Anyone who knows me, knows my love and adoration for early morning shoots. Nothing, beats the gorgeous glow of morning sunlight. So, it should come as no surprise that I was STOKED to shoot cutters at James Payne Cutting Horses one morning.
This shoot was part of a project for one of our ongoing management clients, Bluebonnet Feeds. James Payne is a part of their Pro Rider program, and they had another project going on to capture video footage this same day--which made for a good opportunity to tag along and capture some still imagery. If you'd like to learn more about James Payne's equine nutrition program, you can check out this blog.
Interestingly, this was my first go at shooting cutting horses. It presented some unique challenges that I'm not necessarily accustomed to when shooting other equine sports--the main one being that you have to be outside the pen at all times. There's not an "in arena" photography option, per say, when it comes to shooting cutters--at least not if you want to guarantee that you won't be run over or in the way. And while main other arena sports don't let you "in" the pen, you typically have the option to shoot between fence rails. In this case, you don't because cutter work their cattle on solid fences.
Therefore, most of the cutting pen action was taken laying on the ground shooting underneath one of the side gates. It actually served as a really cool spot once I figured out where I wanted to position myself based on the action and the light.
Aside from these horses being some super cool athletes, they had one of the coolest working dogs I've seen in quite some time. I'm a sucker for a good working dog. And I learned something new when it comes to the term "settling steers." The two large, horned cattle you see in the pics are actually just there to settle calves when they rotate in new pens to work. These guys were HUGE! Larger than nearly every horse that walked in to work. After some research, I learned that they are actually Shorthorn steers, likely around 7-8 years old.
Enjoy the pics and thanks for stopping by! Gear info below. ;)
Camera: Canon 5D Mkiii | Lens: Canon 70-200 2.8L V3