NZ Mares and the making of 'Muriwai'

Updated on August 15, 2024 by

Bridie Verian

This photoshoot holds a special place in my heart

The photoshoot where we captured the print ‘Muriwai’ is a prime example of how intuition can work in the moment. At the time, I was fairly new to the concept. Intuition knew me very well but I hadn’t quite got to know her yet.

The photoshoot was a beautiful experience where horse, rider, photography team & location worked in harmony together to play with some creativity. All of my photoshoots have something to teach me & this was one of my first key lessons. Follow your intuition.

The Making

Huia of @nzmares - a woman with a heart of a lion who rides these incredible mares on the wild black sands of Muriwai beach, was so much fun to work with. Meeting as one does these days on Instagram, we planned out a session.

The weather, however had a different idea.
As I’ve noticed over the many photoshoots I’ve had since there is always, without fail, some kind of Resistance that stands in the doorway between me & an idea. This time, Resistance took the form of a weather event. As doubt began to take hold, I was going to cancel the shoot but my friend & Official Vehicle Operator was making the trip to Auckland anyway.

So, with an intuitive nudge, away we went with cameras packed.

Two sessions of shooting. One with both mares and Huia riding her sleek black Quarterhorse, Juno and proud Friesian sporthorse Trinny running free beside. The second day with just Trinny alone, as Huia rode her in a neck rope.

Now, back to this weather. Muriwai is black sand - light absorbing sand. The clouds were also black. No light = tricky conditions to shoot in. I’ve since learned to adapt my style to the conditions but at the time I only saw that my style was being compromised by the conditions.

It made me nervous. I was full of doubt and anxiety. I didn’t want to waste people’s time. Could I get any good images from this shoot? These thoughts & feelings plagued me throughout the night after the first session.

Now, at this point in time I didn’t have any rituals or tools to connect with my intuition. If I had, I could have removed all of this anxiety. I would have trusted that it was all working out as it was meant to & I had all the knowledge I needed within me.

But with this experience came the awareness that intuition will guide you whether you’re aware of it or not. It’s just so much better when you’re in tune with it.

So, on the second day we returned to Muriwai, I lifted the camera to my eye & followed my bliss.

Cloudy and dark for most of the shoot - we had stopped and were thinking of heading back. It seemed my doubts were going to be proved right. The sun was just about to dip below the horizon… and then it happened.

The most beautiful light that I’ve ever seen.

A gap in the clouds revealed a shard of diffused light that beamed onto the black sand. Huia saw it also and galloped down the beach. As she turned I was in the water and captured what is now the first of my Crafted Aim Collection pieces - ‘Muriwai’.

I followed my intuition, through the dark clouds of my fears & doubts and it led me to this piece that will now inspire others to follow their intuition.

We would never have got this shot if we had waited for perfect conditions.

As beautiful as a clear sunset is, I’ve never seen light like this again. The clouds were necessary. The doubt taught me a lesson. All of it brought me to understand the power & influence of intuition.

Intuition is like the sun - it’s always there behind the clouds of our mind. Negative thoughts, anxieties, doubts & fears accumulate and block the clarity of our ever shining intuition but it's still there guiding us.

After the weekend with Huia & her mares I was led to a passage in a book that read,