Less than a 20-minute walk from the cottage is a a riding stable called Stillbrook Riding Stables. We saw some lovely horses while taking a shortcut back from dinner at Elmhirst's Resort and I wanted to come back with my camera to capture these beautiful animals.
I've never ridden a horse, but I have fond memories of seeing them up close as a child at the annual Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto. I still remember clearly seeing huge, hulking black darft horses at the fair. I had never seen anything so big in my young life!
This week, I was close enough to both pet and feed a draft horse (and of course, make some pictures, too). It's hard for me, as a born and rasied "city-boy" to describe the feeling of wonder that came over me simply by placing a hand on one of these amazing animals. So big, yet so gentle. And all muscle!
I hope you enjoy these images and that they fill you with a little wonder as well.
Making use of the Haze Effect in Lightroom CC, I made this image a bit more dreamy by adding some haze. The effect worked well on the horse itself, creating a soft glow around the animal.
The background was a bit hazy early in the evening, so I found myself working a lot with the Linear Gradient filter in Lightroom to tone down the sky and add some detail.
Going for a vintage, nostalgic feel in this image. Did it work?
Perhaps my favorite shot of the series, I love the depth created by the scale of the horses from foreground to background. Having Rice Lake in the background really completed the scene for me. Again, I called on the Linear Gradient filter to pull detail and color into the clouds.
Autumn update
We visited our equine friends this weekend and last, sharing some apples with them. This bunch knows when you have goodies!
I LOVE this shot, with the lake and fall colours in the background.
