Equine Photographers Podcast

I love doing these podcasts It is great fun to do these podcasts, and I hope to get more regular with them. One way to make things move along more quickly is to cut down on the amount of information that I include on the website. Going forward, I am going to share a little and some photos, but not try to tell about everything that was discussed in the podcast. You will have to listen for that. Talking to Lori McIntosh was great fun She grew up in a family of photographers and she loved horses and has been riding horses since being a small child. Her dad is a master photographer and he had three studios in Virginia until he retired. At 88 years old he still enjoys photography and is writing books. When Lori was ready to become a photographer he was able to connect her with some of the best photographers in the country to mentor her. She got to listen to a cruise ship full of photographers with her father when she was just starting out. SHOW NOTES: Growing up in a photography studio Giving her parents a break by going to horse camp / stables As a little girl she used to help her dad, calling clients to tell them their orders or proofs were ready to pick up. She also spent time each summer at a summer horse camp when she lived out east. Now she is located in Auburn California. In this photo from her Facebook page she explains that she was always a mischievous little girl and had burned a hole playing with matches in this dress which her father had brought home from a trip to Mexico. Even with the hole, she loved this dress and wore it out wearing it. She speculated that her parents loved the opportunity of sending her to horse camp every year. Website: http://www.lorimcintoshphotography.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoriMcIntoshPhotography/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lorimc26/?eq=lori%20main&etslf=10566 Email: [email protected]    Lori still rides today and participates in Endurance riding and has ridden the Tevis in California, one of the oldest point to point 100 mile Endurance events in the country. As she speaks about her equine competitive partners, you can hear how much she bonds and loves her horses. Some of Lori’s work: SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE Also, please use the SHARE buttons at the bottom of the page to share The Equine Photographers Podcast with other equine photographers that you may know.  

Starting back up after a pause in the podcast I hope to get onto a schedule again after a hiatus from the podcast. Hopefully everyone who has subscribed will get this new episode. Please share it and spread the news that there are going to be new episodes. I have to admit that I had a bit of a cold and that I am a bit out of practice and I jumped in without even introducing Pam. Please know that I will be trying to get back in the swing of things with interviews with people like Pam Gabriel and other photographers you admire. Thanks, Peter I’ve enjoyed Pams work for some time and it was a pleasure to here about her journey with horses and photography. Pam Gabriel Photography Pam has made a point to keep horses in her life, making choices along the way to learn and grow in her knowledge and abilities working with horse adding photography as another way to stay connected to her community and to horse people and their horses. She was born with a horse bug and they have always been a love of her’s. Website: http://www.pamgabrielphotography.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/pamgabrielphotography Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/pam.kippergabriel Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kippergabriel/ SHOW NOTES: Pam’s story with horses We started out with Pam’s story with horses. Although she said she didn’t grow up with horses, it seemed to me that horses have been a big part of her life since a pretty young age and that she decided to make horses a part of her life throughout her life. After going to college majoring in art, she stopped college and went to be with horses. She wanted to see what it was like to be in the horse business. Equilibrium Horse Center was her first opportunity. She explains her journey up to now. Pam’s start with photography She started with photography when she was at a horse camp. Her parents gave her 4-5 rolls of film and a camera to record her experience , but when she came back only one roll had her friends and acquaintances from the camp while the other four rolls were her pictures of her new equine friends, I mean horses that is. She started her business 7-8 years ago with Pam Kipper Photography, then got married and changed that to Pam Gabriel Photography. There are probably some pictures still floating around with Pam Kipper Photography, but mostly it has been the new name. She still has a horse that she raised from a weanling. He is 17 years old now. She hopes to get a portrait of her with her horse some time before something happens to him. She also loves dogs and lots of horse people have dogs, then she knew kids at the barn and that led to shooting seniors (high school grads in their last year).    One day when I’m no longer teaching, then photography will be something that I can keep doing. We discussed her pricing and how she views things. We discussed marketing and how she gets the word out about her photography. In the slow months, winter in Minnesota, she shares pictures that she has taken some time back. She looks over the pictures from Sombrero Ranch shoot with EPNET and re-edits those and shares them to keep her self out there. She thought she did maybe 20 seniors this past year. Horses are spring summer and fall. She wants to do more with dogs. She can do those in the winter in her living room with studio lights inviting friends to bring their dogs for a day of shooting. SUBSCRIBE,

