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Saturday, December 27 2014 / Published in Sidelines Feature

A Photograph to Remember

Infrared photography

Infrared photography

From wedding photography to equine portraits to photographing the Sidelines’ Hot Horsemen, Barbara Bower creates memories to last a lifetime

 

By Dani Moritz-Long

 

With only one formal hand-colored photograph to remember her mother by, Barbara Bower yearns for something more. She has no family portraits with her mother on her wall. No framed photograph of her as a child wrapped in her mother’s arms.

 

Sadly, many years after her mother’s passing, there’s nothing Barbara can do — no way to fill the empty frames with memories reserved in the archives of her mind. What she can do, however, is photograph everything she wishes she had for those still lucky enough to have it.

 

“I love what I do and my greatest pleasure comes from a client who enjoys and treasures their photos,” she said. “This is more than a business to me. It’s being able to make a priceless image that evokes emotion and memories. After losing my mother at an early age and not having anything but some snapshots of her, photography is a very emotional place for me.”

 

It’s no wonder, then, why so many of Barbara’s photographs evoke such deep emotions and connections between her subjects. Be it of a small girl and her loyal equine companion or of two loved ones about to say “I do,” Barbara understands the impact a photo can have. With each photo she takes, she creates a memory — a piece of history to withstand the test of time.

 

Photographer Barbara Bower

Photographer Barbara Bower

A Blossoming Photographer

 

Though Barbara dabbled in photography as a child — and has a Girl Scout badge to prove it — it didn’t click that she could pursue it professionally until junior high. After emerging as one of two suitable careers for Barbara, life behind the lens became the focus of her future.

 

As soon as they became available to her in high school, Barbara enrolled in photography classes. She learned all the basics — composition, color, depth, texture — and even dabbled in infrared photography and color printing.

 

Her senior year of high school, she peeked her head into her photography teacher’s classroom on the first day of classes to say hello. Instead of being greeted by the typical, “Hey! Did you have a good summer?” she was greeted with a job offer.

 

“Would you like to do a wedding?” her teacher asked her. “Yeah, sure,” she replied, laughing and shrugging the gesture off.

 

To her surprise, later that day her teacher revisited the subject with her and Barbara landed her first gig as a wedding photographer for a friend of her high school’s principal.

 

After high school, Barbara had a one-year stint at a photography school. She progressed to working in a chaotic studio, managing six to eight sessions of babies, puppies, couples and everything in between, and then found herself back where she started with wedding photography. Over the course of several years, she had the opportunity to grow and excel in photographing young children and babies, high school seniors and weddings. With the experience also came opportunities to speak and teach other photographers in the industry at some of the largest photography conventions.

 

One of the most exciting events in her life was the opportunity to be part of the photography team that photographed the wedding of Tony Rodham (Hillary Rodham Clinton’s younger brother) to Nicole Boxer (Senator Barbara Boxer’s daughter) at the White House. It was an event she will always treasure.

 

Members of the Seattle Mounted Troop

Members of the Seattle Mounted Troop

A loving relationship

A loving relationship

Sharing a moment

Sharing a moment

Horsing Around

 

Ten years ago, after finding herself worn out by the wedding scene, Barbara knew she needed a change. At that point in her life, she was already the proud owner of her second horse, Amir. Though she hadn’t anticipated it, her life as an equestrian would change the course of her career.

 

Enter the show scene. As a personal pet project, Barbara photographed all the shows of a local dressage group one season, with the intent of having a slide presentation for their end-of-the-year banquet. Barbara found herself happily concentrated on the project, focused on creating the perfect presentation.

 

And then it hit her. Why not photograph horses? She had been dabbling in equine photography for years, and now realized she could photograph her four-legged companions professionally.

 

“I was at a point in my life where the weddings were crushing me,” she said. “I was just getting toasted and knew I needed something else and the horses are everything to me.” It was a match made in heaven.

Walking in unity

Walking in unity

 

A Creative Challenge

 

Today, Barbara still finds the time to photograph weddings every once in a while, but her passion lies with the creative challenge of portrait photography. She especially enjoys photographing animals with their people.

 

“I have a strong portrait background that has helped me to photograph more of a relationship study of the owner and their horse or dog,” she said. “It’s those priceless moments that we can all reflect on. I get very bored with everyone posed and looking at the camera. An image where a client is interacting with their animal speaks volumes of the relationship they have.”

