How To Take Great Photographs Of Your Horse

Have you ever wanted to photgraph your horse like it was featured in a high gloss magazine? You don't have to be a professional photgrapher and most modern digital cameras will be sufficient to capture your horse in the right moment. Taking te right pictures will also help you sell your horse quicker and attract more attention in selling advertisments.  A common mistake are horse photgraphed from behind at weird angles, elongated heads because the horse followed you around in the paddock and blurred shots.

To start with, your horse should be clean and looking his best. Make sure your horse is an adequate condition, otherwise, feed your horse up for a few weeks before attempting to take pictures. Too fat horses are mostly okay but if your horse is overly obese, you probably would want to diet the excess weight away before portraing him.  Give your horse a bath and a haircut, horses with thin long hair look mangy even after a bath. Horses with a mane cut or pulled to handwidth length always look tidy. A bridlepath shaved or cut just behind the ear also looks tidy and helps you put on headcollars and bridles. Horses with thick long hair like Clydesdales and most pony breeds need to have a tangle free mane and tail, and there are ample products available on the market to ensure it stays tangle free. Dont condition the saddle area, as it might cause your saddle to slip. Choose a headcollar or bridle thats freshly cleaned or new and is the right size for your horse. Plaiting is not important as long as the horses mane and tail are brushed adequately. Once you soreted out yourself, its time to sort out the location.

Choose a sunny day. Depending on what „mood" setting you want, you can decide whether you want to take pictures in the morning, midday or evening. Make sure that yoour setting is compatible with the horses color, a dark background for greys and palominos and a light background for dark colored horses. If a dark horse is placed in front of a dark background, the horse will most likely „melt" into the background and the outlines will be blurred. Clean and dress yourself adequately without overpowering the horse. For example, neon colors will certainly distract from your horse, as will clothes that are not „horsey".  Pay attention from what direction the light is coming. Don't photograph into the sun because your horse will also blur and appear almost black in the picture. If you have the sun in your back, pay attention to your own shadow, as you wouldn't want it in the picture or blocking the light. Winter low sun makes long shadows which will distract in the picture. Choose an even, plain surface like gravel, concrete or grass. Surfaces that are half/half will distract from the horse. Focus on the horses shoulder and either sit down or bend your knees depending on your size and the height of the horse. If you take a picture slightly from above, your horse will most likely appear stumpy legged and heavy chested.

Get your horse to pay attention. Bored horses will look even more bored in the picture. Have your helper tie a plastic whip onto the tip of a dressage whip or shake a bucket with some feed in it. Don't make your horse nervous, it will most likely ruin your shoot.

When taking ridden pictures, don't obscure your horse with bright colours, but try to match the colors together. Bandages or boots make the horses legs appear cleaner, this is an old horse dealer trick, as an uneven number of white legs can make the horse appear lame, whereas bandages in the same colour will make the gait look even. Try to get a picture when your horses front legs leave the ground, otherwise, your horse will look heavy on the forehand. For example, in a walk, one front leg should be suspended forward and the opposite hind leg stepping up underneath the horses body. In a trot, the horse should either be completely elevated from the ground or extending one front leg forward. If you get the moment where the front leg hit the ground and the other front and hind leg are extended back and off the ground, you horse will appear lazy and front heavy. In a canter, your horse should either be suspended or have one forward moving hind leg on the ground. If your horse is just landing on the one front leg, the horse will look front heavy again. When jumping, either get the moment the horse pushes off the ground or the suspended phase. The suspended phase is only effective when the jumps are high enough for the horse to have a longer phase with all legs off the ground. Don't photograph your horse from the back or front when riding. Try to get them slightly from the side, so you can see the outside eyelashes but not the actual eye.

With everything else, be experimental and enjoy your photoshoot!

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