Thanks Kirstie Marie for a great introduction for Matt Cohen. Matt Cohen Rodeo Photography Website: http://www.mattcohenphoto.com Blog: http://www.mattcohenphoto.com/blog/ Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/1115/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattcohenphoto Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattcohenphoto/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmatthewcohen SHOW NOTES: Matt describes himself as a city boy. He didn’t really have any exposure to horses at all until he was sent by a local paper to cover a rodeo for one evening. He started his career as a photographer shooting high school sports for several local papers. On that first night at the rodeo, he decided to come back for all three days of the event and was hooked. With high school sports you are just shooting one thing. For example with football, you have about 10 minutes of shooting time spread out over an hour. But, with rodeo you have constant action and there are 4-5 completely different events to shoot. Each event although it involves horses is completely different from the other. This is how Matt describes what intrigued him with rodeo shooting. The other thing that makes it a whole lot more fun is that you can get right in there. Between events you can chat with the riders and you have access. With other professional sports you are nowhere near the participants. Even when you are on the side lines, you are 10 to 20 feet from the players. You certainly are not allowed on the field. Everything has horses. Even with the bull riding there are the pick up riders that go in to rope the bulls and get them back in the pens. Social media Matt is on pretty much everything. When he started, he just figured he would put the best pictures out there and figure out how to make some money with it. Facebook seemed to be the key to that as riders were tagged, then their sponsors would see the images and I would make connections with them for additional work. He has 56,000 followers on Instagram, but it does not lead to a lot of business for him. He tends to spend more time on Instagram because he likes the format better. You see more images on Instagram and less “other stuff”. But, Facebook has been the social media that has performed in terms of helping him make the connections. Making money in Rodeo Photography He does not use the old model of shooting with the hopes of the riders wanting images of their rides. He works directly with the rider sponsors and only does a very little bit of selling to riders. Sponsors are looking for outstanding images for promotional purposes. Autograph prints, trailer wraps, bill boards, and other promotional materials. He does nothing on spec. He won’t travel great distances to a rodeo unless he knows that he has several sponsored riders at that event and the pictures are already spoken for. He questions whether the old model is very workable any more. The better riders have been there and done that already and they don’t buy 8 x 10s. It took him a long time to get to where he is today. As editorial diminished, he moved more and more of his business to commercial. It used to be that Sport Illustrated, a cover for example or a two page spread, was a real payday. Now instead of a couple thousand dollars, you are looking at a couple hundred bucks. Now they have laid off all their photographers and they get whatever pictures they can find. Matt said he has seen covers that were out of focus. It’s sad, he said, when he first started there was more in editorial.

In a changing market with changes in photography and changes in the economy their have been publications that have ceased to exist and others have cut back on photography budgets. Stock photography has also changed over the years. Throughout all this change, Shawn Hamilton has been able to run a successful editorial, commercial and stock photography business focused exclusively on equine photography. My wife an I have been to the Rolex Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Kentucky for the cross-country jumping portion of the event many times over the past many years. One year I had the pleasure of introducing myself to Shawn as she photographed at the water jumps. She had a very large lens which I think was a 300mm prime lens. I’m not sure where this picture  (below) was taken, but this is pretty much how I remember her on that day 4 or 5 years ago. For me it is just a 2 hour drive from Dayton, Ohio, however Shawn comes from Canada to shoot the event each year rain or shine. But, as the interview progresses, you’ll hear from Shawn how she morphs her business to meet the needs of the day and now may also create some offerings that give her a chance to “give back”. Website: http://clixphoto.