Wilhelm

And who could forget little Wilhelm, the warmblood (I forget his breeding) colt that was born out at the barn this past May. He is an absolute ham and gorgeous to boot. I decided to chronicle his life, or at least a few months, via photos. His album can be seen here, but posted below are a few of my favorites.

At 3 days old with dam, Samantha.

My FAVORITE photo. But again, I wish I would have saved the original files ... this one needs a bit more editing (or at least I need to remove the cell phone tower in the background).

At 1 month (I think)

Somewhere I've got a bunch of 3 month old shots, taken during the last horse show. I should try to find them ... he's changed so much since he was born. Even now, in October, his coloring is dramatically different from what he was in these pictures.

Oh, I found them. The following are his 3 month shots ... Enjoy!

Fall.

I love fall. I hate what comes next. And I despise the lack of daylight that is already noticeable. But that's life "up north". And I'll survive.

And in surviving, I take refuge in photography. So after a busy summer of horse shows and inspections, I decided to relax and take some pasture shots of all the boarders out at Rocking R Farm.

A link to all the photos can be found here, but below is some of my favorites.

Novio

Tinkerbelle

 Okay. So I guess not too many favorites ... and these didn't turn out nearly as well as the spring photos did. So be sure to check out that album as well. Along with this album (from June).

Just a quick glimpse of some of the fun shots I got from that photo shoot (very impromptu, by the way).

Linda & Toby

Gus (my boy)

Toby

Mojo

Lily

Holly

Amadeus

Echo

I just wish I had saved these photos (specifically the "pretty green ones") in their original format. Instead I saved the edited versions ... oh well. I am hoping to get more candid shots in the future. Maybe some winter-themed perhaps?

Playing Catch-Up

I've sorely neglected to keep this blog updated. So here goes my Summer of 2012, in a nutshell.

A few weeks after the Rocking R Farm show (see previous blog post), I volunteered my time at a Project ASTRIDE fun show. To quote PA's mission statement:

Project ASTRIDE provides therapeutic recreational horse activities for individuals with cognitive or physical challenges.

 I roped my mom into coming along and we ended up spending the better part of a nice Saturday in June watching all the pretty ponies and their riders go through a series of walk/trot tests and other games (barrels, egg & spoon, etc). I had a good time and I think the riders did as well.

Here's a link to the Project Astride smugmg gallery.

So, after the PA show, next came the Lakeview Dressage show. This show was one where I hitched a ride with a couple other barn peeps, plus my barn owner/trainer. So the four of us, plus four horses, headed about two hours east. We had a great time and despite a few minor issues, it was a successful show.

Here's the photographic evidence:

Laura & Geronimo

Laura & Geronimo

Mojo

Laura & Mojo

Laura & Ty

After the Lakeview Dressage show, the next opportunity I had was back at Rocking R Farm for the annual August schooling show. Once again, we had a blast - perfect weather and nice turnout. I think the photos are proof of this.

 I had the opportunity to photograph the Oldenburg Inspections down in Delano, Minnesota. This opportunity came about due to the June show at Rocking R Farm. The usual photographer for the inspections had her own filly to present, so she asked me to stand in. I had a good time. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was fun, nonetheless. 

Here's a link to that album (lots of adorable young colts and fillies).

Next up was the 6th Annual Rocking R Farm Benefit Show (for Project ASTRIDE). Again, lovely show, lovely weather, excellent turnout. I think I captured the moments perfectly. See for yourself.

Stay tuned for the fall happenings at Ashley Blegen Photography.

New Name, Same Game

Not sure who reads this blog, but it's been A VERY LONG TIME since I've updated it. I'd like to try to start doing a weekly update, if nothing else at least every couple weeks. In case you didn't notice, I did change the name to reflect my new business venture. I went from BEAD Photography to Ashley Blegen Photography. BEAD stood for Blegen Elizabeth Ashley DeBoer, basically my initials. I've decided to start charging for my work, so to make everything as simple as possible, my business is just simply called Ashley Blegen Photography. Catchy, right?

Anyways, here's a few photos from my first paying jig.

Stay tuned for more photos in the future. I've got a benefit show I'm photographing this weekend. So I hope to have a nice turnout there.


 

Hoar Frost

Today, like I mentioned in the previous post, we had amazing hoar frost. The frost lasted til nearly 3:00pm. It was amazing ... and a great photo opportunity.

Here's some shots that are not equine-related.