Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

Today was a rather auspicious day – its been a long time coming, but I am very excited to finally be setting up my studio gallery:)  I had planned to just move the boxes in, but got a little carried away and started unpacking everything.  I felt like a kid at Christmas unpacking all of my art supplies, books and art magazines – many of which I havn’t seen for well over 18 months!  My mind is racing with all the things that I want to paint and draw, I really don’t know where to start first – oils, acrylics, colour pencils or something in graphite.  I’d really like to have a go at some plein air oil paintings – all I have to do is step outside my studio for inspiration in every direction, from the beautiful landscape to the baby lambs and calves that are being born on all the farms around here – including ours, but thats a subject for another post, as I really need to catch up on posts that I meant to add last week but ran out of time to!

Following on from my last post with photos of the Clydesdales from the Dardanup Heritage Park Heavy Horse Show, I thought I would share some of the photos of the Team Australia Liberty Horse display performed by brother and sister team, Sam and Sasha Watson from Horses and Horsemen.

The performance shows the willingness, agility, intelligence and responsiveness of these magnificent animals and the incredible relationship that can be created between man and horse.  The display involved a number of different and often very difficult maneuvers, with the liberty horses following instruction and direction from voice and subtle body language cues.  What I found most amazing and awe inspiring was the willingness and enjoyment all the horses displayed, they were clearly enjoying the performance as much as the audience was, even the six month old weanlings were eager and willing to perform even with the noise and distraction of the large crowd and bright orange safety fences!

I was specifically taking photos for reference material for future paintings (and have already flagged a number of shots that are going to make a wonderful new series of paintings) but here are a few shots of the performance which I can *highly* recommend as a must see for anyone who loves horses!

Team Australia Liberty Horse display © 2010 South West Photography

Team Australia Liberty Horse Display © 2010 South West Photography

Team Australia Nine Horse Liberty Display © 2010 South West Photography

Team Australia Two by Two Liberty Horse Display © 2010 South West Photography

Liberty Horse Display © 2010 South West Photography

Roman Riding Liberty Horse display © 2010 South West Photography

Next post will include some photos from the tent pegging display by 10th Light Horse Bunbury Troop.

All images from the Liberty Horse display can be viewed on the Events section of my South West Photography website.

x Michelle

Michelle Wrighton: Animal, Wildlife & Landscape Fine Art & Photography

FACEBOOK: Michelle Wrighton Artist

TWITTER: artistMichelleW

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I was lucky enough to attend the Dardanup Heritage Park Heavy Horse Show on  June 6, 2010 to watch some  magnificent Clydesdales in action and obtain reference material for future paintings.  There was also a riding and tent pegging display by the 10th Light Horse Bunbury Troop and the most amazing liberty horse display by Sam and Sasha Watson of Horses and Horsemen – a performance that every horse owner should see to get a glimpse into the incredible communication and willing relationship that is possible between horse and man – even with foals as young as six months of age!  As a horse owner, the liberty performance was both humbling and awe inspiring and something that you could never tire of watching.

I have hundreds of photos from the day that I havn’t finished sorting through so I will make a couple of blog posts to include a few from the Light Horse and Team Australia Liberty performances as well as the Clydesdales.

Clydesdale horse in harness © 2010 South West Photography

Clydesdale in Harness © 2010 South West Photography

Traditional Clydesdale and cart © 2010 South West Photography

Clydesdale team and wine cart © 2010 South West Photography

Clydesdale team and single axle cart © 2010 South West Photography

Clydesdales in harness © 2010 South West Photography

Proofs from the Clydesdale Show will be uploaded and available for competitors to purchase prints from my photography events website South West Photography next week (the 10gig limit per month wireless internet is never enough and we have been shaped back to dinosaur dialup speed until next week:(

x Michelle

Michelle Wrighton: Animal, Wildlife & Landscape Fine Art & Photography

FACEBOOK: Michelle Wrighton Artist

TWITTER: artistMichelleW

BUY CUSTOMIZED ART POSTERS, ART PRINTS, T-SHIRTS & GIFTS: Zazzle

BUY CARDS, PHOTO PRINTS, CANVAS ART AND FRAMED ART PRINTS: Redbubble

The highlight of last week for me was a wonderful session that I had on Saturday with Mitchell and Kaden, two gorgeous little boys who were loads of fun and had me cracking up all over the place with their antics!

I know their lovely mum is anxious to see their sneak peak, so here it is – thanks so much Jackie for letting me photograph your beautiful boys, I hope they had as much fun as I did:)

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Portrait photography session information is available on the portraits section of my South West Photography website.

Please note: Free photo sessions finished in August 2009!

Are you interested in a Free photo session for your child, aged from newborn to teens?  I am currently building my portrait portfolio and I’m looking for enthusiastic Perth parents who would like a Free Portrait Photography Session of their child.

In exchange for use of photographs from your child’s session in my portfolio and for promotional and advertising purposes (print and internet)

You will receive:

FREE Photo session of approximately 1-2 hours (time required depends on child/children)

FREE online private gallery (password protected) to view all final images (between 20-35 images)

Two FREE 6″x8″ professional photo lab prints of your choice selected from your private gallery plus web resolution (600px @72dpi) copies of these two images for sharing by email, facebook etc)

You are under absolutely No Obligation but may purchase prints at a heavily discounted rate (Christmas presents for Grandparents?) and will receive web resolution digital images of any additional prints that you do purchase.

