Photography Tips: Standing Tall

When you photograph horses, it’s always important to get the right stance.  The wrong stance can make their hindquarters look small, make them look skinny, and their head look big.  Taking the picture is only half the problem, getting the horse to cooperate is the other half.

I’m no professional by any means but here are a couple of tips that might help when you’re trying to get the look.

• Squat down low. This give the illusion of a big horse.
• Make the lean/stretch forward. See his hind legs in the first picture?  They are stretched back like he’s leaning forward, not taking a step.  This makes them look like they’re strutting:)
• Ears forward. Unless you’re trying to catch some sort of personality, you want the ears forward.  Not always easy to get the stance and the ears but I did alright I guess.
• Slight pivot, head turn. Okay, so that’s not exactly a technical turn but hey, I’m no photographer!  You almost want the horse to look like he’s looking at his butt but not all the way…does that make sense?  NO?  Too bad ’cause I can’t explain it any better.

Where did I learn these tips?  From a former employer, George Beggs of Beggs Cattle Company.  He always sold horses for thousands of dollars to two big auctions.  The Remuda sale and the big Ft. Worth sale. My husband would train the horses, I would groom them, and he would take their picture for the catalog.  It was fun.  I miss it.

Oh, and we did not groom this horse by the way:)  We just needed some quick shots!

Now go have fun and snap away.  I’m taking a break to play the playstation 3 with my son!