The "EYE" has it...

      I actually enjoy not being the Official Photographer (OP) at events. The pressure is off, the stress is non-existent ("you didn't get a picture of ME?!"  "Sorry, but I desperately had to get to the port-o-potty that was a mile away"); and if it's rainy or otherwise not a nice day.... I don't have to go.
      This past weekend at Paradise Farm H.T. was a perfect example. Yes, I wanted to, and did, get pictures of my BEventing buddies and a few other friends (see previous post), but in between their rides I could walk about casually, let my mind relax and turn on (fanfare please) my PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE.  Pardon the brag, but I have a very good PE when the conditions are right (see above i.e.,  the no pressure, no stress part).
      Many years ago, in another place, another time, another Galaxy (see BIO), I had a real (= salary w/ benefits) job as a marine scientist. I also ran a side business selling my black & white, fine-art photography. For those of you old enough to remember Ansel Adams, he was my mentor (through his books) and I did my printing in a darkroom with actual chemicals and stuff.  The subject matter was not horses, but nature and scenics and still-life, things I could shoot at 1 second exposures, not 1/1000 of a second. I credit these years for the development of my PE.
       Fueled by gorgeous weather that ranged from early morning frost to bright sun and brilliant blue sky, the wide open XC course complete with rolling hills and pond, my PE had very little trouble engaging. The early morning rides provided backlit images of moisture-laden breath from horse and rider.  The sun, sky and glassy pond drew me in to reflections. The transition from reality to the reflection in some of the images is almost non-existent.  Can you tell which ones are upside-down?

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