Day 5
Getting into a routine now. Jet-lag still in full effect so am up at 4 am. I quietly make myself a cup of tea and wander up to the big barn in search of a wifi signal. I sit on a fence rail and set about checking all my emails on the iPad and replying to a few. Before long the sun rises and the whole farm wakes up. First up are the dogs. This place has so many of them. I hear that Joyce cannot resist a dog in need of help. As a result, there are quite a few rescue dogs living in the place and sharing it with - I don’t know how many - cats. One by one, the dogs come up to check me out. In general, they are a friendly bunch.
I do my usual walk around the farm and visit all the animals. The Caspians are just waking up. One or two foals are suckling. Watching them so contented and happy in this marvellous place brings a lump to my throat. How can we possibly persuade more people to take on these magical horses? The calendar must be the solution.
I wander back to the house to find Colin up and about. Breakfast over, he wanders off with his camera to visit the stallions, while I go to see Joyce to plan the day. We know that we have a re-shoot of the barn scene at dusk all planned, so we have to find other action shots to photograph during the day. Joyce says she can have all the mares and foals in one large field. This sounds good.
I do my usual walk around the farm and visit all the animals. The Caspians are just waking up. One or two foals are suckling. Watching them so contented and happy in this marvellous place brings a lump to my throat. How can we possibly persuade more people to take on these magical horses? The calendar must be the solution.
I wander back to the house to find Colin up and about. Breakfast over, he wanders off with his camera to visit the stallions, while I go to see Joyce to plan the day. We know that we have a re-shoot of the barn scene at dusk all planned, so we have to find other action shots to photograph during the day. Joyce says she can have all the mares and foals in one large field. This sounds good.
We walk up to the field and check out the logistics. I notice that there is a run by the side of the field. If we could create a circle where they could run along the drive and enter the field, Colin could be there taking shots as they run towards him. There is a large tree that he can stand against for safety. The challenge is how to persuade three dozen Caspians to do this? “No problem”, says Joyce. “My people will have them there and ready for you.”
Encouraged by the positive response, I find Colin and give him the news. He is delighted. Back at the house, we get the cameras sorted out. In the meantime Joyce and the grooms have prepared the herd and have driven them into the big field. The plan is for Joyce to stand at the top gate and the horses will exit the field. She can then send them down the drive where I will be waiting. My job will be to send them into the pen at the bottom of the field. As soon as they are all in the pen, Marcos will let them out and have them galloping towards Colin, who will be waiting by the big tree up-field. An ambitious project, but worth a try.
Encouraged by the positive response, I find Colin and give him the news. He is delighted. Back at the house, we get the cameras sorted out. In the meantime Joyce and the grooms have prepared the herd and have driven them into the big field. The plan is for Joyce to stand at the top gate and the horses will exit the field. She can then send them down the drive where I will be waiting. My job will be to send them into the pen at the bottom of the field. As soon as they are all in the pen, Marcos will let them out and have them galloping towards Colin, who will be waiting by the big tree up-field. An ambitious project, but worth a try.
We start off slowly, so the horses can get the idea and be secure in the knowledge that the gate at the top of the field is open for them to run through. This turns out to be a success. After a few circuits, the horses get the idea and come thundering through. Colin is up there with his camera clicking away. We try this for about 15 minutes and then stop to give the horses a break and check the camera results. Colin is ecstatic, but wants more. We make slight adjustments to where we are standing in order to send the horses to exactly where Colin wants them.
The Caspians are by now wise to our antics, so they are giving us a little bit of a run around. Clever little horses. The foals are also joining in and running around like the wind. Watching this many horses run together is a real privilege. A few more circuits and we call it a day, as we do not want Colin involved in a stampede! We need him for the rest of the project…
Once the session is over, we walk up to the goat field and try a couple of shots with the Caspians amongst the goats.
The goats are very happy about this; Leonel and Marcos are there with buckets of feed to entice the horses but, (goats being goats), they swamp the food well before the Caspians get a look-in. We now have the hard mid-day sun. Colin tries to use his flash to improve the light, but in spite of our best efforts, the goats and their appetite beat us. We retire to the house to check the shots and have some lunch.
