When I was just 15 years old, my dad gave me my first DSLR camera. It was an old, manual focus Nikon. I took it to the barn with me every day. I would spend hours taking photos of the horses, my friends, the flowers, the dogs - basically anything I could take a picture of. I was hooked.

After a long day at the barn, I would rush home, upload all the pictures, edit them and email them off to all of my friends. The excitement they got when they saw the photos of themselves and their horses truly made me happy and made me want to further this new found passion. I eventually saved up some money and bought myself a newer, higher quality camera. This is where my love for photography escalated. A few years later, I decided to take my passion even further and turn it into the business I now call Karli Dannewitz Photography.

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My Passion for horses, however, started at the young age of 6 years old. The local park had pony rides every weekend and I would beg my parents to let me ride the ponies. From there my horse obsession grew. Any tack store we would pass, I would beg them to stop and let me look around. I would read the bulletin board outside filled with all the "Horses For Sale" ads. And yes of course, I begged my parents for a horse (it never worked) .  I did, however, talk them into taking me to riding lessons. The obsession only grew into a 17 year-long riding career. Throughout those years I did everything from Playdays, local shows, A-Rated shows, all the way up to Nationals where I won a Reserve and National Champion at The Canadian Arabian Nationals in Half Arabian Western Pleasure, Junior To Ride. 

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After Nationals, I went on to be an Equine groom for various different trainers where I became familiar with many different disciplines. I worked for a Natural Horsemanship barn, a Saddlebred barn, a Dressage barn, a Hunter Jumper barn, and eventually, I found my way back to working for an Arabian horse trainer (and ended up buying another horse, Oops!). 

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Working for different kinds of horse trainers really gave me an appreciation and respect for all disciplines. Working with horses has also really given me an eye for detail. I can spot anything from a shaving on your horses belly, to a bridle keeper being out of place. The experience Ive had has become very helpful for ensuring that every image I take comes out perfectly. Every little detail does not go unnoticed.

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