Dry Paths and Trails

Rain brings spontaneous desert symmetry breaking: some areas become rivers and streams, while others stay high and dry. La Quinta Cove brings hiking trails into this equation. Looking high over the landscape, those trails and dry streambeds may be hard to distinguish—until the rain comes. In the distance, just above the tan tanks on the left of the image, the Salton Sea serves as a reminder of how water and the desert interact.

Dry Paths and Trails

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The Day Before Pony Finals

Progressing through important summer horse show days finally brings us to the verge of Pony Finals. To whatever extent the event was subdued in 2020 and 2021, 2022 brought back the full experience.

Around Stonewall Farm, Pony Finals wouldn’t have been possible without the work of a whole team of young equestrians. Catching them in a rare group shot felt like a rare alignment of planets.

The Day Before Pony Finals I: The Squad

Naturally, that was because of the amount of time spent ferrying to and from the Rolex ring. As in past years, golf carts play a key role.

The Day Before Pony Finals II: Golf Carts

In the ring, young riders have time to school and explore the space before they return for scored trips beginning the next day. Behind this squad, the VIP sits empty.

The Day Before Pony Finals III

There’s a mix of high stakes and informal context that makes this day before Pony Finals fascinating.

The Day Before Pony Finals IV

The formal riding clothes that will make up the next few days, the spectators in the stands, the judges, the jumps—all are absent.

The Day Before Pony Finals V

There’s even time to stop for a snack…

The Day Before Pony Finals VI

…Or for a group photo.

The Day Before Pony Finals VII

The huge expanse of the Rolex’s footing makes for some remarkably neutral backgrounds. Details in horse and rider are all that stand out.

The Day Before Pony Finals VIII

Back at the barn, pony after pony goes out for schooling or trials.

The Day Before Pony Finals IX

Will awaits a pony on the way back from the ring.

The Day Before Pony Finals X

Megan gets Piper’s horse out of his stall…

The Day Before Pony Finals XI

And grooms him.

The Day Before Pony Finals XII

Piper heads off to ride.

The Day Before Pony Finals XIII

The schooling ring is as busy as the Rolex.

The Day Before Pony Finals XIV

In the warm-up, young riders focus on perfecting their rides.

The Day Before Pony Finals XV

The Day Before Pony Finals XVI

Piper in the ring—with some good advertising.

The Day Before Pony Finals XVII

The Day Before Pony Finals XVIII

“Maybe the real Pony Finals champions were the friends we made along the way.”

The Day Before Pony Finals XIX

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day

The hot day before the Kentucky Summer Classic was perhaps not in need of a literal warm up, but a warm-up day it nonetheless had.

Piper Klemm and her trainer, Emily Elek, were busy on their phones. Don’t call Emily—just text her if you want a response.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day II: Dueling Phones

There’s always a need for more cold water bottles.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day I: Bringing Water Bottles

Will and Papaya receiving coaching from Bob Crandall…

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day III: Hi, Bob!

…Before putting that advice into action.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day IV: Will on Papaya

I’m always on the lookout for a pony with a positive attitude and unique coat.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day V

Out: Hermes belts. In: Gucci belts. I guess everyone watched the movie.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day VI

Grooms make all of this possible. I went with a deep depth of field here to allow for the big difference in size without either groom or rider being lost to bokeh.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day VII

Smiles like this are why we’re all there at the show.

Kentucky Summer Classic Warm-Up Day VIII

Hill Structure

My trips to this hill last year were constrained by the limitations of gravity; bringing my drone with me this year opened up whole new vistas and geometries. The artificial nature of this water retention area is far more apparent when view from the air.

Hill Structure

More from the Kentucky Summer

Another multiphoto set, this one from the final days of Kentucky Summer at the Kentucky Horse Park. We’ll start off with Dr. Piper Klemm showing Reuben and looking appropriately happy about it.

Dr. Piper Klemm on Horseback

Team Stonewall Farm is looking pretty gregarious.

Equestrian Laughs

Will, on the other hand, looks surprised—and should probably be wearing a helmet.

Blowing Back Some Hair

This wide, dramatic view of riders in the ring, the gate in, and folks sheltering from the rain outside is made all the more dramatic by the one young woman with no rain gear. Mysterious!

Show Ring Landscape

We’ll finish as we began, with Piper looking excited to be riding Reuben.

Down the Line

Unexpected Finds Around the Kentucky Paddock

A lot happens around the Kentucky cottage when we’re home from a show, but I have to admit that a pair of vultures drying out after a sudden thunderstorm in the top of a tree with a rainbow behind them isn’t what I was expecting…

Vultures and Rainbows

This look from Papaya through the trees was pretty profound but still not really what I was expecting…

A Look from Papaya

Quiet grazing in a sunset-lit paddock is perhaps closer to expectations, but this idyllic, Miyazaki-esque view still surprised me with the sense of warm summer calm.

Snacking at Sunset

Where the Houses Stop/Palm Trees and Sprawl

Like a child’s legos, spilled out onto the floor until they reach the wall of the room, the sprawl of Coachella Valley reaches from one mountain range to the other.

Palm Trees and Sprawl

Of course, when that sprawl does reach the edge, modern California’s land conservation kicks in and a hard barrier appears between homes and desert.

Where the Houses Stop

Trio vs. Trio

I found myself returning to one of my earliest Decaseconds posts (almost exactly 11 years ago) as I updated my Top 32 album on Flickr—the digital portfolio where I display my best (or simply favorite) photographs. Finding “Waves and Rocks Dwarf Man” in that set, I saw both the excellent light and composition that my old Nikon had captured in 2011, as well as all of the places where my choices in processing the original image now left my unsatisfied. Rather than simply reprocessing that original image, I went back to the folder of camera raws from that day and selected an image I took just moments later to tackle. (Always keep save those raw files!) I not only like this composition better than the older one, but I also feel that I have brought something new out here, rather than simply reprocessing something old.

Trio vs. Trio

Kentucky Summer 2023 Day 1: Warm Up

Thumbs up! Let’s get into another mega post! We’re exploring shots from the first day of the Kentucky Summer horse show, which took place at the Kentucky Horse Park back in the end of July.

Day 1 Warm-Up I: Thumbs Up

Piper Klemm talks to her trainer, Emily Elek.

Day 1 Warm-Up II

Then she heads into action in the warm-up ring.

Day 1 Warm-Up III

Emily’s son, Will, was also warming up his horse, Papaya. Across these three shots, you can see him working on finding the correct distance to this jump.

Day 1 Warm-Up IV: Will and Papaya

Day 1 Warm-Up V: Will and Papaya

Day 1 Warm-Up VI: Will and Papaya

Piper seems to always be smiling when she’s on her horse; understandable, really.

Day 1 Warm-Up VII

Beyond the team which whom I arrived, there were a lot of other folks in the warm-up ring, too.

Day 1 Warm-Up VIII: Cross-Rails

Sometimes, my camera locks on a rider because they have such an identifiable style. Here’s yet another case of mirrorshades in Kentucky.

Day 1 Warm-Up IX: Shades

We’ll finish off with the serious face of Jimmy Torano.

Day 1 Warm-Up X: Jimmy Torano