Capturing the Wild Dream
Feb 09, 2026
The story for this doesn’t even start in Virginia, it starts in Queens NYC. I was visiting my great uncle Tom, and I always loved this one painting he had. My great uncle Thom was a well-respected and known food photographer for over forty years.
He not only photographed food but he would help other artists with cataloging their art. This painting that I loved was by Ted Jeremeko and was a painting made as a thank you for all the help. When I saw this painting, my uncle turned around and gave it to me.
He knew that I was going down to the national shoreline with the wild horses in Virginia. So, he told me I want a horse photo in place of this painting. The pressure was on for me, and with the mission in mind I headed south to the shoreline with my parents.
Boat tours are common down in Chincoteague and Assateague islands. We lucked out and found an old fisherman who gave photography boat tours on his little boat. Zipping around on the water we looked to find the wild horses that hid in the remote salt marsh. Our fisherman guide radioed his friends that were also looking for the wild horse, and the fisherman was told there was a white horse spotted in a small hidden marsh.
As we took off towards this patch of marsh, fog started to move in and when we pulled up to the marsh the white horse was there. Standing on a rocking boat as the fog thickened, I managed to get the shot, and it was like a dream come true. Since I was unable to find any wild horses up until that point. I got to keep the painting; my uncle loved the photo, and I got one of my favorite photos.