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CLiXphotocom Email: [email protected]        SHOW NOTES: As with every episode we start out talking about the origins of interest in both photography and especially horses. She got her first 35mm camera from a rich ante when she was about 10 years old. She started riding lessons when her mom traded fabric for riding lessons. She started her business in the mid 80s. She picked up The Photographers Market and entered all the magazines she had an interest in into a data base. She was working with a data base management company at the time. After a pregnancy leave of several months when she came back to work she realized that she wanted to go full-time with photography, so she quite her job and dove in. It took about a year of shooting horse shows and three-day events before she would say that she was actually making money as a business. She started out as a show photographer. In order to make it as an editorial and commercial equine photographer in Canada, you must have clients in the USA. With the down turn in the economy she went back to school to learn more about writing and she has refocused on travel photography and writing, but still focused on equine vacation opportunities. National Geographic Traveller Magazine UK version Her recent accolade was her photography in National Geographic Traveller Magazine UK version. Shawn had taken a 7 day trip crossing the Andes Mountains from Chile to Argentina. A National Geographic writer had taken the same trip, but the photographer she had did not work out for whatever reason and they were able to use Shawn’s photography instead. It’s been in the works for some time and was just published recently. She is still looking for a copy of the magazine. 30 years photographing the Rolex Three Day Event She has only missed two over those thirty years. Once because she was pregnant and another because she was living overseas. It used to be as an assignment photographer for several publications, but now she does the photography there for stock. She still shoots for several clients, but not like she used to. There are so many photographers at the event these days so the competition and the availability of good images is much greater. In any case Canada is still gray from winter and coming down to the Rolex where it is already spring, inspires her and gets her stock photography Fine Art Equine Photography

Where to Find Christina: * Instagram: http://instagram.com/christinascalera * Twitter: http://twitter.com/creativeatlaw * Facebook: http://facebook.com/christinascalera * Website: http://christinascalera.com * Email: [email protected] * Periscope: @cscalera * You can ask Christina questions here: http://www.christinascalera.com/contact1 Photo by Shelby Rae Photographs Christina is an attorney based in Atlanta GA. NEW? START HERE TRADEMARK REGISTRATION BLOG STORE AFFILIATES SPEAKING CONTACT If you’ve ever complained that you love what you do but HATE the business side of things, you’re in the right spot. Christina’s mission as a lawyer for creative entrepreneurs is to help them fulfill their life’s work by creating beautiful businesses from the inside out. She provides the creative world with accessible, affordable legal solutions. Whether you need a last-minute contract template that covers your butt, a painless trademark registration or want to learn more to empower yourself to run your business well, legally speaking, Christina has you covered. SHOW NOTES: Christina has been a show rider for many years. She loves horses and horse people since she has competed with her arab horse for 19 years. Disclaimer: This is general information and does not constitute legal advice. Here is her official disclaimer from her website: THE CONTENT ON THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE AND DOES NOT ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. CHRISTINA IS LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN GEORGIA AND FILE FEDERAL TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT REGISTRATIONS FOR CREATIVES ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. SHOULD YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE FOR MATTERS THAT DO NOT CONCERN GEORGIA LAW, PLEASE SEEK OUT A LICENSED ATTORNEY. SOME STATES MAY CONSIDER THIS CONTENT ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. How do you get legal advice? What does it mean to “retain” an attorney? What does it mean to “retain” an attorney? How do you get a consultation from an attorney? When calling attorneys look for an attorney that is a “good fit” for you and for your particular needs. For example, a family law attorney may not be helpful to you about setting up your business and registering your images or if you had problems with regard to intellectual property rights. Contracts – When and why do you need a contract? Whenever you are forming a relationship with a person or company, it is appropriate to have a contract describing your relationship. Christina explains that many people do not realize that when someone presents you with a contract, that it can be changed. In fact you need to make changes to make the contract agree with what your relationship will be before you sign it. Don’t think of it as something fixed and not changeable. If you don’t feel comfortable with something, you should change it. Then it is something to negotiate with the other pe...