 

Though she also enjoys photographing horse shows from time to time, Barbara adores the variety that comes with working with unique horses, riders and barns across the country with portraits.

 

“I don’t like things that are repetitive,” she said. “I love going to do the portraits because every barn is different. Sometimes I may go twice in one day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — to get different lighting. I love it. This is the part I thrive on.”

 

But portrait photography doesn’t come without its challenges, especially with a horse with a mind of its own in the frame.

 

Barbara says that when working with clients with stubborn horses, she has to remind them to “act like you don’t want to kill them right now” and that usually gets a nice smile from them.

 

Luckily for Barbara, patience comes naturally for her so hasn’t found a horse she can’t photograph yet. Of course, knowing a thing or two about horses helps as well. For example, while other photographers might impatiently wait for the horse to stand still, Barbara knows sometimes that just isn’t possible.

 

“I like the challenge,” she said. “That doesn’t frighten me at all. I’m always game.”

 

A playful scene

A playful scene

Always On the Go

 

You can find Barbara photographing horses all over the country. Among other hotspots, she frequently travels to Hawaii as well as Wellington, Florida, during season.

 

While in Wellington, she enjoys life as Sidelines’ official hot horsemen photographer and is available for portrait photography. She also spends her time in the saddle, with instruction from Audrey Maschue and Elizabeth Niemi.

 

Additionally, she is currently working on a book project with the working title of Trusted Equines of the Mounted Police. She has enjoyed photographing units across North America — illustrating the connection between officer and horse — and looks forward to bringing the coffee table book to people everywhere.

 

For more information on Barbara and her photography, visit www.BarbarasVisions.com.

 

All photos courtesy of Barbara Bower

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Tagged under: Barbara Bower, Barbaras Visions, equine photographers, hunters, jumpers, mounted police, sidelines-magazine

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❗️George Williams column❗️ The FEI World ❗️George Williams column❗️
The FEI World Cup Final in Omaha is coming up quickly. That means that it’s starting to heat 
up as the end of the qualifying period for both the Western European League (WEL) and the 
North American League (NAL) nears. I started to write this column before the Amsterdam CDI- W, and I was using the FEI Ranking List from January 15 as a reference. As I sit down to finish 
my column, I’m now looking at the results from Amsterdam. While the list of the top contenders 
for the WEL hasn’t changed, they’re definitely moving around on the ranking list. The WEL has 
three more legs, as they’re referred to: Neumünster February 16–19, Goteborg February 23–26, 
and ’s-Hertogenbosch March 9–12, and they could change things dramatically.
Looking at the top 12 athletes from the WEL as they were ranked on January 15, there are five 
from Germany, three from the Netherlands and one each from Great Britain, Denmark

➡️Read Georges's full column by clicking the link in our bio, and never miss an article by subscribing to Sidelines Magazine 🦄 

#horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horseriding #equine #pony #pferd #equestrianlife #horselove #dressage #horselover #instahorse #love #cheval #showjumping #horselife #photography #nature #pferde #horseofinstagram #caballo #riding #horsebackriding #pferdeliebe #caballos #horsepower #horsephotography #instagram #Sidelinesmagazine
Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Ivaro N strike gold in Gre Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Ivaro N strike gold in Great American $300,000 Grand Prix at HITS Ocala!! 🏆🥇

Crowds filled the stands at the HITS Ocala Grand Prix Ring on Sunday afternoon to watch the world’s top athletes compete in the Great American $300,000 Grand Prix. The day concluded with a thrilling five-horse jump-off featuring athletes 
representing four countries. In the end, it was Lisa Goldman-Smolen (USA) and Ivaro N who produced the only double clear effort of the day, claiming one of the biggest wins of her career. Scott Keach (AUS) and Noble De La Chapelle earned the second-place prize with the fastest 4-fault jump-off, while Aaron Vale (USA) and Obi Wan placed third as the day’s pathfinders.

“I'm still on cloud nine, I still can't believe it – I’ve used up all my luck for the year,” smiled Goldman-Smolen after her win. “I've been knocking on the door a long time in these bigger classes. I am so proud of my horse – he gave every ounce of effort.”

