Treasures: Textures

Posted on May 15, 2009 by Lori Faith
Texture from Ruidoso, NM

Texture from Ruidoso, NM

 

     Textures. We see them, feel them, incorporate them into our images. I treasure them. Every nuance and gesture, movement of light and shadow that paints them. I bring them home as artifacts from my texture treasure hunts. And when I’m on assignment, I can’t help bringing some home tucked into my image files like gems in my pockets.

     Often, they are a work of art “intact”. Perhaps I’ll crop in to a particularly interesting section and enhance the image, massaging it gently until it feels like I felt when I brought it into my heart rather than just what the camera captured. They become canvases for other images to nestle into, backgrounds for design projects and I play with merging other images into them with Photoshop’s blending modes.

     Can you tell what this texture is created from?

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Le Cadeau du Cheval Mural: Press Release

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Lori Faith
Panel 101: Cadeau du Cheval Mural

Panel 101: Cadeau du Cheval Mural

 

This press release was issued Thursday, September 18, 2008

(The print of the mural mentioned below is available through http://www.muralmosaic.com/Horse . When Lee recieved her artist copy, she very generously mailed it to me as a gift. Lee and I have become friends over the last year and we continue to collaborate. I look forward to more adventures with her.)

Cadeau du Cheval Mural:  Art and Photography

 In May 2008, Lori Faith Merritt was contacted by Lee Mitchelson (a renowned artist in Flagstaff) to provide photography for her submission to the amazing mural project, Le Cadeau Du Cheval.  She chose to represent the Morgan horses of Almanzo Wilder (Laura Ingall Wilder’s husband). Lori Faith scheduled a special photography session with a man she had photographed several times in Tucson, with the interesting name Robert Morgan, who has several Morgan horses. The resulting image was painted by Lee and is included in the mural at the juncture of the flank of the mural horse.

 The resulting mural wall is an amazing collage of art by many artists. The mural website says there will be a print available of the wall soon, and it is said they are working on a coffee table book. The wall is now in Canada, and will be touring.

 From artist, Lee Mitchelson:

I needed an extraordinary horse photographer with the gift of faith, someone who would be open to my ideas and willing to be trusting of me for some artist collaborations. I saw Lori Faith Merritt’s name. That was intriguingly appropriate. I saw perfect instinct in her work. Our professional relationship fell into place immediately and so did our kinship.

Lori works with such gut-level involvement that she is inside what she is photographing. She trusts her own judgment and she is a believer in possibilities. That translates into the faith I need. As an artist, I have collaborated in years past with a world-famous equine photographer as an illustrator for his books. I mention this only because those clever photographs have been for me completely surpassed by Lori’s work, and she has done it without the need to enhance or contrive anything to make horses different than the enchanting beings they naturally are. I have asked that she consider using me to illustrate her books when she publishes them! She brings something more to it. Maybe the warm and timeless breath of the warrior-angel horses are beside her. The raw beauty of Lori’s Mustang photos goes so far beyond what I can easily speak of. It feels like the hand of God on the back of my neck, like electricity, to see something I understand and love shown such honor. Primal.

Please visit this link to read more about the mural and the artist: http://www.muralmosaic.com/Horse/Panels/101.html

