sometimes crappy weather can really add to your images! back in august i went up to steamboat springs to cheer on a friend as he did his thing riding the bareback broncs in the local rodeo series up there. so before the rodeo i had to set about lookin for some horseys to shoot of course. well the weather turned pretty ugly and gray and then the rain started. so rather than get frustrated or put the camera away ... i said cool... i love bad weather!

sometimes bad weather can really add to an image. this shot that i took of the horses in the holding pen turned out to be one that i have really grown fond of. and while i could have used a flash to compensate for the dark skies and diminishing light ... i decided to go without the aid of a flash and instead use all of my other settings to get enough exposure from the shot. i had to push up my iso setting and that added to the grainy look of the shot which i think really works with the mood of the shot.

i also decided not to retouch any of the marks and scars on these horses. these horses are part of the rodeo circuit and they are working horses. they get pretty beaten up (cosmetically speaking .. the people that manage these horses take pretty good care of their herd). but i like that they are marked up and dirty and everything. they look tired and weary ... but i guess that is the life of a rodeo horse.

so even though the weather issues (the misting rain and dark skies) are not overtly noticeable in this image, it did force certain shooting decisions that i think really helped to create and interesting image.

Tags: horses, photography