Sunday’s Great American $300,000 Grand Prix marked the conclusion of the 2023 HITS Ocala circuit. HITS CCO Joe Norick concluded, “We are so excited about the new HITS, with 2023 as the launch. New footing, many new arenas here, and a lot of our facilities across America are getting a lot of love and new footing. Our partnerships with Worldly Martin and others across America including our footing leader Bart Poles overseeing our operations – it really makes a big difference for us. Today is about Ocala and these three riders sitting next to me who supported us this entire winter. We want to be a proud destination for our exhibitors and our friends. We know we have to provide them a beautiful showplace to work from that's horseman friendly, and that's our go goal. 

Congratulations to all of the riders, horses, owners, and groom who participated in this prestigious class!!! 🎉
📸 @esi_photography 
#horseshow #horses #horse #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horseriding #horselove #horsestagram #instagram #showjumping #equestrianlife #equine  #horsebackriding #dressage #horselife #pony #of #horserider #horseshoe #horsemanship #horseshowlife #riding #instahorse #horseaddict #horseofinstagram #sidelinesmagazine
It's #STUDSunday and today's featured stallion is. It's #STUDSunday and today's featured stallion is...

 ✨PF'S DIAMO BLUE✨
Diarado-Diamant de Semilly- Chacco Blue
17.0hh, Oldenburg International Hunter Derby/ Jumper Stallion
An outstanding Pedigree- Chacco Blue and Diamant de Semilly
WBFSH/ Rolex top ranking Jumping Sires 2017 thru 2022
Standing at Ryan Pedigo Sport Horses, in California

For more information, you can contact 
🖥Ryanpedigosporthorses.com
🖥Ryan.p.f@hotmail.com
☎️(714) 357-2714

You can find ALL of the stallions featured towards the back of the magazine in the equestrian gallery. Keep a look out EVERY Sunday for a new handsome STUD muffin🧁 and don't forget to subscribe to get your very own edition of Sidelines Magazine, the magazine for horse people, about horse people 🦄

@ryanpedigosporthorsespf_

#stallion #horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #equine #dressage #pferd #equestrianlife #mare #hengst #horseriding #instahorse #cheval #pferde #equinephotography #horselove #dressagehorse #pony #horselover #caballo #foal #quarterhorse #aqha #arabianhorse #sidelinesmagazine
Annette Longenecker wasn’t just born into horses Annette Longenecker wasn’t just born into horses—in a way, she was born into her career. She grew up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where her parents ran a farm. Her mother taught, and her father had a jump business and then created one of the first horse show software programs: Ryegate Show Services, Inc.

Riding all her life, Annette spent many years as a groom and loved it, but knew it wasn’t what she wanted to do as a career. After she finished college, Annette’s father recruited her to help process entries at Ryegate. Since her father, Lloyd Longenecker, founded it in 1981, Ryegate has provided show management and office staff for some of the largest shows in the country. Now, Annette has taken over from her father and directed the company as it focuses on managing memberships and rankings for organizations such as the North American League, WIHS Championships and Equitation, Rolex/USEF Computer Ranking and National Medal Series (THIS NCM and Ariat NAM). Ryegate also provides scoring software for use with video walls, and production teams for hunter and jumper shows.

“Besides running Ryegate Show Services and its various organizations, I can be found in the show office, running a scoreboard or judging jumpers at most shows,” Annette said. “I love getting to wear a few different hats at the show.”

When she’s not busy at a show, Annette lives in Annville, Pennsylvania, with her “fur-baby,” Maggie Mae, and enjoys spending time with her many godchildren. Though she doesn’t currently own any horses, Annette rides when she can at Rolling Acres Farm with Patty Foster, Ashley Foster-Worthington and Mary Lisa Leffler.

Read this month unbridled with Annette Longenecker by clicking the link in our bio. Never miss a story by subscribing to Sidelines Magazine! 🦄
📸Photo by Sheryl Sutherby

#horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horseriding #equine #pony #pferd #equestrianlife #horselove #dressage #horselover #instahorse #love #cheval #showjumping #horselife #photography #nature #pferde #horseofinstagram #caballo #riding #horsebackriding #pferdeliebe #caballos #horsepower #horsephotography #instagram #Sidelinesmagazine
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