Lee’s website is http://www.mitchelsonsmountaingallery.com

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Audrey Hankins: First Light

Posted on May 13, 2009 by Lori Faith
Audrey Hankins: First Light

Audrey Hankins: First Light

    
     Audrey Hankins is a woman of leather and lace. Leather saddles, lace kitchen curtains. A cowboy poet who first impressed me with her poem Hollyhocks as I sat in the audience at a cowboy poetry gathering and who later impressed me with the way she brings poetry into her every word and gesture, I am blessed to know her now as a dear friend.
     When Audrey approached me to provide the photography and design for her first CD of cowboy poetry, I felt honored and was excited. I knew that the vision I had for this project would fit her very well. Good friend to both of us, Jim Jones, would supply the music to dance around her words and recite one of her poems as well.
     For a project like this, although I can do all the photography for a CD in one session, I prefer to spend some time with the artist. For Audrey, I visited her at her home in Wickenburg and stayed with her for a few days, photographing in several locations and talking until the wee hours of the morning about our lives and her dreams for this CD as we sat at her kitchen table and started to bring the images and design together.
     Audrey’s son lives in a nearby “horse town” and we went there so I could photograph horses, cattle, and a windmill for the center foldout in the morning light. I worked with the image to create a sepia toned artpiece with “hand colored” horses. The next morning, pre-dawn in uncomfortably cold weather, we headed into the desert east of her home and I laid on the ground, face down in the dirt and stickers (almost backed into a prickly pair as I moved to find the perfect composition), and created an evocative sillouette of Audrey in the first light of day. When we got back to the house and warmed up over coffee and toast, I brought up the images for her to see. Until then, she had another title for the CD. The image that is on the back traycard of her CD got us to talking and inspired her to rename it after one of her poems (the first poem on the CD), First Light. The blessing of that image made the cold and stickers insignificant. The cover/autograph page/inner traycard images were created at the ranch of her close friend Suzi Killman, western singer/songwriter and daughter of equine artist Hildred Goodwine. Audrey loves the cover image as she says it conveys a “come on in and have a cup of coffee” welcoming feel.
     The CD turned out to be as “Audrey” as can be…warm and welcoming and full of stories that are like the woman herself, a bit of leather and lace/sunshine and strength. First Light, which includes 17 original poems, is available for $17 postpaid, from Audrey Hankins, P.O. Box 688, Congress, AZ 85332. You can find out more about Audrey, read a few of her poems, and take a look at her poetry books here: http://www.cowboypoetry.com/audreyhankins.htm#Light
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"Stable" Enlightenment

Posted on May 13, 2009 by Lori Faith
Muck Stalls, Carry Water

Muck Stalls, Carry Water

     There is a story in ancient zen wisdom of heading out on the path to find enlightenment. Upon discovering a mountain,  first “the mountain is a mountain” then “the mountain is something else” and upon enlightenment you discover that “the mountain is a mountain” again. That truth and the saying “Chop Wood, Carry Water” inspired me to create this photographic print that hangs on my wall to remind me of the importance and truth of simplicity and hard work in the service of others.
     The image is of Kristin True of the White Stallion Ranch, whom I met riding towards the light of dawn as she started the day in service to her horses. I photographed Kristin and one of the WSR staff for a music project with Donnie Blanz for Blue Highways TV (division of RFD-TV) for a song called “Paint her Real” and after photographing them as they worked I can say that these ladies embody this ethic in everything they do.
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Sweet Laughter

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Lori Faith
The Honey Bee Dance

The Honey Bee Dance

    
Sometimes you have to stop and smell the prickly pair flowers. I was in my back yard photographing the new spring blooms last year and the bees were ecstatic. We’d just had a rain and when the sun came out the blooms exploded into life. This little guy had me laughing so hard I’m glad I had image stabilization on my lens. He would land, dive through the pollen, and resurface like a cliff diver. When he grabbed the stamen with his front legs and sat down on the pollen my curiousity brought me closer. He took hold of that stamen for dear life and pistoned his back legs like he was riding a bicycle. And the look he gave me is priceless. I still laugh when I see this image!
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Step Up into T.L.C.

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Lori Faith
Nancie Roarig, Dillon, and JJ

