That morning, as I woke up, I noticed that the sun was out. This was amazing. It was November. In Canada... on the Pacific West Coast. Just days prior, when I went to check the wedding site, it was pouring rain. That weather was expected. The sun was not. But there it was, gleaming and shining in all it's glory!
However, it was really cold. Frost was still in the air and as I made my way down to Hazelmere Golf Course, where the wedding was taking place, I could see steam clouds rising from the ground as the sun melted the cold morning dew despite the chill temperatures. Regardless, the sun was great to have that day and made for a great day to an already beautiful wedding for Keith and Jeanine.
There's something about horses that mesmerizes me. The ferocity, the movement, the power... an entire situation of chaos being controlled by a bridle and a saddle.
I recall visiting the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan and seeing that Hayao Mayazaki spent many an hour (day? Week? Month? Years?) creating animations of horses and their movement as he watched it on a screen. This affected me profoundly for my own vision. While the application is different (I'm capturing specific moments through photography instead of trying to capture and animate the intricate movements of horses), I feel that horses represent a bit of a starting place and a centering place for me: Amidst the chaos and the uncontrollable situations of horses and riders jumping, I have to watch them carefully, calm myself down, focus and just shoot... and get it right.
I photograph a lot in black and white but some times I break out the colour film and go to (China) town.
In this image, I waited for the girl to enter the circular door to create a sort of frame within the photograph, contrasting the other people to the far left.
