Beamcatchers Has Moved

I'm currently in the process of moving all of Beamcatchers, with the exception of the Zenfolio galleries, over to new digs. We won't be taking down this blog, but all of the entries have been moved and all new entries will be made at the new location so if you follow us, please update your bookmarks.

Come on over to Beamcatchers new web site. The blog is now accessible from the header of the main site.

Thanks for stopping by and please leave us any comments you might have.

February Update

I don't have any images to share with you at this time, but I do have an update. The 2009 Horse Show season is quickly approaching, and starts in most locations in March 2009. Beamcatchers has been asked to provide photographic services for the Hertford Saddle Club's shows on the second Saturday of each month beginning next month. I am looking forward to another season and hope to see you there!

Have We Caught Yours?

Horses in the Cold

I haven't posted to my blog since just before the election!

Excuses:

I was overly political during the period. Well, no, not unless there's something wrong with being intelligently informed. However, I have been an avid political reader, and would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit more involved during the election cycle.

No current photographic assignments. Horse shows were over for the year.

Have I been in a bit of a funk? Maybe, this economy has been tough on us all to some degree.

Taking some well deserved R&R time to do other things? Some of that, they did release World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on November 13.

Working a little smarter analyzing loads of real estate sales data to ensure understanding of our local markets in this current state of decline we're experiencing? Most definitely - did I mention that analyzing data is one of things I love to do?

The 2009 horse show season is now underway, and shortly I'll provide you a link to the season's first images and even show you a couple of my favorites.


First however, I'd like to reintroduce a topic that was discussed last year. If you're finding you'd like to order a large number of images, many times you'll save money by asking us to prepare a photo book for you containing a number of your favorite images. We can prepare those for you in hardcover or softcover and in a variety of styles. All book pages are printed double-sided and can contain a single or multiple images. We can even customize the book with a special personal message from you to your child at no additional charge. We have reduced the prices for our books produced from currently available images and they are as follows:

Large (8.5" x 11")
Soft-Cover Book - $79.99 plus 2.50 per page + Tax and Shipping
Hard-Cover Book - $89.99 plus 2.50 per page + Tax and Shipping

Medium (6" x 8")
Soft-Cover Book - $79.99 plus 1.75 per page + Tax and Shipping
Hard-Cover Book - $89.99 plus 1.75 per page + Tax and Shipping

All photobooks have a 20-page minimum and are available in the following styles (all hard-cover books include a custom designed jacket/cover):

Art Collection


Formal


Picture Book


Modern Lines


Special Occasion


Stockbook (available with black or white background)


Also, take a look at the possibility for other custom designed products talked about in our previous post Custom Product Availability.

Now, as I promised, I want to share a couple of images from this weeks show. Enjoy these two and feel free to take a look at the rest of the collection in our Zenfolio library.




Have We Caught Yours?

Fall Surprises

Fall is a season of change, and this year we're looking at not only the typical seasonal changes, but also potential for a multitude of changes in our lives. Most of the changes we witness that aren't routinely observed occur without much anticipation - i.e. surprises. Change is more often than not a good thing regardless of how it's viewed at the time of it's occurrence, because the absence of change brings stagnation, examples of which include old ideas, already mastered techniques, and complacency. Now is a time for great change in our country's direction and in our lives as individuals, and I welcome the day we begin to heal this great nation from the atrocities committed and damage done to it by the administration of George W. Bush. November 4th is the potential for the beginning of HOPE. Beamcatchers officially supports Barack Obama for the President of the United States.


Please vote Tuesday if you haven't already.

On Saturday, Beamcatcher's attended a Fall Fun Show here in Pasquotank County. We want to take a few minutes to tell you about all the fun and present a few of our favorite images from the day. The fall show was a special after-Halloween show over twenty unique events complimentary to the current season. It was a beautiful "Indian Summer" type day! We were treated with temperatures well above 70 degrees with gorgeous sunny skies all day long.

Before I get into images from the show, let me just state the following. We were in attendance for almost every show this year, both consistent and committed to bringing our customers the very best coverage possible. We were recognized as being the official photographer for the show several times. We were both proud to serve you and blessed that you enjoyed our work.

Thank you!

In the future, know that we're here to provide professional photographic as well as graphical design services for all of our customers. Give us a call with your desires and we'll meet or exceed your expectations.

Speaking of costumes, there were a number of creative costumes in play on Saturday, on both horse and rider, young and old. We say princesses, knights, witches, queens, and bandits. And this little cowgirl tips her hat to the crowds.


There's not a single time I go out with my camera - whether it's to shoot just a few shots for fun or a thousand at a show that I don't feel a anticipatory high when I get back home. I'm literally excited to start transferring the files from the memory card to the computer and get that first look of "what I caught". As we're out there shooting, it's not always easy to see things that are plainly in front of our eyes. The images beginning popping up on the computer screen, and we find little gifts or surprises to delight the eye. These gifts teach us what to look for in the future, and why it's so true when you hear the following refrain from other professionals when asked for advice, "go shoot pictures". The following is one such example - a delightful little surprise from Saturday, a natural frame.


There were a number of intriguing events during Saturday's show - a few examples included Musical Poles, Bobbing for Apples, Egg and Spoon Class, Obstacle Course and Water Balloon Class. It was anything but a typical show and appeared to be enjoyed by all. Included in all of the special events was a few of everyone's favorites such as Texas barrels and pole racing. The tricky part about the pole racing was they were running double elimination poles and trying to get good shots from both sides kept yours truly busy shooting. The following are a couple of my absolute favorites on the day. I could easily see a 16' x 20' framed copy of either in a special place in the home.