Nancie Roahrig, Dillon, and JJ

     In May of 2005, I photographed a wedding on the east side of Tucson that included a horse-drawn carriage ride for the bride and groom. I had an image “in my heart” that I spoke with the bride about and she loved the idea and so Two Loves was created during the wedding. (Two Loves will be discussed in a separate posting.) I loved the Clydesdale, Doc, and took a brief moment to thank the woman who drove the carriage and then dash back to the wedding. Later, I tracked down the woman to offer her a print of Two Loves and my relationship with Nancie Roarhrig was begun.
     Since that day, Nancie and I have come to know each other well. I have designed and now maintain her website, photographed for and designed her business cards and postcards, and provided photography on site at TMC pediatric wards that show her very important work. I even brought a 40″ Palomino gelding home somehow knowing that he would make an incredible therapy pony. (Yes, there will be a separate posting on Dillon, shown here in the photograph accompanying this entry.) I called Nancie on Easter morning a couple of years ago and offered him to her and the dream of his therapy work has proven to be very true. Beyond the business part of our relationship, we have the blessing of having found a friend in each other.
     Nancie is a nurse who has taken her need to nurture far beyond her job. She runs a non-profit organization called Step Up into T.L.C. Inc. (Theraputic Loving Caballos), whose mission is to “focus on bringing smiles, fostering therapeutic healing, both emotionally and physically and building self-confidence and social skills through people interaction with our horses.Our program provides this opportunity to children and adults with special needs, at risk youth, elderly/senior groups and the terminally ill.” In addition to the compassionate therapy work Nancie provides for seniors and children with her Clydesdale, JJ, and minis and ponies (including Dillon), she also provides pony rides for birthday parties and to fulfill the wishes of ill children. She’s even been known to rescue a horse or two.
     I believe in Step Up into T.L.C. and Nancie 100%. She is honest, authentic, and one of the “truest” souls you’ll ever meet. I invite you to visit her website, http://www.stepuptlc.org , and learn more about her work. And if it moves your heart to do so, consider donating something toward her cause. You’ll be glad you did.
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Cowgirl's Reflection

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Lori Faith
Cowgirl's Reflection

Cowgirl's Reflection

    A few years ago I attended a photography workshop with Jay Dusard, who is an iconic cowboy/western culture photographer, at the (former) Portreros Ranch in Tubac. In the early morning light we had two models in western garb with their horses available to us and we were working with the man as he moved in and out of the light of a large tree. I maintain awareness for opportunies other than what is right in front of me and I turned in a circle to see if I was missing anything. Often, my favorite images come from the space “around the main picture” and this example is one of those images. Waiting her turn, sitting easy in the saddle with her face turned up to the morning light, was our other model…both horses relaxed and her obvious enjoyment of the coming warmth on this chilly morning evident. I moved away from the group quietly to better compose the photograph and created this image, titled Cowgirl’s Reflection.
     I approached Jay and showed him what I was seeing. The morning light was just right to create a reflection on the still pond by the barn. The next 15 minutes or so were spent as a group photographing the model as she stood and rode on the other side of the pond, as we enjoyed the beauty of the scene.
     This image has a dreamy quality. What most people don’t see right away is that the reason for the mysterious feel of this photograph is this: It is upside down, showing the reflection in the water only!
The Cowgirl's Looking Glass

The Cowgirl's Looking Glass

    
The second photograph was made a few minutes later. Which one is your favorite?
 
 
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Inspiration Out of the Ashes

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Lori Faith
Flowers in the Santa Catalinas

Flowers in the Santa Catalinas

     I have lived in Tucson since 1969 with the Santa Catalina mountains as the backdrop to much of my life and a sanctuary for my soul. I was devastated when the mountains endured horrific fires in 2002 and 2003. This year during one of my visits, I was walking through the forest just east of my beloved Girl Scout camp, Whispering Pines, and gathering images from the mountain like a bouquet to bring home with me. There is still a feeling of loss although I can feel the re-birth.
     I came upon a fire burned trunk of a pine that had exploded in the heat. The entire center of the tree was gone and all that was left was about three feet of what was once a magnificent sentinel. Coming through a crack in the bark was a small bouquet of flowers, the roots grounded in the soil and mulch of the tree’s center. I was transfixed, exultant, blessed. I knelt in front of this small miracle and let the tears come, my spirit deeply touched and somehow renewed.
     This was the most beautiful bouquet I gathered on the mountain that day. The beauty of the flowers live in my heart.
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Inspiring a New Photographer

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Lori Faith
Ron Olson and Cisco at their ranch
Ron Olson and Cisco at their ranch

      Last Saturday morning I met local horse trainer Ron Olson before he conducted a clinic at his ranch that day. A kind, patient, calm soul who has an obvious bond with his lovely Tennessee Walker gelding, Cisco. He kindly acted as model for a woman I’m donating some mentoring to as she is a new photographer who’s been inspired by my photography and I feel she has potential as not only an up-coming photographer but more importantly as a passionately creative soul who just needs a bit of guidance to find her true path. I will be providing a weekend of mentoring to her over Memorial Day weekend as we follow horses through an 1,000 acre pasture in the Dragoons southeast of Tucson…a “herd dynamics” photography assignment that will involve no posing or manipulation of the horses, accepting the blessings of the gifts they choose to give us during these three days. I’ll be working with her on some technical camera assignments, the herd dynamics photography itself, and one portrait session involving at least one horse and person. She’s very excited and I look forward to sharing some of my experience and passion for photography with her to “jump start” her as she moves forward. After we return, I’ll write about the experience here and share her blog with you.