Location: Portrait sessions will be held on location at a local park, garden or playground – a nice location where your kids will feel comfortable, can have some fun and be themselves  rather than posing for the camera.  Locations SOR/hills preferred due to time constraints.

Day/Time: Most weekdays are available for booking up to two weeks in advance, limited weekend sessions left at this time. Flexibility may be required due to inclement weather.

Portrait style: Natural light/lifestyle/candid/casual style (not formal studio shots)

If you are interested in having a Free photo session, please send me an email with your child’s details, the most suitable times/days for you and a contact telephone number.

I particularly require baby, toddlers and pre-schoolers and can accommodate a portrait ‘party’ for larger groups of children.

For additional information and to view galleries, please visit my South West Photography website.

Cheers

Michelle

Gorgeous three year old Tatum was a joy to photograph, and was particularly helpful when Dora and Boots were hiding inside my camera lens;) I will have to work on reducing the number of final photos to somewhere between 20 and 30ish, but as a mum myself, I found it really difficult to not include all the really cute ones!  We did this session at a local park which provided a lovely range of backgrounds…and dozens of ducks to keep Miss Tatum amused!

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Or should that be “I am Facebook Clallenged”?

I’ve finally decided that I need to give these social networking groups a go, so I have joined Facebook and Twitter.  I guess it would be showing my age and number of years online if I said that I really prefer the old discussion forums (which of course still exist, but there seems that there has been a mass exodus away from the ‘old fashioned’ discussion boards and now everyone spends more time Fan and Tweeting).   And I will grudgingly admit that it looks like a better way to actually get to know the people you are talking to online, so I guess it can’t be all that bad!  I don’t need any other distractions though, so I am not going to be dragged into any food fights or barn yard antics;)

I’m actually thinking that it might be a good way of instantly notifying friends and in particular clients when photos from events are uploaded to the proof gallery…at least in theory, and this is where the challenge comes in…I’m not quite sure that I am using Facebook properly, well no, thats not what I mean, I have figured out (mostly) how to use it, but everything new that I want to add to my busines page seems to be adding to my personal page instead.

For example, my photo albums…I wouldn’t have thought that I needed to add them to both, but maybe I do.  And I can’t figure out how to favourite pages from my business page.  LOL I am sure a few more hours playing with Facebook should improve my skills;)

In the mean time, this is the Facebook Page that I have started for South West Photography andyou can find me at SouthWest Photo on Twitter

And this is a little logo that I made up this morning.

South West Photography Logo

Bailey was my first session with a child that I have never met before. He is only two years old, very well behaved and was an absolute delight to photograph.

These are a few of my favourites from the session.

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

JChildren's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Children's Portrait Photography © 2009 Michelle Wrighton, South West Photography

Boys Will Be Boys Storyboard © South West Photography

Classic Black & White © 2009 South West Photography

If you would like to arrange a portrait photography session for your own child or children, additional informtion is available on the portrait section of my photography website South West Photography.

Its hard to believe its nearly the middle of the year already, where does the time go?

I have recently decided to expand my photography business to include people portraits – and in particular children’s portraiture. Of course, as with any new endeavour, its a huge learning curve!

I am really enjoying the challenge, not only the technical side of the photography, but the biggest thing is engaging and interacting with the subject, and when they are young toddlers that you have never met before, that can be a really challenging task indeed!

So this week I have had my first two photo session with a gorgeous two year old boy and a lovely little three year old girl. Both were so well behaved and although unrelated both had the most gorgeous blue eyes, and there parents have graciously allowed me to use the photos in my portfolio, so I can post a few here in my blog.

At some stage in the not too distant future, I will have a section for portraits on my http://www.southwestphotography.com.au website as it is significantly different to the event photography that I do, but until then I will just be posting some images here from time to time.

In the meantime, I am still building my portfolio and would love to hear from anyone in the Perth area interested in having a photography session (free session fee for areas 20 minutes from myhome!).

The Standardbred Pleasure and Performance Horse Association of WA held the annual Winter Gala at the Perth Horse and Pony Club grounds in Herdsman.  I am totally biased towards the breed (having two of my own) and I strongly believe that they are *the* most under-rated breed in the horse world.  Thankfully more people like those that turned out for this show are seeing the incredible possibilities with this versatile breed as pleasure and preformance horses.

And I have to say that the presentation of these Standardbreds is absolutely impeccable and puts alot of other ‘fancy’ breeds to shame!

Coloured Standardbred © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Part bred Standardbred © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Breed Show © South West Photography

Standardbred Dressage © South West Photography

All of the proof images for the In Hand, Ridden and the Dressage tests can be viewed and ordered online at South West Photography.

Well after getting a taste of Cutting action at the last bit of the Ian Francis Cutting Clinic that I saw after the Paint Horse Champs back in February, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to watch two days of cutting on the 16th and 17th May.

Cutting Horse © South West Photography

Cutting Horse © South West Photography

Cutting Horse © South West Photography

Cutting Horse © South West Photography

Cutting Horse © South West Photography

Cutting Horse © South West Photography

All images from both days events can be viewed and prints purchased online at South West Photography