Photographing Horses
Tips to insure you don't make the horse look stupid (heaven forbid!).
Since your beloved is the horse person, that means by default you have to become the camera person when s(he) wants horse photos taken. She’ll handle the horse, you click away.
But taking good photos of horses isn’t as easy as it looks. Horse owners tend to be quite critical. They want ears to be looking just so, legs positioned exactly right, and the tail falling at a particular angle. Otherwise, they accuse you of making the horse look stupid.
Which we know you would NEVER do.
There are usually two situations when your partner will ask you to help photograph a horse. One is when she wants to put the horse up for sale or get a nice shot for her scrapbook, and the other is when she wants candid shots to share with friends. I’ll give you a few hints learned from hard experience on how to get the best results in both situations.
Safety tip: ALWAYS show the horse the camera, let it have a sniff and a nuzzle. If the camera has a loud click, fire off a few shots so the horse can get used to the sound. Same goes for the flash, if you’re going to use it. If you don’t, the horse may view the camera as a threat and be afraid of it. A frightened horse is not a good subject.
Handy Hints for Formal Poses
- Chose a bright, but not necessarily sunny day.Strong sunlight creates dark shadows, which may not look good, especially with a dark horse. Hard, bright light will also cause unwanted contrast--the dark parts too dark, and the light parts washed out. If you are taking your photos on a bright sunny day, use a flash to eliminate some of the shadows.
- Professional horse photographers recommend taking pictures between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Early or late makes long shadows that can take away from the effect you want the photo to have—which is highlighting the horse, not the shadow.
- Place the horse in a suitable background. An uncluttered natural background like a field or woodland is preferable to the average yard. Check to be sure that there is nothing funky behind the horse that will show up later—like a tree trunk that seems to be growing out of its head. Choose a background that provides a good contrast to the horse’s color. A dark horse standing in front of dark bushes won’t show up too well.
- Horses are big, which means you have to stand about 15-20 feet back. For best effect, take the photograph on landscape mode. Be sure you have the ears in the viewfinder, as well as the feet. It’s really easy to cut off the ears or feet if you’re not careful. One of the advantages of a digital camera is that you can stand back and then crop and enlarge to get just what you want.
- Angle and position of the horse play a HUGE part. You don’t want to end up with a big head and small rump or whatever. Photographs from the side are definitely easiest. If you want to try something besides a straight side view, turn the head so it is turned toward the camera just enough to see the contour of the opposite eye and nostril. On a side view all four legs should show, with one front and one hind leg ahead of the other.
- Either have your camera level or slightly lower than the horse. Also, make sure that the horse’s withers and top of hips are on the same level. If he in standing uphill or downhill, the picture won’t look good.
- When you are set up, have your partner get the horse’s attention so its ears perk up and it is looking alert. An element of surprise is what you want…not something that will scare the horse and move it out of position. Some people start singing or hold up a mirror.
- Take LOTS of photos. Getting a good one is tricky. It may take several sessions to get just what your beloved is looking for. When the horse gets antsy, it’s time to quit.
Hints for action photos
Sooner or later your partner is going to ask you to accompany her to the arena or pasture to get a few action shots.
- When taking action shots, pan the camera, follow the horse as it moves and then squeeze the shutter release when you spot the image you want.
- Don’t wait for the perfect shot—you’ll probably miss it. Keep clicking away and edit the bad ones out later.
- Action shots seem to look best when one of the horse’s front legs are extended.
- Keep the rider in mind as well as the horse. She’ll hate it if her thighs look fat. Sometimes sitting on the fence gives you a better shot than shooting upward from the ground.
- If you’re on the other side of a fence, be sure to keep the fence out of the picture.
Here are a couple of web sites to check out if you want to learn more:
www.horseartcollection.com/article-horse_pictures.php
www.best-animal-photos.com/Horses.html