Ron Olson and Cisco
Ron Olson and Cisco
     Saturday morning session began with showing how I start with introductions and guidance to the person followed by a few minutes connecting with the horse. I explained that leaving out any connection impairs what could be the strongest imagery created by those connections. Ron brought out Cisco, on a loose neck line rather than halter and I pointed out the strength of their partnership and how we would be working with that blessing. I directed Ron and Cisco to an area halfway between the stable area and his house, in direct sunlight (about 1 and 1/2 hour after I would usually start a dawn session, so the light was already harsh) and started the dance of finding the best light and positions to best portray the relationship of the man and his horse. Here I emphasize “the relationship” of them, photographing the connection rather than just the physicality of man and horse. I introduced my student to a reflector and diffuser for the first time and saw
 her eyes light up when she realized that she could do so much more with the light. Up, down, around…the dance continued as I asked her questions and pointed out possible disapointing images and their wonderful counterpart images of artistic expression.
Cisco

Cisco

     An example of Art over Snapshot is the headshot to the left of Cisco. In full sun, his black coat in the harsh light reflected in tones of grey. In the shade, he went to deep black, but lost detail and shine. I created two images, one in full sunlight and one in the shade with a reflector directly in front of Cisco which send gold light to his face and a bit of his neck. I then showed the two images to my student and she loved the one in full sun. Granted, the portrait in full sun had a more animated horse with neck up/ears perked and lots of sun that said “Look at me”.  What I didn’t like about it was the shadow that took the light off his eyes and face and the highlight blowout caused by the reflection of sun on his neck. Eyes go to light first, so the focal spot of the “sun” image was right in the middle of Cisco’s neck. I could have used a polarizer to help reduce the reflection. That was not my vision for the image I wanted, so we moved Cisco into the shade for the look I desired. I prefer this image, with it’s gold reflection in the eye and subtle detail. Each photographer has a vision and I have found it best for me to follow my passion and intuition in the creation of my images. This may not be the way another photographer would have created a portrait of this horse and that is wonderful! Individuality and unique expression is exciting to me.

 

Cisco connects

Cisco connects

      I’m also including another image of Cisco, in direct sunlight about an hour earlier, that I enjoy the feel of. I have offered a mini-session to Ron as a gift for his time and will create two more portraits of Cisco I already “see in my heart” that will be photographed at the exact time of day I know will work for the light I’ll paint them with.  I thank Ron and Cisco for their generousity of spirit and look forward to working more with this woman when we go to the Dragoons.

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Heart Sessions: Devotions to Culture and Spirit

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Lori Faith
Rusty McCall at family ranch in NM

Rusty McCall at family ranch in NM

     Heart Sessions are photography sessions that are donated or deeply discounted for people and animals who have touched my heart in exceptionally meaningful ways. These sessions are often donated, including travel and Artist Choice images when I can afford it. Large prints and other desired media/merchandise is deeply discounted for the recipients. The resulting images are also provided for press releases, publications, and websites gratis, with only the request for photographer’s credit and proper respect/credit given to the Heart Session recipient.
     I devote myself to documenting and honoring culture and spirit in all of my photography and I donate time/services/photography to many rescues and cultural events and altruistic offerings. What, then, is different about Heart Sessions?  These sessions are very specific “calls to action” inspired by direct experience and/or from hearing about the person or animal(s) from those who’ve lives have been touched by them. Often they are given priority over my own scheduled work and  personal needs due to circumstances that precipitate planning quickly. Sometimes I get a few days to plan it out yet many of these Heart Sessions have occured within hours or even minutes from the time my heart was first moved by these exceptional souls.
    
