Photographing Horses & Ponies
This takes place on location (it’s either that or build a larger studio) and we’re at home in an outdoor school, menage or field. Indoor schools are ok but best left until the end of a shoot as they’re normally poorly lit and our models often finish a shoot with a relaxing roll in the sand!
Photographing Horses on Location
We rely on owners to give us as much information as they can and let us know, in as much detail as possible, what kind of portrait they’re after. It could be a classic portrait shot taken at a stabledoor or an action image that captures the joy of being turned out (a horse running is a truly magical sight and one which we will never ever tire of.) We will need an owners expertise on the day of the shoot, without fail.
After the shoot
Our results are so good because we take an awful lot of images, however every horse is different and so we do not quote numbers of images taken ~ it can take fifty shots to get a great one or on another day just three. Edited images are emailed to clients so that they can select, at their leisure and in the comfort of their own home.
Quality Control
Every image undergoes a strict quality control procedure, firstly it is cropped to ensure maximum impact, colour corrected and then digitally retouched to remove stray hairs, rug, fly or bite marks, sleep around the eyes, any areas of dryness around the nose/mouth etc. Distracting backgrounds are airbrushed away or softened. We can create various options of any image including: classic mono, softened colour or hand coloured (whereby one or two areas of a mono image remain in colour.) Several test prints are made before a final print is created using specialist fine art inks and papers.
We're Not Flash
We never ever use flash around horses, they are the most wonderful creatures but we must face facts and they can be unpredictable, a quick burst of flash is not worth the risk to horse, owner or photographer.