One big family It is interesting interviewing show photographers and finding that one thing they love about what they do is getting to know the riders as friends over time. Andrew and Stacy do this to the nth degree and hire people who will continue with their sales philosophy and the feeling of family in their business. It sounds like they have a blast shooting and selling their photography at these shows. I would love to spend the day with them and just watch how the customer experience works. The camera came first for Andrew Andrew grew up around professional and avid amateur photographers so for him photography came first before the horse. He was very active with photography through college but lost interest for a while as he learned his new career after college.  For several years he worked at Disney World, a perfect place to learn about customer experience and customer satisfaction. For Stacy the horse came first as long as she can remember Stacy grew up with horses and in competition and still competes with her own horse. She knows the joy of owning her horse and the excitement of hunter/jumper competition first hand. She participates in upper level competition in the sport and has connections both as a participant for many years and now as a part of Andrew Ryback Photography. For Andrew, dating a young lady with a horse (Stacy, that is) led to photographing her in her hunter/jumper activities. As her boyfriend and then as her husband Andrew followed her to her shows and brought his digital camera to fill the time and photograph her events. Continuing to photograph his wife and sometimes other friends at the shows Andrew was invited to take some pictures by show managers. He did two shows for two years before things started to grow quite quickly. He started as a weekend part-time business in show photography, but it soon became apparent that he could go full-time with this. Both Andrew and Stacy find this entrepreneurial adventure to be fun as a couple. Now he is full-time photography and is doing about 50-60 shows each year. Understanding customer experience and customer service Stacy&#8217;s family background included some entrepreneurs so she understands customer experience and she does a lot at the sales end of the business. She maintains her corporate job and helps out with management of the business and the employees as well as running the sales office at the shows when she can. Her vacation time is spent either participating in hunter/jumper competition and/or making the sales end of the business run smooth as silk. Join me now in my interview with Andrew and Stacy of Andrew Ryback Photography SHOW NOTES Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewrybackphotography Website: http://www.andrewryback.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Andrew-Ryback-Photography-158188154858/ We started out asking about which came first, as I do with each of these podcasts. Andrew shared his story and Stacy shared her&#8217;s. He started with the camera from way back and Stacy started with horses from way back. As we start talking about the business they discussed finding the right kids to hire who love photography and horses. Andrew has a team of photographers that make it possible to take on the shows that have multiple arenas. His wife, his dad and other teens and college students make up their team. It sounds like perhaps it is a lot of work to keep things organized for each show. Camera Settings and exposure Click on video button on this photo: <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-deco...

I contacted Jon because I saw some of his farm call images. As I explored his website, I found out that his main gig is Saddle Horse Shows from all over the country. I&#8217;ve been wanting to have some interviews with show photographers, so I was delighted when Jon was willing to come on the podcast and tell us about his history with horses and his equine photography business. What makes a great horse show photographer? How do you learn to run a horse show business? These are some of the questions that we answered in today&#8217;s podcast with Jon McCarthy of Jon McCarthy Photography. SHOW NOTES: Website: www.jonmccarthyphoto.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Jon-McCarthy-Photography John started college as a pre-med major, then discovered horses. Shortly he transferred to William Woods University for an Equine education. It was there that he started to experiment with photography. Jon got the photography bug in College after getting the horse bug He had lots of subject available to photography. Then he started shooting some of the lessons, people working with their horses, etc. This started him on the path toward horse show photography. Learning what was expected from various breeds and disciplines is important This is also when he was able to learn about various breeds and what was needed and expected for &#8220;best images&#8221; for the breed or discipline. He graduated with a degree in equestrian science with the intention of being a trainer. He got a job at a large Morgan operation. Finding a mentor in the show world He went to show and introduced himself to the top name in Morgan horse show photography. In talking to him, it became clear that this is the direction that he wanted to go in. He was invited to help out with an upcoming show. He was able to work for him on some shows and still to this day he is Jon&#8217;s go to person for learning and building his business. Jon started booking some larger shows that were coming in from this mentor when he was unable to take them due to prior bookings etc.,  he would pass them along to Jon. Jon does about 26 shows a year at this time. Ideal shows are 100 head or more. Shows used to be huge, but now many shows are multi-breed formats in order to bring in enough horses. Where before there might be hundreds of Morgans, now there might be 60 head Morgans, 30 Saddlebred, and then additional horses of various other breeds. Reflecting back, his first year he didn&#8217;t feel the quality of his images (getting the right shots and timing) was very good. After working with his mentor and shooting at those shows and getting trained and feedback from this great mentor, he improved greatly and was able to get out on his own much better. He still has shows that he does with this mentor every year. They talk business and images and work together to get the best possible products (best images out there) for their show participants. Jon McCarthy Photography is set up for people to make selections at the shows, but he does not do actual printing at most of the shows he works. There is just too much work getting the images and preparing them so people can make selections. He does all the printing and culling and post production himself. His trailer has selection stations (computers) and he has someone there to help in the process of placing orders while he is out shooting. Between classes, they upload and prepare the images for viewing. Why does Jon LOVE doing horse show photography? What makes horse show photography a fun business for you , Jon?  He loves the relationships he develops with people all over the country. He loves traveling across the country and exploring.