I had promised Colin that I would cook him a Persian dish while we were in Texas, so I already bought the right ingredients when we were at the supermarket. Today is the day.
I had learnt this dish from my grandmother, sometime in the late sixties. She lived in the then rural town of Arak, a very small farming and carpet-weaving town 300 km south west of Tehran, with perhaps no more than 5000 inhabitants and a magnificent old bazaar. The sounds and smells of that place are still with me. Like most other Arakis she kept chickens and goats and grew grapes. She made all kinds of produce from the land and sent it to the big city, where her children and grandchildren lived. During our wonderful summer visits I sat at her feet listening to her stories and watching her cook lunch, so Colin is in for a treat today…
I slice large aubergines (bodemjoon) and place them in an oven dish. They are then brushed with olive oil and put into the oven for 30 minutes. In the meantime, I chop a handful of fresh basil, mix it with a pound of mincemeat and add salt and pepper, with a dusting of turmeric. When fully mixed, I make them into small meatballs. I put some vegetable oil into the frying pan and get it really hot. The meatballs go in. I continue to stir until they turn brown. In the meantime I slice a couple of white onions and two cloves of garlic. As soon as the meat balls are done, I take them out and put them into a dish to cool. Into the pan go the onions and garlic for a good frying. Once browned, they too are put in a dish. Two ripe beef tomatoes are chopped and added to the frying pan to soften. One minute of frying is all that is needed. By this time, the aubergines are baked. Into a casserole dish goes everything for a further 30 minutes in the oven. That’s all there is to it.
An hour later, we sit at the table eating Grandma’s favourite dish. Colin is well impressed and goes for seconds. Good sign.
I had learnt this dish from my grandmother, sometime in the late sixties. She lived in the then rural town of Arak, a very small farming and carpet-weaving town 300 km south west of Tehran, with perhaps no more than 5000 inhabitants and a magnificent old bazaar. The sounds and smells of that place are still with me. Like most other Arakis she kept chickens and goats and grew grapes. She made all kinds of produce from the land and sent it to the big city, where her children and grandchildren lived. During our wonderful summer visits I sat at her feet listening to her stories and watching her cook lunch, so Colin is in for a treat today…
I slice large aubergines (bodemjoon) and place them in an oven dish. They are then brushed with olive oil and put into the oven for 30 minutes. In the meantime, I chop a handful of fresh basil, mix it with a pound of mincemeat and add salt and pepper, with a dusting of turmeric. When fully mixed, I make them into small meatballs. I put some vegetable oil into the frying pan and get it really hot. The meatballs go in. I continue to stir until they turn brown. In the meantime I slice a couple of white onions and two cloves of garlic. As soon as the meat balls are done, I take them out and put them into a dish to cool. Into the pan go the onions and garlic for a good frying. Once browned, they too are put in a dish. Two ripe beef tomatoes are chopped and added to the frying pan to soften. One minute of frying is all that is needed. By this time, the aubergines are baked. Into a casserole dish goes everything for a further 30 minutes in the oven. That’s all there is to it.
An hour later, we sit at the table eating Grandma’s favourite dish. Colin is well impressed and goes for seconds. Good sign.
After a short rest it is the turn of the geldings and stallions to be herded together for a gallop and some action shots. This one turns out to be much more of a challenge as there is naturally some changing of the pecking-order amongst the horses. This provides Colin with more than he bargained for. On quite a few occasions he is grateful for the two large trees to hide behind as he hastily leaps out of the way of over-excited stallions. The situation is made even more exciting as the next field is full of lovely Caspian mares!
This session is a relatively short one as we do not want over-excited stallions leaping about all over the place. Before long they are led away to their own field out of the sight of the geldings and mares. Peace is restored.
Back to the house to download the shots and prepare for the second barn shoot. Racy and her parents arrive soon afterwards and we set off for the hills yet again.
This time the lighting gods are with us. We are faced with the most beautiful evening sun. Once on location, the grooms prepare the horse while Raci, who is by now an old hand in this modelling game, prepares herself for the shoot. Again, Lionel is standing just off the shot, talking to the stallion while Raci poses for the shot. The evening light is magical.
Day 6 coming soon...
Day 6 coming soon...
