The Best of 2013: Assateague Horses
In July, I headed out to Assateague Island National Seashore, which is a barrier island on the coast of Maryland and Virginia. The island is most famous for it's wild horses that roam the island, but the marshlands were certainly a high point for bird photography.
I assumed that getting good photographs of the horses would be a bit tricky-- I presumed that a wild horse wasn't going to waltz over to me and pose. So I knew that every time I saw a horse, I had to try and take some photos to maximize my chances of getting a great shot.
Turns out, it was very easy to photograph these horses. They were all over the island!
The first night we were there was spent exploring the island to scope out our best places for photography the next morning. We'd found a nice marshland to setup for bird photography and were starting to head back to mainland for dinner. As we approached the exit to the park, I saw a herd of horses on the top of the sand dune, walking down to the beach.
Change of plans! We parked the car and ran to the beach where a group of horses were walking along the waterfront. Even better.... the sun was starting to set, casting a nice soft light against the horses.
This photograph was probably my favorite from that evening. The lighting across her hair was perfect and I love the look in her eye. Turned out that this would not only become one of my easiest photo shoots this year, it would also produce some of my best work of the year.
I also made a video titled "The Residents of Assateague Island" which can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-8v1K-0-D4