A Texas portrait equine photographer When I was exploring for new people to interview, I came across Kirstie Marie Photography in Texas. I put off calling her because I had just interviewed another photographer from Texas, so I signed up for the Kirstie Marie email list. Once or twice a week I have been getting samples of beautiful horse and rider portrait sessions she is having. The emails are very graphically interesting and personally inviting and you are left with wanting more. It was time to interview Kirstie of Kirstie Marie photography. Filling a void and knowing what you would want as a consumer I expected to be talking to someone who had been doing equine photography for a very long time, but I will call Kirstie a relatively new photographer on the scene since she picked up her first digital camera in 2012. Then as she was planning her wedding she decided that she would pick up a Contact 645 roll film camera and after a year of practice in an area felt a need to fill, portraits of riders with their horses, she created her price list and web site and launched. The importance of not launch when you are in &#8220;Beta&#8221; During that first year before she charged anyone for her services, she considered that her business was in &#8220;beta&#8221; and she developed her portfolio and abilities until she felt she was ready. In our interview she explains how and WHY she does things the way she does and why as photographers we should be clients of other photographers. I think you will find the interview very informative and inspiring. Kirstie is very business savvy which shows in all the choices she makes relative to her branding, website, and marketing that she does with her valued customers. http://kirstiemarie.com https://www.instagram.com/kirstieeemarie/ http://kmplearn.com She started with dressage lessons at 3. You can see her history with horses on her website. SHOW NOTES: Kirstie picked up a camera in 2012 while in college and planning her wedding. She started with digital, then picked up a Contact 645 film camera (shoots 120 and 200 roll film). Using her own money she practiced for a year shooting film and developing her product and portfolio before telling people she was going to charge them for her services. She was making sure she had something professional. She did not want to put something out there in &#8220;beta&#8221;. Medium format film images included in every shoot She still shoots film some on each session (not 35mm, but 120 and 220 roll film). She has nice digital gear now as well and edits the digital images to look like the film images that come back from her pro film lab. Now she has a Hasselblad as her film camera and is very pleased with its very fast and accurate automatic focus. Professional and part-time and the importance of outsourcing Kirstie has a full-time career and her photography business is part-time mostly on weekends. She loves both so she has no plan on changing the current mix any time soon. She likes two to 4 sessions per month, but is a softy and when people call with urgent requests she tries to work them into her schedule. She explained that one time she had a very over packed period of 6 weeks with 16 sessions. Yikes! About being a customer of photographers Kirstie is a customer of photographers to learn more about how they run their businesses and to explore how she feels about the experience with other photographers and determine how to improve the experience of her own clients. Kirstie feels strongly that you should put yourself in your client&#8217;s perspective as a customer of photography. I would have to agree with her and would encourage you to do the same. Spend some money and have some portraits made from time to time...

