Friday, November 18, 2011

Horsing Around in Virginia

November in Virginia means horses and foxhunting. The hunts have been beautiful so far this year and I am looking forward to a great season and plenty of good photographs.

I did a shoot for the horse.com folks last weekend. The crew had a great time playing with the horses and dressing them in the latest gear. The setting was a beautiful farm in Orange, Virginia, and our primary models, Taylor and Chance, played their roles well.

These horses have wonderful, charming personalities and seemed intent on showing themselves off in the best possible light. Seen here is Taylor after his bath, a little feisty drying under the heat lights, getting ready for his shoot.

Patience is called for with animal subjects, but they rewarded it in so many ways, particularly when we let them out in the paddock to model at will. I just wish I had seven cameras trained on them from every angle--the cool Fall weather brought out their high spirits and it was exhilarating trying to capture them playing together.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Virginia Grape Harvest is In

It has been an eventful fall for Virginia vintners as they struggled with late season rains and uncooperative conditions.  I spent the last couple of months photographing the beautiful vineyards of central Virginia and the men and women who make our local wines.  Though I started out to simply capture the Viognier harvest, I soon became enraptured by the process, and found myself out early and late as the Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cab Franc grapes came in to be sorted, crushed and barreled.

Later in November, I will have the season on display at the Horse and Hound Gastropub, the exhibit will be called "Vendange".  Will let you know when I confirm the date.  In the meantime, special thanks to Matthieu Finot, Henri and the entire King family, Jake Busching at Mt. Juliet, Kirsty Harmon at Blenheim, and Frantz Ventre at Sweely Estates as well as the many others who opened their vineyards to me and took the time to call me with their schedules, explain their process and share their experiments with me throughout the season.  



I have also been working closely with Marcie Siegel who has opened many doors within the wine industry in Virginia introducing me to the key individuals within the industry. It has been great fun and I look forward to tasting this year's vintage.  Cheers!