a photoblog by ben fredman

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Miles Dean

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of shooting a freelance assignment for the Star-Ledger.

Newark schoolteacher Miles Dean is on a six-month, 6,000-mile journey, entirely on horseback, from New York to California to raise awareness of black cowboys and other African Americans who helped shape American history.

Miles travels on horseback by day, then meets with his professional driver, Karen Trowers, in the evenings. She drives a truck and horse trailer so they can camp along the way. Also Miles changes horses every 10 miles or so to keep them from being overworked.

This was a great assignment, the kind that makes you love this job. I met with Miles in Las Cruces, N.M., which is about three hours south of Albuquerque. It was a challenging shoot at times, essentially playing leap frog with Miles as he moved along the way, trying to find different shots and not overcrowd him...and to keep out of the way of other drivers.


ride


prep


grip


groom


work


hat


directions


miles


trailblazer


new friends


talkin' boots


old west



trailblazer, contd.


stretch/rest

14 comments:

Ben Solomon said...

awesome

... said...

fred-diesel for president.

Amanda said...

This is super cool, dude.

Anonymous said...

Very nice story! Great images as well!

Unknown said...

Hi Ben! It was a pleasure to meeting you on the trail! Great photos...my favorite, besides the photos with my cowboys in them, is the one of Miles' hands resting on the saddle horn.

I would like to ask for permission to use your picture that you took of Travis and Tony from behind Miles. I am writing a post about TnT's visit with Miles on our blog, Mustang 'n' Cowboys, titled "Texas Cowboys meet New York Cowboy in New Mexico".

Since we were coming from a family reunion my CF card was full and I did not have the opportunity to take pictures and would love to share your pictures with our readers.

I will wait to hear from you to finish the post...

::: Eddie QuiƱones ::: said...

I love every one of them.

katie said...

freakin' great. i LOVE this whole thing.

John O'Boyle said...

Great variety. Glad to see your photo credit back in the Star Ledger.
Hope all is well.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures! Mustang 'n Cowboys Blog sent me over.

Ronni Moore Photography said...

I love this every single frame. Rare.
(fellow APADer)

PJ Simonis said...

Nice job young Fred Benman. Thanks for getting your ass off the couch and going outside. Hope you didn't miss a good episode of Mauri Povich.

ben fredman said...

PJ,

My pleasure. Although I'm sure I missed some episodes of the compelling, highly journalistic and pulitzer caliber Maury, it was wonderful to shoot for the Ledger again...

Anonymous said...

Ben,
enjoy your time in Dallas. I'm here tonight. if you're free, give me a call (it's saturday 3/1/08). 612-685-0921

jonathan woods

Jeronimo Nisa said...

all of 'em, all of 'em...

illtown

I am a freelance photographer and educator specializing in documentary, editorial and travel photography based in St. Petersburg FL.
All Images © Ben Fredman, The Free Lance-Star, The Dallas Morning News, The Star-Ledger, The Muskegon Chronicle and The Post Register.