happy. There’s a time and a place for focus…and this was not one of them.
Technical info: These were taken with an iPhone 4. They were arted-up and edited in Aquarella and Photoshop. They look even better if you leave a comment down below. Really, they do. Has something to do with light bending quantum physics blogging. I read all about that on the interwebs so you know it has to be true.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Cool Apps, Photography, Ponies in the Morning |
Of Lana Love.
She totally hogged the camera today. Pinned her ears back and gave Saki the look, the one that said step back, this is my time with Mama. And then she posed. And posed. She’s liking the sound of the shutter, I guess. So I snapped away. So many photos to choose from, too many for FaceBook so I’m sharing a few more of them here.
Enjoy!
First came the Conversation. Hello dearie. How’re you doing? Let me wipe those crusties from your eyes.
Then came the kiss. A little pony smoochin’.
Followed by the oh-so-serious Pony Forehead Meld, similar to, but not as powerful as, the Vulcan Mind Meld.
Which morphed into this, my FAVORITE, the one that simply looking at makes me feel centered and calm. I heart this photo, oh, indeed I do.
Technical Stuff:
These are all taken by moi using an iphone 4. I just hold the camera up and out and snap away. And away and away and away. With any luck, there’s something worth keeping. There usually is, or at least something I can salvage in editing. The arty effects in today’s photos were created using Aquarella.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Cool Apps, Photography, Ponies in the Morning |
In my desk at work I have a photo, looks like it was from the 40s. Maybe 30s. It’s a woman cantering a horse in an outdoor arena. It’s taken from a slightly higher vantage point, looking down a little and straight on.
If I remember right, the woman is wearing a plaid shirt and jodphurs. She’s riding in an English saddle. Or should I say on an English saddle? Whatever…
I have no idea who she was. It’s just a photo given to me by a co-worker who found it in a stack of old photos she’d bought somewhere. Maybe a yard sale. Memories sold to strangers.
I always thought I’d do something with it someday. There’s something about old photographs that intrigues me. Mysteries faded by time. But now I don’t have to violate other people’s images…
Because (drum roll please) I CAN MAKE MY OWN, my very OWN, faded, crumpled vintage images…from photos I took this morning!
YAY!!! Thank you geeks who grew up to be app designers…I luvvvvvv you!!! Indeed I do. Because with a little bit of digital manipulation I can turn a crappy snapshot into something fun! interesting! And in this case, vintagely ARTY!
Like this one. The three of them were hanging out up by the barn. In the original photo Saki is blurry from a head shake. But throw some aging grunge into it and it turns into something more. Mysterious. Arty.
And this one…I’m calling this one Secrets. Partial faces. Communication. What are they saying? Why am I ignoring them?
Are they whispering behind my back? Maybe talking about my hair???
That’s the writer in me talking. The reality is they’re both checking to see if I gave the other one a treat. And I’m trying to snap a photo before someone moves.
Now this one is a bit self indulgent. A terrible snapshot, all blur and no substance. Then I arted it up and something in it works for me, the sense of movement coupled with the angle of the walls. Every time I look at it I find myself liking it even more. Maybe because it makes me dizzy. Reminds me of when I had vertigo…but that’s another story.
You’ve seen a lot of these, with Saki or Lana standing behind me. But this time we’re both looking off in different directions. Well, you might think that but look again. His eye is soft and he’s watching me. My eyes are in the front of my head but I’m really watching him in the monitor.
Aww geeze…it’s all smoke and mirrors, isn’t it?
As always, my best beloveds, I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below. If one of these photos jumps out and screams luvvvv to you, tell me about it. And why.
And if you like this, please share it with your friends.
Technical Info: There were all taken on my iPhone 4S using the basic photo app. They were digitally altered in Vintage by Jixipix.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Photography, Ponies in the Morning |
You may have already seen her on Facebook this morning, my sweet old lady.
Ha! Who am I kidding? There’s nothing sweet about her, at 33 she’s a kick ass pony. Always has been. Full of P&V. Piss & vinegar for those of you who weren’t raised by my Dad.
And no, she’s not skinny. She’s just old, at that age where the back sways and the hips jut out. But beautiful. Still beautiful.
I took this photo from an interesting perspective. I held the camera up over head and just shot. Didn’t realize what I had until I checked it out on the computer later on. She’s muddy and messy so I threw on some pretty colors.
See, this was from the usual perspective. I wanted something different.
And just because you came all the way over here to see today’s pony pics here’s one more, a sure sign spring is just around the corner.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Photography, Ponies, Ponies in the Morning |
We’ve been together a long time, two horses, a donkey and moi.
We’re all getting old. One of the horses is at the DMD stage, damn near dead. Except even at the overripe age of 33 she’s as healthy as, well, a horse.
The other one isn’t far behind. At 26 he’s pushing the age thing. And the last few years he’s had skin problems that make his life miserable every summer.
The donkey came to me as a rescue 13 years ago. I knew she had issues but I signed on for the duration. At 17 she’s the baby of the bunch. Just recently her gray coat has begun showing signs of the other kind of gray.
Just like me.
Last month I began taking their photographs every day. It was an exercise for Catherine Just’s Soul*full eCourse. I signed up for the class because I love love love love LOVE Catherine’s photography. And philosophy. And great big BEAUTIFUL heart.
This is not your average photography class. The word aperture has not been mentioned once. Then again, with a tagline of deepen your mind*body*spirit connection what was I expecting?
I wasn’t expecting to resume my long dormant daily meditation practice. Or take up Qi Gong again. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with my gray hair or to feel comfortable enough in my own skin to take self-portraits.
Often. Like every time I whip out the camera. Just because I can.
Even though I always did my best to avoid being photographed. Even though I cringed at the toll age has taken on my face.
The first week of class we were given an assignment to photograph something in our daily life. And to keep photographing it every day. I decided to photograph the horses every morning when I fed them. Simple enough. Throw the iPhone in my pocket, snap a few pictures, post ’em online.
But it turned into something much more than that. First I began arting them up in one app or another, turning snapshots into something more interesting. And I began including myself in many of the photos. My first thing in the morning self. Pre-shower. Pre-coffee. Sleepy eyes, puffy face, uncombed hair and all SELF.
And as I documented this ritual, as I studied the images, I realized I was falling in love all over again. In love with old horses who will break my heart soon enough.
And in love with myself. Because I’m no longer afraid to love old horses. Or anyone else.
You can see more of these photos on my FaceBook page. And if you like what you see, please share with your friends. And say hello in the comments below. I love to hear what you have to say. As always, heart emoticons here. xoxoxo
