So there I was surfing the web when I noticed my good friend Ben had posted a query online about borrowing a horse for a photo shoot. Not having access to a horse, I ignored the request but wondered what the hell he was up to now.
I soon found out as a few days later, I got a message from him asking if I could do a shoot for him with a horse. Intrigued, I promptly said yes. We organized the day and time and I eagerly awaited its arrival.
Ben is a Rep for Steam Whistle Brewery and every year the company produces the Steamy Men of Steam Whistle calendar which they sell with proceeds going to men’s cancer research. The calendar is usually hilarious and this years was to be no exception.
Ben is a bit of a cowboy and is well known throughout Alberta for his appearance and larger than life personality. This was going to be a blast.
The day arrived and the Steam Whistle Jeep arrived at my door. I jumped in and away we went. The location for the days shoot was about an hour and a half away so we settled into the usual car trip banter.
About and hour into the drive we started discussing the finer points of the shoot. “I haven’t been on horse in a while…. I’m a country guy at heart… by the way, I’m gonna be buck arse naked”….
I'm gonna be buck arse naked.
Well, I was in the jeep, and we were almost there so I decided to roll with it (as any consummate professional would) and we carried on out to the farm.
We arrived after almost getting lost to a wondrous parcel of rural Alberta, been in the family for years type of place with a massive garage and acres of land to play on. There was also miniature ponies. I don’t think the day could get any more surreal.
We met the owner of the land and the nice young lady (and her dog) who had answered Ben’s query on Facebook regarding the horse, cracked a beer and proceeded to set up for the shoot.
We ran (I ran, Ben rode) all around the property and took many photos and had a great time.
Here's the photo that made it into the 2016 calendar.
Shortly after, Ben changed his name on Facebook to Sheriff and as business was steadily improving in Alberta, the company brought on Tyler to help him. As Deputy, Tyler has done a great job assisting Ben spread the joy of Steam Whistle to the masses.
In August of this year, we went out to shoot Tyler for the 2017 calendar. No sneak peaks I’m afraid but the calendar will be out soon so you can see for yourself what we were up to this year.
Ok, One sneak peak.
Cheers!
*Several cameras were harmed during the shoot. A Fujifilm X30, a Nikon D3100 and a Lomography Horizon Kompakt. No animals were harmed although Ben may have suffered long term injury by being naked on a horse in early November.*