Examples of Heart Sessions:
     In  the image you see here is Rusty McCall, a 22 year old seventh generation rancher and Cowboy Poet. At four years old, his mother Deanna held him up to the microphone at the Elko Cowboy Poets gathering and so became the youngest cowboy poet to perform at Elko. He is a bit wild(normal for his age and gender) and does best out on his horse riding the circle on his favorite horse (shown here), Pardner. There will be at least one entry devoted to Rusty here in my blog, so watch for that. The short(er) story, for this entry’s purposes, is that I met Rusty a couple of years ago at the Prescott gathering in August and was immediately impressed by his charisma and talent and the way he brightened the day of anyone he met with a smile and a joke…and it was evident by watching him that his friends were true and loyal, earned by Rusty through his ethics and devotion to them. The only place this young man sits in the middle is on a horse…everything else about him goes to the extremes of serious grace and exhuberant laughter. The year I met him he had been diagnosed with neurofibromatosis (tumors on the nerves, in his case in the brain) and he had some paralysis on the right side of his face with some related sight and hearing problems. Last year, he had brain surgery and had to go through an extensive recovery period.
     This year, when he found he needed another intensive surgery (brain) he made the decision to do so after three western gatherings, Elko, Cochise, and Alpine. He made it to Elko and I was looking forward to seeing him in Sierra Vista for the Cochise gathering, but he was not well enough to attend. It was there that I spoke with his mother Deanna about coming to NM to photograph him at their ranch. Diane Tribitt wanted to do an article on Deanna with a portion of the article dedicated to Rusty and they spoke of making that happen. Shortly after the Cochise gathering, I drove to the McCall ranch in NM and spent a few days with them photographing Rusty up horseback as well as with his mother and father and their horses. Rusty surprised me with his willingness to try anything and once I turned around to see him jumping Pardner off a wash-bank with ease and perfect balance (Rusty has balance issues). So, when I laughed and asked him if he’d be willing to do it again, he did…five more times! Rusty cannot be kept down in body or spirit.
     When I returned to Tucson, Rusty was ever on my mind as I thought about the Alpine gathering coming up in just one week. His last performances before his surgery, just three days before in fact. I talked with my husband who immediately said to go. I was un-decided as my heart said I MUST go and my brain said I couldn’t afford it. My heart and the blessing of my husband won out and I drove to Alpine, TX, for the gathering. Every time Rusty had a performance I was there to photograph him. He was on the main stage on Saturday night and after a phenomenal recital of a poem joked with the audience. “Some of you know I’ve had some physical challenges lately and I’m really glad to be here. In just a few days they are going to do brain surgery on me. I don’t know why since I don’t have a brain.” How could I NOT donate Heart Sessions to a young man like this? One print I have gifted the family with, so far, is a 16×20 mounted photograph of the one heading this entry…an image to inspire him to work towards getting back on Pardner to once again ride the circle. (Read up on Rusty’s progress in upcoming entries here and on this page: http://www.cowboypoetry.com/mccalls.htm  There will be an upcoming article on Deanna and Rusty McCall in I.M. Cowgirl, by Diane Tribitt and I will be donating images to that article. I’ll update you as I find out more about the issue it will be in.) The following images are of Rusty in Alpine, TX for the Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
Rusty at Alpine Gathering (With close friend Gail Steiger)

Rusty at Alpine Gathering (With close friend Gail Steiger)

Other examples of Heart Sessions include a 14 year old Irish Wolfhound who was blind and deaf and had been the primary companion for a widow, an octogenarian Cowboy/Cowboy Poet who has long inspired me and others with her fortitude and ability to trail-blaze who went riding in the desert about an hour north of me (an opportunity not likely to present itself as she lives in another state), a 27 year old gelding who had helped “his woman” to ride through the obstacles life was challenging her with, a western singer/songwriter whose deeply compassionate nature touched all who met him as he fought cancer. (The Western world mourned when we lost him four months after his session. His widow now has a book full of 8×10′s of him that bring her joy.) Spirit moves me to continue these Heart Sessions.
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