This image was one of a series shot for a client needing cowboy lifestyle advertising & marketing images. In all seasons the weather is very important to get great images. The temperature was about 15 degrees (-9 C) with very dry air with a few clouds. Sometimes I have had to wait for days to get good weather to shoot in, and this was no exception.

Location wise for this shot I looked for a large flat area that has pristine snow, i.e., no animal tracks. I then asked Jimmy if this area is "safe" meaning safe for the horse. I don't want to run a horse where there are rocks, holes, irrigation ditches or anything else that could seriously injure an animal.

Once I have established a good and safe spot to shoot I look for where I need to be. I'll then dig out the snow down 2 or 3 feet (1 meter) so I can get into the hole. This allows me to get low to the snow without having to lay down on my side.

So I now am standing or kneeling in the hole in the snow with my right hand holding my camera and my left hand on the zoom control of the lens while also holding onto the reins of my horse. This is very important because I want be be sure I can ride back & not walk back. The trick here is to have the horse close so if it moves it's head it will not jerk the reins, and therefore, move my hand on the lens while I'm shooting photos. It also helps to have a a calm horse and a comfortable spot for the horse to stand. This way the horse is not dancing around, stepping on you and/or your camera bag or being a nuisance in general.

Gear: Canon professional digital camera, 70-200 Canon Zoom lens at 100 mm, 1/320 sec, f5.6, 100 ISO and then processed using Photoshop CS5 Beta and using the Adobe RAW converter.

If you would like to use this image, or any of my images for mock or comp use, please just ask. There is never a charge for this service. Educational use is permitted without charge, unless published, but please ask first. All commercial use is available only with a limited copyright release prior to use from the copyright holder, Steve Thornton. Thanks for looking!