![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wild-horse-1379b-horizontal-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI’ve never been more intimidated in the field with a camera in my hand than I was at this moment.<\/p>\n
I’m primarily a bird photographer so the most serious dangers my subjects usually present to me are things like hummingbirds flying nearly into my face or gulls pooping on my head. But this experience felt very, very different.<\/p>\n
Several years ago I spent a morning in May with the Onaqui wild horse herd in Utah’s west desert. I was out of my element but a good friend helped in locating the herd and showing me the ropes. It was a unique and fascinating experience to walk amongst those iconic symbols of the wild west and attempt to get some interesting photos without intruding too much on their space.<\/p>\n
The tension within the herd in spring was palpable. Fights broke out often and without warning as members of the herd competed for dominance but the combatants were usually on the outskirts of the herd and not close to me. Most of the horses were calm and accepting so I didn’t feel personally threatened. Mostly I stayed in the same spot and eventually some of the horses mingled within a few yards of me. I didn’t approach them, they approached me.<\/p>\n
And then all hell broke loose only a few feet away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/800, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 275mm<\/em><\/p>\n With no warning that I noticed these two stallions started duking it out and they were very, very serious about it. They were so close they seemed like incredibly agile, angry and animated skyscrapers trying to knock each other down. They were pawing and trying to bite each other and for such huge animals they were incredibly quick in their fighting maneuvers.<\/p>\n I was definitely closer, much closer, than I wanted to be. They weren’t after me of course but if I inadvertently got in their way I’d have absolutely no chance of avoiding injury. This shot was taken at only 275mm and the photo is almost full frame vertically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A vertical composition of the same photo probably gives the viewer a better feeling for how vulnerable I felt. They seemed like pissed off, out of control towering giants and I felt like an ant beneath them. The two rocks or dirt clods flying through the air between their lower bellies should tell you something about the power and fury of the combatants.<\/p>\n Several years later I don’t remember how the fight turned out. At that point all I cared about was that I’d survived the encounter without injury.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is part of what lulled me into a sense of complacency – three adorable and mischievous foals scampering about so I spent much of the morning watching for photo ops with them in good light. When you’re focused on harmless and very young horses through your viewfinder it’s easy to become less aware of your other surroundings than you should be.<\/p>\n I learned some lessons that morning and once I’d swallowed my heart back down to where it belonged I realized that I’d had, and survived, a very special experience.<\/p>\n But next time, if there is a next time, I’ll definitely pay more attention to my immediate surroundings.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve never been more intimidated in the field with a camera in my hand than I was at this moment.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wild-horse-1379b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wild-horse-1504-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n