Photographing Horses and their People
When was the last time you had a photo taken of your horse that included YOU in the image! If you're like me, you likely have hundreds of candids of your special fellow or girl sitting "in the cloud" that you've taken with your cell phone over the years. Also, if you're like me, your attempts at selfies have been less than frame worthy, to say the least. (My fellow has a very very large head which compounds the problem immensely!)
Horse Images in any Season
Horses look great any time of year. After the grass comes in during late spring into early summer, if you have a horse that dapples, you might consider that season to be a good one, just try to avoid booking your session for the harsh light of noon. For those who love sunset photos, summer nights offer the most opportunities. Do you like fall colours? In Nova Scotia, October is our best month for capturing some pretty autumn backgrounds. What about winter? Yes, they get a bit wooly in the winter, but that just adds to their authentic charm. Stunning photos of you, all bundled up, and your velvet coated equine can be made with or without snow on the ground. Mornings, before 9:30 AM, often offer the best winter light as things can look very drab and flat as the day progresses unless there is a shining sun and we know how seldom that happens during our maritime winters.
What Kind of Horse Portrait Suits You Best ?
The answer to that question depends on a few things. Are you a rider? Is ground work more your area of expertise? Do you drive? There are so many possibilities for portraits that involve you working with and being with your horse. In my mind, if we're going to do all the preparation for a session with you and your horse(s), we should make the most of our time and capture as many different scenerios as possible. We should do portraits where I will prompt you a bit for posing, portraits where you are interacting naturally with your horse and some portraits that may just be of your horse alone. Other ideas that we can discuss include: silhouettes, black backgrounds and close up images of tack. If we have so many ideas that the time might stretch beyond an hour, we might decide to work together on two different days, or even a session in two different seasons, just to ensure you horse remains relaxed and happy.
These images were all taken within an hour on the same evening.
What will You do with the images?
What on earth would you do with all those photos? Great question and the answer is NOT just store them as digital files! My suggestion, when a longer photo session is done, is to pick one or two to frame and display in your home, a smaller one to frame for your workplace and then include your favourite 15-20 images in a quality photo book. That way, you always have the images close at hand, and if you're working with me you'll also have the shareable digital files to accompany the prints you've purchased.
Sounds interesting?
The best way to determine if a session with me is in your future is for us to have a chat. You can let me know about your horses and ask me any questions you like about my experience, and about how I can help you make your vision a reality.
