I get a lot of feedback on social media about the quotes I post with the images. People seem to enjoy them. I love quotes! I always have. I enjoy reading something that stops me and makes me think or feel.

I enjoy finding quotes that relate to the images in some way. This helps tell the story of how they make me feel when I look at them.

I’m going to start sending out one a week, and hopefully, it makes you feel something and helps you get through the daily grind that consists in all of our lives. And you’ll get to enjoy some equine art at the same time.

Let me know what you think? Good or bad idea? I would love to hear your thoughts.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
― douglas adams

I love photography! I enjoy getting out with a camera and seeing what images I can get. I also appreciate the editing process, which helps me create the emotion I felt when I took the Image. Photography gives me a creative outlet that I need in my life. Without the ability to express myself, my mind struggles to function with much enthusiasm.

Being a farrier for a living fills many of the artistic expressions I need. Trimming horse’s feet and shaping steel to fit a freshly trimmed foot is a creative endeavor. Problem-solving lamenesses and working with horses and some of my clients is a gratifying experience. But it doesn’t fill the void of creative expression like photography and writing does.

Most humans and artists, in particular, want to connect with other humans. They want their work to be appreciated by other people. Humans are social creatures. We need to be accepted by our friends and peers. One of the best parts about creating art is when someone replies to a post on social media saying how much they needed to read the words I wrote or seeing an image I created that made their day. Or when I see the look on someone’s face when they walk into my gallery for the first time, and their eyes light up looking at all the images on the wall. I create my art because it’s what I would want to see, but it’s also to put good vibes into the world in hopes that it might inspire another human.

This brings me to my point. Should creatives make their art for profit or for enjoyment? I have had this discussion with many other artists and friends, and the answers always vary. Some points of view come from the angle of why you would want to ruin your creative endeavors by making them for profit. Wouldn’t that take the fun out of it? Some artists I talk to have the uncanny ability to be incredibly creative and a business mindset that allows them to do both. 

I find it hard to switch from a creative to a business mindset. Part of me wants my photography to stay fun and simple, searching out stories and images that get me excited without worrying whether they will sell or not. This is fundamentally the way it should be. But when you are also thinking about art from a business point of view, it’s hard not to let those thoughts creep in.

I am also self-employed, and I have been pretty much my whole adult life. There is no company 401k waiting, nor is there health insurance. So, no matter how fun and easy I want to keep my art business, the more time I spend on it, the more it will take away from my other source of income, shoeing horses. Thus, it puts pressure on me to generate an income from art. 

In the forty-nine years I’ve been on Earth, I’ve gotten to know myself. When things work out the best for me, I head in a particular direction with small, attainable goals that I can accomplish. I have an overall goal that I am working towards, but I am not too concerned about whether it becomes a reality. Putting less pressure on me and enjoying the process. And things seem to work out like they are supposed to.

I don’t know if photography will ever become my full-time job/income. But at the end of the day, I’ll do whatever I must to keep doing it because I love it! As long as I’m a better photographer year after year and learn to tell better stories, I’ll be OK with how it turns out.

Connecting with people through this journal/blog and social media is the most rewarding part of doing what I do with my photography, regardless of the financial rewards it may bring.

But if I ever get hurt while shoeing horses, you can expect a lot more emails from me pushing you to buy prints. Haha

Beep beep beep. There is the alarm again. Every morning at 5:00 am, my wife rolls over and pushes the snooze button. I don’t know who invented alarm clocks, but they should be severely punished! I understand why they make the most annoying sounds, but why? Maybe they could make a sound that makes you want to wake up. A coffee pot brewing, sounds of birds chirping in the spring, the sound of horses hooves clomping along the rocks taking you to your favorite fishing spot high up in the mountains. I would jump out of bed with a gusto, ready to tackle my day with a smile every time!

There it goes again, beep beep beep. My wife sighs, turns off the alarm, rolls off the bed, and gets in the shower. That is my cue to get my butt going. I put on some clothes and head upstairs to get a cup of coffee. I pour one for me and one for her. Mine is simple—a little creamer to knock the edge off. Hers, on the other hand, is not so much coffee but what I call a coffee cocktail, almond milk creamer, one package of Stevia sweetener, with the occasional shot of caramel flavoring. Way too much to think about first thing in the morning. 

I walk back downstairs and give her the coffee. She is usually out of the shower, starting to watch the daily local news, and getting ready for her day. I give her a kiss on the cheek and head to my office.

Even though I like getting up early and starting my day, I need an hour or so to get going. This is the time to read for a little while and get my wits about me. This is generally the only quiet time of my day. I will edit photos, write, and decide what to post on social media for the day. 

By about 8:00, the dogs are getting restless; they want to go outside. The horses are giving us the “we are starving” look through the kitchen window. It’s time to change gears. I get dressed, grab a cup of coffee in a to-go cup, and the dogs meet me at the back door. You have never seen frustration like a dog that has to pee while its owner is taking his sweet time to put on his boots. 

I will usually make my first shoeing appointment for the day at 9:00. These days most of my shoeing is done in my shop at the house. About three or four years ago I made a decision to work towards bringing my business to haul in’s instead of going out. Every full-time farrier I know, at some point in their career, will start to think about what they can do to have an income, not crawling under horses. Mine is photography and selling prints. But also it’s having horses come to my shop. My father-in-law is 78 and is still shoeing horses, and I attribute that to thirty years ago when he started having horses hauled to him instead of him going out. It saved a lot of wear and tear on his body.

In the winter time, I will try and get out into the barn a half hour or forty-five minutes early. I get a fire started to warm up the cold bones of this time of year, get tools sharpened and ready to go to work, and get my head in the game and ready for a day of shoeing horses.

The first two horses that come to the shop are team roping horses. One is an older horse I have shoed for ten or more years. The other is a young horse the owner has just bought. I shoe a lot of rodeo horses. They are by far my favorite. Rodeoing was all I thought about and did from the time I was fourteen until I turned thirty-seven and picked up a camera. I can’t believe it’s been over ten years since I nodded my head to bulldog a steer. Since I don’t rodeo anymore, I like to shoe rodeo horses to keep me involved in the sport. 

I once considered going into rodeo photography. I loved the days when I rodeoed—traveling around the country with good friends chasing dreams—nothing better. But I spent so much time in rodeo arenas that the thought of spending even more was not very appealing. I wanted to get out and spend time in the mountains or the high deserts chasing wild horses. 

After I finish shoeing for the day, I will feed the horses, take care of any chores that need to be done, and then go back inside. I like to sit down and edit photos and write as much as I can. So I will do that again for another hour or so before it’s time for dinner. 

I do ninety percent of the cooking. I like to cook, especially in the winter when there is more time inside. My wife could take it or leave it. She could eat string cheese and tomato soup and be content. I’m a little more complicated than that. I like good home-cooked food; I always have. I stay away from fast food as much as possible. It’s terrible! 

A typical winter day is not that exciting for me. Life mostly consists of a regiment and daily grind sprinkled in with some story-worthy days here and there. But I’m good with it. I have a great life with awesome people around me. What else could a guy ask for?

Hello! I have recently changed how I email my newsletters. I was using an email advertising app called Mailchimp. But I have changed over to my website hosting site, WordPress, to deliver them now. I transferred all my email subscribers from Mailchimp over to WordPress. I am sending this out for the first time to see how it works.

If you have time in your day to respond and let me know how it worked, I would be very appreciative. Social media is a great place for short-form content, but I am looking to start writing more about my life and photography in a longer form. Sometimes, the stories are too in-depth to tell on Facebook or Instagram in a paragraph or two.

Thank You in advance, I look forward to hearing from you!

Alex