HELLO, I’M ANNA. A FINE ART EQUINE AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER BASED ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND. How do you gain instant recognition and memorability? After reading about being the purple cow in a marketing book, Anna decided on the name Purple Horse Design. One of the many little points we discuss about Anna&#8217;s quick start-up of her equine photography business in Maryland. Lots of energy and enthusiasm and planning and practice have brought her along amazingly fast. Listen to her enthusiasm and ideas and learn from the new kid on the block here on the Equine Photographers Podcast. I had seen some discussion online about Anna&#8217;s Instagram account with over 60,000 followers. People asked, were these all her own images? How old is she? Then looking at her facebook page, she looks to be a teen ager from her profile picture, but instead I found out that she is in her 30s and has a young daughter and up until a recent illness, she has pursued her equine photography business with an amazing amount of energy and creativity. She only started in 2013. You can hear the joy she gets from photographing horses and their owners and you can listen today about how she plans and practices each thing before rolling it out to the public. But, even the best planning intentions can not prevent word of mouth advertising from putting the cart before the horse such that she has been playing catchup trying to get her paperwork and other things in order for her business as demand for her services flourished. I hope that you will enjoy this interview with Anna Smolens of Purple Horse Design. Website: http://purplehorsedesigns.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/purplehorsedesigns Email: [email protected] Instagram Account:  purplehorsedesigns SHOW NOTES Introduction The horse came first. She started loving horses when she was only 2 or 3 years old. Started lessons at the age of 6. Anna still has the horse she got when she was only 13 years old and still rides him. He is frequently a model for her test shoots or just practice shooting as well. She managed a horse farm and was a trainer for a time. A move to the Eastern Shore of Maryland took her away from the horse business into retail for a while. She has always loved photography too. She had an SLR in high school. Her equipment was ruined when she got run over by an Andalusian stallion and as a poor student she just left photography alone for about 8-9 years. She started a website design business for some extra cash, but it quickly brought her back into photography. She put her web design business aside to start her equine photography business. Her love of photography is welded to her love of horses and it is what she LOVE, LOVE, LOVES. She wanted to do things in order, but she has been playing catch-up when she did some practice shoots to build her portfolio and word of mouth spread the news that she was talented and boom, she had a business. She does some local events and shows. It gains you exposure. She does a local breeding farm and their events as well. She shoots everybody and has a sign-up sheet to get emails. She gets all the emails from the show managers and then she sends out a link to everyone and presents &#8220;DEALS&#8221; to get the attention of the participants. She has had great response promoting packages or deals. Private portrait sessions are what she absolutely LOVES and this part of her business is the majority. Mini Sessions at $200 per with 4 participants required, full custom packages starting at $795.00 and go up to $1695.00. &#8220;PLEASE DO NOT STEAL&#8221; is right on the images online using Shoot Proof service.

Where did Tony Stromberg come from to get to where he is now? This is from the About Tony on his website and I would encourage you to go over and read more as this is only the first couple of paragraphs describing his journey. After successfully spending over 20 years as a high-end advertising photographer in San Francisco, I found myself disenchanted, burned out, and ultimately receiving no nourishment from the work I was doing.  On the outside, I had everything anyone would want, but my inner landscape was barren and I began “searching” for my lost spirit. When horses came into my life in the mid-1990’s, I realized that I had found my teachers, and the connection that I have developed with horses has helped steer my life in a completely different direction. Horses have taught me so much in the time that I have spent with them. They have taught me about the power of authenticity, honestly, and integrity, and they have taught me the true meaning of leadership and relationship. They have also taught me about living in collaboration and community, rather than the model that our society embodies, which is about competition and “getting ahead of the rest”. In my interview with Tony we go from where he was to where he is now. Horses continue to take him to better places where he has rediscovered things that he had lost in the competitive rush of being everything to everybody as a commercial photographer. Finding horses probably saved him. I hope you will come and enjoy my interview with one of the top 10 equine photographers in the world. SHOW NOTES His website: http://tonystromberg.com His Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TonyStrombergPhotography When I talked with Tony he had 799,900 Likes on Facebook. In the last two weeks it is now well over 808,000 likes. By the time you hear this it may reach 1 million for all I know. People are captivated by his powerful images and want to see more. Listen to hear how this came to be along with the frustrations and benefits of social media. 60 degrees in February in New Mexico (We started with just a little small talk) Tony started in photography as a commercial advertising photographer in California For 20+ years Tony had a very successful advertising photography career starting in his 20s.  He describes the variety of work he did so successfully during that period. But, it took him down a path where he was losing himself and dealing with depression and despair. He could just about do any photography project for anyone, but there was something missing for him. At that point he didn&#8217;t know the difference between a horse and cow, he said. He was invited by a friend to visit some horses and he started shooting horses as a hobby. He would go and shoot and find a little piece of himself every time. How did he start into equine photography as a business? In commercial photography he was spending 20 percent of his time taking pictures and 80 percent was marketing, showing his portfolio and beating the pavement to get in front of important clients. In equine photography it was the other way around. 20 percent of the time is marketing and 80 percent is shooting. He decided to completely close up shop for his California commercial &amp; advertising photography business and started up anew in New Mexico where he had lived for a time in the past. For a while he did some architectural photography for builders in the area, but soon focused only on horses. He describes how his first horse book came about. Someone was intrigued with his work and introduced him to her publisher. It was amazing that he walked in with his portfolio and walked out with a book deal.