This is of course Phantom, my Muse, in a 6"x8" oil on canvas. This Royal Friesian had a bigger and brighter personality than many people I have come across! He was kind and brave and supremely intelligent, with a wickedly sharp sense of humor. I like how this photo captured him in a quiet and relaxed mood. We had turned him loose in a big arena and he blew off a lot of steam, and was his usual brilliant and magnificent self. Later when he was tired, he was cooling off and just walking by the the six or so people in the center of the ring. Three of us were photographers slung with wildly expensive equipment and long stalker lenses like paparazzi, and he exuded the confident, untouchable and distant air of a Broadway star who knew he was being recorded by admiring fans and was above it all, and I got this image. In actuallity he was a "people person", so we had to shoo him away from the party he thought we were having. I loved the backlit morning light. I need to reshoot this digital, it does not show the soft lavenders and cerulean in the background, or the luminosity of the colors.
