Photography – Boise

When I was a little girl, I ended up with a brown and white Shetland pony (I cleverly named her ‘Jony the pony’). She was a nice little pony until you tried to ride her. Then Jony turned into a monster. She would buck, bite, kick or try and rub you off on a tree or the corner of the barn. I still had fun brushing and braiding her main and tail, dressing her up and taking her for a stroll. We would hang out together until I turned into a teenager and became more interested in girlfriends, boys and riding in cars. We had her for over 10 years and ended up giving her away to another family. That was the end of my equine experience until now. Fast forward…college at Seattle University, a BS degree in ultrasound (taking pictures of the inside of the human body), a successful medical sales career, marriage to the love of my life and a move to Boise, Idaho. I tried my hand as a realtor, master gardener, a stand up paddle board (SUP) fitness instructor. Eventually, we had a daughter and I became a stay at home mom. I subsequently started a home based business (Nerium), recently graduated from the New York Institute of Photography and again began riding horses with my daughter. My little girl loves horses and wanted to ride so we leased her a gorgeous quarter horse ‘Reba’. My daughter wanted me to ride with her and as you might guess, I am game for just about anything. What I didn't expect was that I would fall in love with horses all over again. My latest passion is one part photography, one part horse time. Strong, curious, smart, beautiful creatures that captivate with their graceful movement. Spending time alone with them and my camera is meditation, a way of being in the moment and capturing the their magnificence. I lose all sense of time and want to take ‘just one more photo’. It’s hard to stop and walk away even when it is getting frigid and the sun is quickly setting in the dead of winter. Becoming mesmerized by free range horses in the Boise Foothills is the result! XO - Michelle Tullis