One of my favorite events was the Ring Spear Class. Each rider was equipped with a trusty plunger...er lance, and sent whipping around the ring with a series of 6 rings to be speared completing the course in the fastest possible time. During this event, the sun was low in the sky and the images were gorgeous. One example can be found below:


Over 700 images are in the process of being uploaded in our latest gallery at Zenfolio. It was a great fall day and as always, we were there to catch beautiful beams of life for our customers.

Have We Caught Yours?

Fall Mudbowl at the Double T

I know I promised to post a write-up of my visit to Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona, but I've been so wrapped up with improving my appraisal reports which is requiring extra effort to ensure we're accurately capturing current market conditions in this area. I've also been developing graphics and desktop publishing as a consultant in addition to staying current with the latest events in the political and financial sectors. Sooo, I'm running behind in the photography and blogging arenas. I still haven't written the Antelope Canyon piece, but for now let's slosh ahead and talk about the October 18th Mudbowl at the Double T Farms here in Pasquotank County!

This was a day that took me back to last March when we photographed our very first Double T Farms show - lousy weather with fast action in a low light situation. While March was colder with sleet off and on, October was considerably wetter. The conditions on the field grew worse as the day grew longer, with the east end looking like some sort of mushroom soup - grey and yucky. I was thankful that despite the slippery conditions, everyone stayed in the saddle with no bad falls occurring during the day. With these conditions, the number of throw-aways goes up as the shutter speeds come down and the depth of field narrows, but we still managed to come away from the day with a respectable number of nice images of our mud-flinging riders.

The overall number of images taken on a wet, misty, rainy day like this was lower as the standard mode of operation was to 1) keep camera tucked inside jacket, 2) bring the camera out at the last possible second to catch the shot, 3) wipe the raindrops off of the lens filter, and 4) return camera to jacket. There were other interesting operating modes in play as the show progressed.

We caught Beth measuring the level of impurities in the rainwater with her tongue on multiple occasions.


Stevie Ray was assisting Beth in the water analysis, but waited until the rain hit the ground.


The "Smile To Chase Raindrops Away" award goes to this young fella!


Once again, Conley shows us how to ride with emotion.


And Jaimie rounds the poles as daylight begins to fade.


We are really looking forward to the final show of the year, the Fall Fun Show, on November 1st, and hope to catch your life beams while we're there! Our understanding is there will be horse and rider costumes and other special events that should be a lot of fun for everyone. We'll be back with more photos shortly after the show!

Have We Caught Yours?

Vegas Baby!

First of all, I want to take just a minute to apologize to all of the wonderful folks that attend the Double T Farms horse show each month. Earlier in the year we planned our vacation in the Las Vegas, NV area for the 5th through 12th of September as I try to attend to these things as early as possible to get good seats scheduled for show tickets, etc. I had everything all set for an on-time return early Saturday morning so I'd be able to attend and shoot the horse show, but American changed the flight schedules and I wasn't able to get back in time. To each of you I offer my apologies and look forward to seeing you in October.

Did I mention last year that in my opinion Cirque du Soleil's 'O' at the Bellagio is more than just a show - it's a life experience. Well, this year we saw Cirque du Soleil's KÀ at the MGM Grand, and while it's not "O", it's still pretty amazing and most definitely worth the time and money if you haven't seen it.


Next trip we will likely be seeing Criss Angel's Believe, which is opening next month at the Luxor. It'll be a couple of years before we get to that one however.

One image to share before moving on though - it's my favorite of Julie taken on the observation deck at the top of the Stratosphere following our lunch at the Top of the World Restaurant.


Now moving on to Arizona...

Just about anyone that is seriously interested in photography has seen images of, heard of, dreamed of, Antelope Canyon. According to the Wikipedia entry, "...is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest." On the morning of September 8, 2008, I visited Upper Antelope Canyon during the 10:30 am photographic tour provided by Chief Tsosie's Antelope Slot Canyon Tours. I'll leave you with one image tonight and then next post I'll talk about my adventure through this most "holy photographic shrine" and share some images with you. I'm simply not going to have time to finish it all tonight!


Have We Caught Yours?

Most Memorable Shots

Last time, right before I posted the introduction of custom products available from Beamcatchers, I promised to share a few of the photos from the August horse show at Double T Farms. I’d like to do that in a short post about how shooting the action in the ring is not the only source of subjects, and often not the source of the best photograph of the day. If you’d like to take a look at all of the action of the day, there are over 500 images in the associated gallery at Zenfolio.

While the action in the ring is the place where most everyone’s attention is focused throughout the day, as a photographer you shouldn’t forget the beauty of life is constant and all around you. While you certainly have to be focused when the rider is about to take his/her horse over the jump, try to remain aware of everything around you when the action is less demanding of your attention.

The following image is my favorite image from the entire afternoon, so much that I featured a graphic conversion of it in my last post. While moving around the ring, I noticed the scene and traversed a little further out of my way to get the shot, and the result was worth the few extra steps.


Horses are beautiful animals, and the featured animal at any horse show. Don’t forget about them while they’re not in the ring. Taking advantage of varying backgrounds and light, you can often get great portrait-style shots of them while they’re at rest on the sidelines.


Most horse shows also have other animals in attendance - our lovable pets, the dogs and cats. Who can resist taking a moment to stop and share a moment with one of them?


Both in the ring and out, Beamcatchers strives to catch beautiful beams of life from individual moments in time for you to save and share with your loved ones in the years to come.

Have We Caught Yours?