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Photographing Camargue White Horses

Photographing the famous white horses of the Camargue was a once in a lifetime experience!

Sometimes dreams do come true….I love painting white horses! In my small collection of horse photography – the one that chronicles the lives of the famous white horses of Southern France has long been my of my favorites…. and had me dreaming for years of going to the Camargue to photograph the horses. Guess what! In 2016 my dream came true! And it was WONDERFUL!

Getting thousands of photos of the horses was my goal and, thanks to Serge – and his Create Away photography workshop – I have 4,205 photos! Not all are “painting worthy” (thankfully) but on the plane trip home I sorted through them and tentatively selected 370 that I would be delighted to paint! (Still way too many, so I have further refined the selection to 124… and I really want to paint ALL of those!)

Over the years, I’ve loved reliving the trip by looking through all those photos! I’ve done quite a few painting!

Paintings of the Beautiful Horses of the Camargue

Here are some photos of the Camargue White Horses from my trip

White horses and les guardians wait for the photography session to begin
The first session was at a shallow lake. The horses and guardians (French cowboys) waited patiently while we pulled on our hip waders and slowly waded into the water. Soon they would be splashing cold water on us photography workshop participants as they passed within inches of us. It was thrilling!
Camargue horses splash by equine artist Karen Brenner
The vast watery Camargue is a dreamlike setting to photography horses.
We photographed the horses at many different locations. Rivers, shallow lakes, marshland and even the Mediterranean Sea.
White stallion in the waves of the Mediterranean Sea.
This Camargue stallion wades in the waves of the Mediterranean Sea with his owner.
This Camargue stallion competes in dressage
This Camargue stallion competes in dressage
Two stallions play in front of a huge lake in a water fowl refuge. The lake is dotted with flamingos.
Two stallions play in front of a huge lake in a water fowl refuge. The lake is dotted with flamingos.
Visiting mares with their foals was a sweet part of the trip - and inspired many of my paintings!
Visiting mares with their foals was a sweet part of the trip – and inspired many of my paintings!
Watching les guardians guiding the horses down this peaceful country road was another highlight of the trip. It was actually the setting for my favorite Camargue painting.
Watching les guardians guiding the horses down this peaceful country road was another highlight of the trip. It was actually the setting for my favorite Camargue painting.
This Camargue gelding is my friend for life! I got to ride him on a two-hour tour of the water fowl refuge and we really bonded. Here he is ridden by one of the guardians participating in the photo shot at the Mediterranean sea.
This Camargue gelding is my friend for life! I got to ride him on a two-hour tour of the water fowl refuge and we really bonded. Here he is ridden by one of the guardians participating in the photo shot at the Mediterranean sea.
Talk about beautiful lighting for photography!
Talk about beautiful lighting for photography! Soon the horses would be galloping along the shores of the Mediterranean for us to photograph, but this shot is is beautiful as they wade into the water.
The sun is about to set as the guardians keep watch over the horses on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
The sun is about to set as the guardians keep watch over the horses on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
Sunset!
Sunset!
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