johnboland PRO+
johnboland
Jiciralla Wild Stallion in the Sage

Jiciralla Wild Stallion in the Sage



This wild Stallion came running right towards me, stopped gave me a look and a snort and ran off. From the series Mustangs and other Wild Horses of Northern New...
Read more

This wild Stallion came running right towards me, stopped gave me a look and a snort and ran off. From the series Mustangs and other Wild Horses of Northern New Mexico. johnbolandphotography.com www.facebook.com-johnbolandphotography-
Read less
upload_dateNov, 2016

Views

656

Likes

Awards

Top Shot Award
Staff Favorite
Peer Award
jorgealbertopealozapealoza Viktor_Odnovyun YagoGazali awatifaziz9 tonyberry photoABSTRACTION KyleStevenPhotography +341
Absolute Masterpiece
RachelNiquette luvmtnlife Svenergy72 RUMEN Lizellebw nicolenewhouse simonparry +3
Top Choice
markenglish_5016 Cuttrax stuartwaterhouse tidesend kevincarey_4380 larryollivier joeyg
Superb Composition
JayneBug jlappen coxcraig StanVG
Magnificent Capture
johnhrdina saintgiggles
All Star
brad.oconnor1
Superior Skill
OhDaniel

Emotions

Impressed
harmeetsingh
Happy
toddcreed

Top ClassTM

Picturing Other Species Photo ContestTop 10 class
Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 class
Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 class week 1
Moody Portraits Photo ContestTop 30 class
Moody Portraits Photo ContestTop 20 class week 1
View more
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 30 class

Categories

1 Comment | Report
simonparry PRO+
 
simonparry January 05, 2019
Super capture...
johnboland PRO+
johnboland January 07, 2019
Thank you Simonparry!

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#horse #mustang #wild horse #free #sage #fall #southwest #New Mexico

Behind The Lens

Location
I took this photograph in late fall at the Jicarilla Wild Horse Territory where a number of wild mustangs run free over thousands of acres. I started my 4 hour drive to the remote territory in the dark to get the this area in the early morning light. The area has miles of dirt roads. I had driven 4 hours in the territory and covered 80 miles of dirt roads before coming across a band of mustangs far out in a field of sage. The sage was so high I first thought the horses were laying down, as I could only see their backs and heads appearing above the tall sage. I parked the car and slowly walked in on a horse trail heading through the forest towards the sage field. I reached the opening to the field and this mustang stallion noticed me and came charging at full speed directly towards me. I thought it might be time to raise my hands and shout, but instead I held my ground. He ran towards me, got close came to a stop, flared his nostrils, snorted and then turned and ran away. I shoot with a 100-400 mm zoom, and by this time I was down to the 100mm. This is a full frame shot at 100mm. It is always a thrill to see these magnificent creatures running wild and free.
Time
This photograph was taken in the afternoon of the late fall
Lighting
The light was mid day
Equipment
I shot this image with a Canon 5D Mark III with the Canon 100-400mm II lens, hand held.
Inspiration
I am doing a photographic series on Wild Horses in the West. Most of this series are from wild horse territories in New Mexico. Most of these wild horses are descendents of the first horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish 500 years ago.
Editing
I do most of my post processing using camera raw and in Photoshop.
In my camera bag
I have a Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 100-400mm ll, Canon 24mm-70mm,
Feedback
Have a long lens, be patient, return many times to find where the horses like to hang out. Be prepared to hike for hours looking for the wild horses. They know how to stay hidden. I often travel by bicycle for hours over rough trails, steep rocky climbs, and horse and cow trails to locate the horses. Some areas I return many times hiking in for hours looking for horse trails and water holes where I might have an opportunity to locate a band of horses, but more times then not I don't find any horses.

See more amazing photos, follow johnboland